PUYALLUP, WA – Just a couple hours before allegedly shooting and killing his 19-year-old girlfriend on Monday, suspected murderer Jordan Mark Eaton reportedly texted an unidentified person and said, “I just gotta go ’cause I cause nothing but pain for myself and others.”
Court documents filed in Pierce County Tuesday afternoon provided more details related to Cassandra Carolyn Scaff’s murder, Eaton’s escape attempt, and what occurred in the days and hours before and after the early morning incident.
Eaton, 26, is currently being held in Canada on immigration crimes for illegally crossing the border during his flight from justice. Deputy Prosecuting Attorney James Schacht has reportedly requested an arrest warrant to return Eaton to Pierce County following his expulsion from Canadian custody, either by deportation or extradition.
According to a Probable Cause affidavit obtained by Patch, Eaton faces multiple charges when he returns to Pierce County, including first-degree murder, unlawful possession of a firearm, and motor vehicle theft.
Law enforcement was first notified of the shooting incident just before 4:30 a.m. Jan. 28.
Pierce County deputies were dispatched to a home in the 15100-block of 71st Avenue East in Puyallup’s South Hill area after receiving a report of a possible shooting. The first deputy to arrive at the home reportedly found Scaff on the floor of a bedroom, her upper body draped with a white towel and a single gunshot wound to the left side of her torso. It appears she died before first responders arrived.
Eaton’s mother told investigators she awoke to the sound of a gunshot inside the home, which was followed shortly after by the emergence of Eaton, who said, “he had just shot Cassandra,” court documents state.
Eaton’s mother confirmed her son’s claim by checking the bedroom and watching Eaton drag Scaff from the bed to the floor, where he reportedly began searching for a gunshot wound. Eaton then asked his mother for the keys to her car — a request she chose not to acquiesce.
Eaton then reportedly rifled through his mother’s belongings, searching for the keys, before fleeing the home on foot.
Other witnesses who also live on the property with Eaton and his mother told police they heard Eaton arguing with Scaff in the hours preceding her death, stating they even overheard Eaton claim to have shot Scaff roughly nine hours before the actual incident.
When those witnesses saw Scaff alive later in the day they realized Eaton had not actually gone through with his claim, court documents state.
Further investigation revealed Eaton also sent text messages to an unidentified recipient just two hours before the murder, stating, “Nobody will be able to get ahold of me anymore after today” and “I just gotta go cause I cause nothing but pain for myself and others,” court documents show.
After fleeing the home, Eaton reportedly went to his father’s place of work, entered the property through an employee gate and pilfered the keys to one of the company’s work vans before driving away. Eaton’s alleged vehicle theft was captured in full on the company’s surveillance cameras, court documents state.
Whatcom County law enforcement called the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office around 1 p.m. to report finding the stolen GMC van in the border town of Blaine, Washington. Around the same time, Canadian law enforcement called Pierce County to report Eaton had been seen illegally crossing into Canada.
Royal Mountain Canadian Police (RMCP) officers reportedly tracked Eaton from the border crossing to a hospital in Surrey, British Columbia, where they confronted him on immigration charges. After a brief foot pursuit, Eaton was arrested by the RCMP.
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Upon Eaton’s arrest, RCMP investigators located a handgun of the same type and caliber that was used to kill Scaff, as well as blood-stained clothes.
Additional court documents from Pierce County obtained by Patch shortly after Eaton’s capture show Scaff’s murder wasn’t the first time Eaton had a run-in with the law.
Along with a previous felony firearm conviction in 2015, a complaint was filed Jan. 8 that accused Eaton of second-degree malicious mischief for an incident in 2018 involving Scaff’s mother, Melissa.
A Probable Cause affidavit states Eaton allegedly used a baseball bat to smash out every window of Melissa’s vehicle during an argument on May 10, 2018. Damages were estimated to cost around $1,500.
It’s unclear why the incident in May 2018 wasn’t filed until January 2019, just weeks before Eaton allegedly shot Scaff.
Cassandra’s family and friends have created a GoFundMe campaign to raise money for her memorial service. In just over 24 hours, 58 people have helped raise $3,965 of the campaign’s $5,000 goal.
Click here to make a donation (link redirects to GoFundMe.com).
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Images via Pierce County Sheriff’s Office/@PierceSheriff, GoFundMe
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