Arraignment set for man in wife’s death

LEWISTON – An ailing 70-year-old Spalding man accused of fatally shooting his wife is scheduled to be arraigned next month on a first-degree murder charge.

Joe Gilroy Eagan waived a preliminary hearing on Wednesday. He is charged in the shooting death of his 74-year-old wife, Louella Eagan.

Joe Eagan was arrested Feb. 8 after calling his son-in-law to say he’d shot his wife at their home north of Spalding, according to Nez Perce County sheriff’s reports.

Deputies found the woman lying in a pool of blood with a gunshot wound to the head. They also found a .357-caliber revolver with one spent cartridge.

According to deputies’ reports, Eagan said he believed his wife was taking money from their checking account without telling him, and that he “should have taken care of it a long time ago.”

Eagan reportedly has advanced Huntington’s Disease, a central nervous system disorder.

A motion by his lawyer will allow him to be moved to a nursing home. The arraignment has been set for July 14.