Detectives: Man shoots, kills wife during divorce argument
SALEM, Ore. – Detectives arrested a Salem man who they said shot and killed his estranged wife during an argument about their divorce settlement on Monday.
David Paul Eaton, 45, faces one count of murder.
The shooting happened Monday afternoon at a home in rural South Salem in the 7500 block of Heckart Lane SE.
The victim, a 30-year-old woman, has not been identified. Detectives are working to notify her family in her country of origin.
An autopsy revealed she died of multiple gunshot wounds.
Marion County detectives said Eaton called 9-1-1 just before 1 p.m. and told dispatchers that he shot the victim in self-defense when she came at him with a kitchen knife during an argument.
Sheriff's deputies said they found a knife in the victim’s hand and a gun on the floor next to her body.
In a later interview with detectives, Eaton changed his statement and said the victim did not have a knife when he shot her. He told detectives he shot her when she changed her mind about their divorce settlement agreement.
Eaton admitted to getting a knife from the kitchen and putting it in the victim’s hand to make it look like she had a knife when she was shot, according to detectives.
Detectives said Eaton told them he thought about killing his wife before and told them about one plan he had to poison his wife.
Eaton was taken to the Marion County Jail where he is being held without bail.
I new this man he was a good person he was not here illegally she was im not saying it gives you the right to kill someone but stress took him over he was always calm its just sad that two people lost their lives.
The down side of mail order brides?
eaton talks too much
I don't think he is right in the head. And his right eye seems a wee bit bigger than the left?
he shot her, staged the scene, then said I did it.
Like the old saying goes, trouble often begins at home. I wonder how Mr. Eaton's parents raised (or FAILED to raise) him, and what effect their parenting had on his future failures in life.Â
 @Whobeke That is the most ridiculous statement. People turn out how they do for a multitude of reasons. To blame behavior of a 45 year old man on his parents? How do your parents deal with the fact you might be this ignorant?
@whitingx5 @Whobeke ....I blame Obama
What about the sanctity of marriage? We consitently preach that "Oh Gays will soil the sanctity of marriage" yet the divorce rate climbs, we get married, divorce, remarried, in cases like this kill our exs. Seriously? I would love to see the stats on how many people who oppose Gay marriage for the sanctity of marriage are divorced not to mention how many divorces are under their belts.
 @MLB123 ~  Um-hmm... Considering that the divorce rate is now over 50%, I'd sat there was something seriously lacking in the way of "sanctity"...Â
"""""""An autopsy revealed she died of multiple gunshot wounds.""""""
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Ya, cause when ones pissed off enough to shoot a soon to be X, one bullet just won't due.
Another goateed tough guy.
I am surprised that this does not happen more often. Divorces are very emotional and can become very nasty.
 @scared_citizen Tell me about it, when your ex tries to send someone to off ya, it really has to make one think...
@lee986321....sounds personal, Lee.
What's his immigration status?
@JTesla What the H3LL does it matter. He killed someone. Was there some part of this story that left you feeling empty or not having enough info? what's the deal? Immigration status obviously couldn't prevent him from killing her. What do think it would of went something like this:?
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David: "I'm going to kill you for changing your mind about our divorce."
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30 year old Victim:"No you can't because you're here illegally"
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David: "oh yeah, never mind"
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Yeah right dude. stick to the subject, which is this guy cowardly killed some one because he didn't agree with her...period.
 @mister  @JTesla I new this man he was not here illegally she was and im not saying theres ever a reason to killing someone but stress can push you over the edge and she pushed him.
@mister ...what the hell does her period have to do with anything?
@mister I like your response, mind if I use it in the future?
@JTesla of course hahahaha
This is where we are at today as a society....I don't agree with you, so now you have to die. Â It's a sad reality we have today. Â Senseless, killing of innocent people. Â
Really people? Have we lost all sense of decency? I can't get my way so I'm going to take your life?!?! Do we have such a low value on life as a society? What happened to being mature adults, compromising and walking away from a fight. We have such an entitlement society where we want everything we want and we want it right now. We throw fits when we don't get our way.
My heart goes out to her family. Hopefully they have a strong support system and can lean on each other.
 @CRB Homicides between married couples have been occurring since the beginning of human history. This is a random event, and certainly is not indicative of any general trend in society. History provides some perspective.
@felines99 @CRB Random event??? What planet are you living on?? We hear almost every day of an ex spouse killing the other one...Random event...BS!!!!
@felines99 @dianned @CRB Sorry Feline, dianned is right. When women are 10X more likely to be killed by their male spouses/former spouses than men are, it's not "random". And when the professionals estimate that between 25-50% of American women will be hit/beat by their significant other during their lifetime, that's not a random event. As an expert on domestic violence, I know for an inarguable fact that killing one's spouse/ex-spouse isn't that uncommon, and is promoted, or at least encouraged, by many realities in our society. Have you heard any recent music lyrics in certain genres? Or have you seen any movies or advertisements lately? Disrespecting women is not random... beating or killing your spouse is not random. It makes us more comfortable to believe it's random, yes... but when there are such distinct patterns, it is not random (definition of random: not patterned). Maybe read up a little on the phenomenon. What you believe to be true is not true in this case. The more we really know about this, the better off we will be.
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 @dianned  @felines99  @CRB It is still a random event, rather than being indicative of any "trend" in society. Those who see this as some new direction society is taking are the BSers.(!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
 @CRB Well, what do you expect when we take away "Moral Compasses"? we will see more of this to come I can assure you.
Dude...you were this " " close to freedom, and you blew it.
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What a loser.
 @deejm2112 he was not close by any means. She wasn't about to let him out that easy and she made that clear to more than one person.
@knowledge is power @deejm2112 Who cares what she was planning to do? Nobody deserves to be murdered.
My heart goes out to the family of this woman who did not need to die. I'm glad Mr. Eaton came clean with the police as to what happened; hopefully he'll plead guilty during his arraignment. What a senseless loss of life.