The man convicted of killing his parents and two family friends in Bowdoin, Maine, in 2023 has died in custody, according to the Maine Department of Corrections (DOC).
Joseph Eaton, 36, was pronounced dead at 5:19 a.m. Tuesday. At the time of his death, Eaton was in the custody of the Maine DOC but was being held at a correctional facility in Massachusetts under the Interstate Corrections Compact, which allows inmates to be transferred between state systems.
Eaton had been serving four life sentences for the April 2023 murders of his parents, Cynthia Eaton, 62, and David Eaton, 66, along with the couple’s friends, Robert Eger, 72, and Patti Eger, 62, at their home in rural Bowdoin. The family’s dog was also killed in the attack.
Authorities said the killings were discovered after police responded to the residence for a welfare check. Shortly afterward, three people traveling on Interstate 295 in Yarmouth — a father and his two adult children — were shot and injured. Investigators later determined that Eaton was responsible for both the Bowdoin murders and the highway shooting.
Eaton was arrested along the side of I-295 shortly after the incident and later confessed to the murders.
The Maine DOC said an investigation into Eaton’s death is underway, as is standard procedure when an inmate dies in custody. The cause of death has not yet been released.
