Share this @internewscast.com
Background: The home in Wichita, Kansas, where Eastburn allegedly beat a woman with a hammer (Google Maps). Inset: Jason Eastburn (Sedgwick County Jail).
A Kansas man, aged 43, is accused of embarking on a deadly mission on Christmas Eve, arming himself with a hammer before approaching a residence where multiple vehicles were parked outside.
Upon a woman opening the door with her 1-month-old infant in her arms, the alleged assailant, identified as Jason Eastburn, launched an attack. Authorities report he repeatedly struck her head with the hammer, necessitating four staples to close the wound, according to a probable cause arrest affidavit made public on Monday.
The attack occurred shortly after 9:30 a.m. on December 24 at a residence located on the 7200 block of 24th Street in Wichita. A 22-year-old woman contacted police, reporting that a man in a blue button-up shirt had broken in and was attempting to kill them.
Upon their arrival, officers discovered Eastburn in a park opposite the residence, sporting a forehead injury. They promptly apprehended him. One of the victims recounted that she was cradling her baby when she heard a knock and assumed it was a salesperson at the door.
However, the visitor had a far more sinister agenda.
“As she opened the door, the man smiled and declared, ‘I’m going to kill you,'” police noted. “He then revealed a hammer from behind his back, forcefully entered the home, and struck her an unknown number of times on the left side of her head.”
Other people in the home, including a 76-year-old grandmother, grabbed the man, which allowed the woman and her baby to escape to another room, the affidavit stated. After wrestling with some of the home’s residents, Eastburn dropped the hammer and ran to the park, where he was arrested.
A paramedic said on the way to the hospital, Eastburn told her “I killed a woman over there,” according to the affidavit. Post-Miranda, he allegedly told officers he often drove by the home and saw several cars in the driveway.
“Jason told Officer Byers he wanted to kill someone in a home with a lot of people in it, and believed this home matched his needs,” cops wrote.
Eastburn also told cops that the hammer he used in the alleged attack was “sentimental” to him because it once belonged to his father. He inherited it, along with the home he lived in, and he said being alone “triggers” him emotionally. He stated he may suffer from a mental illness but was not taking any medication to address it.
The suspect stated it was his “intention to kill” the woman who answered the door and that he was “guilty of attempted murder.”
“Jason said that he knew what he did was wrong, and that he was embarrassed and ashamed of his actions,” cops wrote. “He said that he has had homicidal thoughts for a while and referenced issues from his childhood. Jason said he wanted to stop his family’s generational violence. He was relieved to be in a place where he could no longer hurt anyone.”
Eastburn is facing a slew of charges, including attempted murder in the first degree, aggravated battery and aggravated endangering a child. He remains in the Sedgwick County Jail without bond.