Crime & Safety
Palatine Man Pleads No Contest to Lesser Charge in 1997 Killing of Teen
James P. Eaton and Wisconsin prosecutors worked out a plea agreement Tuesday stemming from the death of a 14-year-old Palatine girl.
The man accused of killing a 14-year-old Palatine girl in 1997 and leaving her partially clothed body in a southeastern Wisconsin nature preserve pleaded no contest to a lesser charge Tuesday, according to the Daily Herald.
The plea is part of a deal between Wisconsin prosecutors and James P. Eaton, the Palatine man who was arrested and charged with first-degree intentional homicide and hiding a corpse in connection with the death of Amber Creek, the report stated.
Under the agreement, Eaton pleaded no contest to first-degree reckless homicide and now could face a sentence of up to 40 years in prison, the Herald reports. Eaton's plea is not an admission guilt in Amber's death; it means he won't fight the charges based on the prosecution's evidence, the report added.
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In court Tuesday, prosecutors said they made the plea deal because they didn't feel confident that a jury would find Amber's death was caused by an intentional criminal act, the report stated.
RELATED: Man Charged in 1997 Murder of Palatine Girl; Discarded Cigarette Leads to Arrest
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Eaton's case was set to go to trial late next month in Racine County, Wisconsin, where Amber's body was found. The teen went missing from a Chicago juvenile home in January of 1997, and her body was discovered the following month in a nature preserve in Racine County.
The investigation surrounding Amber's death lasted 17 years, and it was considered a cold case. But a break came when Oklahoma investigators looking into cold cases matched Eaton's fingerprints to those taken from a plastic bag over Amber's head.
Police then were able to lift DNA evidence from a cigarette Eaton discarded at a Palatine train station while he waited for a late train. That sample matched DNA found at the crime scene, and Eaton was arrested by Racine authorities in April of 2014.
Eaton's sentencing is set for Jan. 20.
James P. Eaton from 2014 (photo via Racine County Sheriff's Office)
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