Stepson charged with killing former KC area veterinarian; father wants death penalty

Someone beat Jon Eason’s wife to death last week in their home in Burlington, Colorado, a town on I-70 not far from the Kansas border.

His wife, Cynthia Campbell Eason, 50, a native of Topeka, was a veterinarian who had worked in the Kansas City area.

Police arrested two young men for her murder. One of them was Jon Eason’s 19-year-old son, Dylan, who now stands accused of killing his stepmother.

“As far as I’m concerned, I don’t have a son anymore,” Eason told KSNT News in Topeka on Thursday. “I think the two should face the death penalty.”

Eason is in Topeka planning his wife’s Saturday funeral.

They would have celebrated their fourth anniversary on Sunday.

Eason has poured his grief out on his Facebook page over the last week, beginning with his announcement that “my wife Cindy was found dead this afternoon by the police.”

“I'm in Topeka now, we did the funeral arrangements for Cindy, tomorrow we meet the minister to do the service,” he wrote Thursday.

“I have decided to be a pallbearer and carry my wife to her resting place. I owe her so much, I would trade her places anytime.”

Eason told KSNT that he and his wife had a long-distance marriage that worked well for them. He is a pilot who works out of Texas. His wife worked out of Colorado where she was known for her special way with horses.

According to her obituary, she was born in Topeka and graduated from Kansas State Veterinary School in 1990. In Kansas she worked at animal hospitals in Bucyrus, St. Francis and at the Bonner Springs Animal Care Center.

“She was such a good doctor and she was so smart, and I mean, you know, a veterinarian's gotta heal an animal that can't tell them what's wrong,” Eason told 9 News in Denver. “And people in this town loved her, and people in Kansas City loved her.

“What did I love? Well, those blue eyes and her laugh. That deep laugh she had.”

Eason’s son and Isaiah Churchwell, 24, are held without bail waiting for their next court appearance.

Police believe they entered Cynthia’s home on April 29, killed her and stole items from the house, according to Fox 31 in Denver. Eason believes they stole valuables to pay for their drug habit.

The two are each charged with first-degree murder, first-degree burglary, aggravated robbery and theft.

“We are so grateful for all the kind words about my wife’s passing. This is my most difficult time ever. I cry, I scream but mostly I sit so confused,” Eason wrote just hours after his wife’s murder.

“I am wondering as a parent, why I’m so insistent on my son and his friend receive the death penalty for killing my wife over simple greed. I have never felt hate before, but I’m so engulfed in hate, that I want my kid and his friend to pay with their lives. I’m ashamed of feeling this way, I know Cindy would not like my anger and madness that I’m living with.”

Eason’s daughter, Stephanie Eason, told KSNT that she supports her father’s feelings that her brother should pay with his life for what he has allegedly done.

“Nobody wants to see their little brother die,” she said. “I love him so much, but he did something so terrible.”

This story was originally published May 7, 2016 at 7:17 AM with the headline "Stepson charged with killing former KC area veterinarian; father wants death penalty."