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Ken Eaton's murder is one of the rare cases that shook the town of Des Moines, Iowa. Back in 1988, the public school teacher was found dead in his home by his 17-year-old daughter. The homosexual teacher had gone to a certain place known as the "gay loop," where many LGBTQ+ individuals hung out in Des Moines.
However, his little detour from the bar turned fatal as two strangers befriended him and went to his house with plans of robbing him. The night ended with a violent altercation as the two young men killed Ken Eaton with a kitchen knife after a brutal altercation. Jennifer Eaton, the daughter of the deceased, slept through it all.
The case is the subject of ID's upcoming Does Murder Sleep? episode on August 9, 2023. The episode is titled Slept Through It All. The synopsis for the episode reads:
"A teenager sleeps through the murder of her father, Ken Eaton, at their home; as detectives probe into the beloved teacher's secret love life, they unravel a web of heartbreak, deceit and desire."
The twisted case took quite some time to resolve. Here are four shocking details from the case of Ken Eaton's murder ahead of the episode on ID.
4 terrifying details from Ken Eaton's murder that would shock hardcore true-crime fans
1) Jennifer Eaton first called her mother before reporting the incident
Jennifer Eaton was the first to discover her father's dead body. But the teenager did not inform the police immediately, instead, she called her mother Lynn, who lived 20 minutes away with her younger sister.
This, along with the fact that Jennifer claimed to hear nothing with all the commotion going on in the house, led the police to initially suspect her. But things cleared up later, and she was soon removed from the list.
2) Ed was the next suspect on the list and Ken Eaton had even met him before his death
Ed and Ken were in a long-term relationship before the latter was murdered. The night of his death, Ken had gone to a bar and had actually met Ed. The two had a brief conversation as well.
This led authorities to suspect Ed as the main suspect. However, even he was dropped from the loop when witnesses from the gay loop identified the two assailants who followed Ken home.
3) A stroke of luck turned pivotal in cracking the case
The police did find out that Ken had gone to the gay loop and met with two strangers, with whom he came back home. But police were having a hard time locating either this duo or their vehicle. That is until someone removing garbage bags from the dumpster stumbled upon a bag containing clothes, VCR tapes, a mobile phone, and a bloody knife, which were all linked to the case.
This led authorities to search the area and locate the car, which eventually led to the two criminals.
4) Both men were convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life without parole
The two assailants, Billy Green and Gary Titus, were arrested after their DNA matched that of the crime scene. Both men told the same story that they had posed as homosexuals to get to Ken Eaton's home and then rob him.
But the encounter turned violent, and they stabbed Ken with a kitchen knife.
Billy and Gary were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
The upcoming episode of Does Murder Sleep? will cover this case in detail.
