Arden Shaw, 52, will spend three years behind bars after he was sentenced on Thursday for stealing federal U.S. Border Patrol property, including a firearm, from the site of a grisly quadruple murder in 2023.
Shaw, along with two other thieves, previously pleaded guilty to the crime after they stole from a home in which Joseph Eaton murdered his parents and the home’s owners, their long-time friends, Patti and Robert Eger.
The Egers’ son, a Border Patrol agent, was staying in his parents’ home following the murder when he reported that several items, including jewelry, a laptop, and his Border Patrol belongings – his firearm, badge, body armor, and radio – had been stolen.
The two other culprits of the theft, Michael Hall and Jeanne Doughty, were also implicated in a broader identity theft operation.
Shaw pleaded guilty to one count of theft of government property and will spend 37 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release.
The murderer, Eaton, had been recently released from jail when he murdered his parents and their friends. He initially pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, but eventually withdrew that plea.
Before he was arrested, he opened fire in Yarmouth on several cars that he falsely believed belonged to the police.
He is currently serving a life sentence for the murders and has maintained that the incident was the result of a psychotic break. He claims that he cannot explain the motive for the murders and says that he regrets the killings.
