The man convicted of killing his parents and two family friends in Bowdoin in 2023 has died in prison, according to the Maine Department of Corrections.
Joseph Eaton, 36, died at 5:19 a.m. Tuesday. He was in the custody of the Maine Department of Corrections but was living at a Massachusetts facility under the Interstate Corrections Compact, according to the Maine DOC.
A spokesperson for the Massachusetts Department of Corrections said in an email on Wednesday afternoon that Eaton was at the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center, in Lancaster, Massachusetts.
Staff responded to a medical emergency at about 4:15 a.m. and immediately began to administer life-saving measures and called 911. First responders arrived and continued life-saving measures. Eaton was pronounced dead at an area hospital, the spokesperson said.
Based on preliminary findings, the spokesperson said there was no foul play involved. Eaton’s cause and manner of death will be determined by the Massachusetts Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.
Eaton was serving four life sentences for killing his parents, Cynthia Eaton, 62, and David Eaton, 66, and their friends who were hosting them at their home in rural Bowdoin, Robert Eger, 72, and Patti Eger, 62, as well as a family dog.
Soon after their bodies were discovered, three people in a vehicle on I-295 in Yarmouth — a father and his two grown children — were injured by gunshots. Police then found and arrested Eaton along the side of the highway.
Eaton pleaded guilty to the killings and started serving his prison sentence in 2024.
His death is being investigated by Massachusetts State Police.
BDN writer Marie Weidmayer contributed reporting.
