Long Sentence Given Man, 71, For 3 Killings Taber Guilty Of ‘91, ‘96 Murders; Has Intellect Of Young Boy

Sun., Oct. 19, 1997

Associated Press

A 71-year-old Pendleton, Ore., man convicted of killing a woman and two young boys will likely die in prison.

Benton County Judge Vic VanderSchoor on Friday sentenced Ernest Lee Taber to 54 years in prison, at the top of the standard sentencing range for the three crimes.

Even with time off for good behavior, the sentence would run 45 years.

After the sentence was ordered, it was unclear whether Taber understood his fate.

A pretrial mental evaluation concluded he has the intellect of a 10- to 12-year-old because of complications at his birth. The evaluation concluded he was sane and competent to stand trial.

Taber spoke only a few mumbled words at the sentencing and directed his remarks to the family of 6-year-old Galen Michael, whom he beat to death with a shovel last fall.

“I’d like to tell her family and folks I’m sorry,” said Taber, referring to Galen’s mother. “That’s all I have to say.”

“That’s all I have to say.”

At one point, Taber smiled briefly when his attorneys whispered to him after the sentencing.

In August, a jury found Taber guilty of second-degree murder in the 1996 killing of Galen Michael.

He also was found guilty of first-degree murder in the 1991 slaying of 3-year-old Bernard “B.J.” Eaves and second-degree murder in the slaying of the boy’s mother, Cindy Lou Eaves.

Prosecutors said Taber, who had been living with Eaves in her Plymouth trailer home, beat Cindy Eaves to death after they began fighting. He then took her body, and her son, to a remote site east of Plymouth, where he buried the body and beat the child to death and buried him.

Prosecutors allege Taber killed Galen while on a fishing trip.

All three bodies were found in September 1996 buried outside Plymouth.

Deputy Prosecutor John Jensen requested an exceptional sentence based in part on the vulnerability of the two child victims.

The defense sought a lower term so Taber might have more privileges in prison, and suggested Taber’s limited mental ability be grounds for leniency.

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