Jason Eaton appears during his trial in Chittenden Superior criminal court in Burlington on Monday, September 14, 2026. Eaton is accused of shooting three Palestinian students in November of 2023. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDigger BURLINGTON – Jurors heard from Jason Eaton saying that he was act ing under the direction of  voices he was hearing through his FM radio from CIA and government intelligence agencies before authorities allege he opened fire and injured three Palestinian students. Parts of a recording of Eaton talking to his attorneys was played in court Wednesday on the third day of his trial where he faces three counts of attempted second-degree murder in the shooting that took place Nov. 25, 2023, in Burlington.  Also Wednesday, Eaton’s sister, Amy Rubright, told jurors of her brother’s longstanding difficulties with finding and keeping a job, housing and relationships.  Dr. Fabian Saleh, a forensic psychiatrist with The Johns Hopkins Hospital in Maryland, testified Wednesday for the defense that he relied heavily on the recording as well as other medical and court records and his own interviews with Eaton in reaching his conclusion that Eaton was legally insane at the time of the shooting.  At one point in the recording taken five days after the shooting, Eaton disputed that it was a hate crime. “I think it’s a love crime,” he told his attorneys.  At the start of the conversation Eaton sounded reluctant in the recording to even talk to his attorneys.  “Do you have security clearance?” he asked his lawyers. “I may have gotten myself mixed up with some intelligence agencies.”  He agreed to talk to them after receiving reassurance that they were trying to help him.  Eaton describes in the recording that prior to the shooting he had been hearing voices through his portable FM radio tuned to public radio from government agencies, the CIA and the Israeli Mossad.  Eaton added in the recording that he had been keeping watch from his apartment on North Prospect Street in Burlington on a residence across the street where a Jewish family lived, and he viewed it his job to protect them. READ MORE The voices he said he was hearing through the radio in the beginning validated and praised him, he said in the recording. They then began to direct him, he said, including on the evening of Nov. 25, 2023, when they told him to shoot people. On that evening, Eaton added in the recording, he saw three men on the street near the house he was watching walking on the street wearing keffiyehs, a traditional scarf that is a symbol of Palestinian identity. “I’ve been sitting for six months and I’ve never seen them,” Eaton said in the recording, adding that he got a “very strong” message from a voice in his ear bud through bluetooth that he had been hearing. “Go stop them now,” he said of the voice directing him, as the men appeared to be near the house he saw as his duty to protect. During the recording played in court, Eaton could also be heard talking about the conflict in Gaza, hostages, armageddon and praying before the shooting.  He said he also heard the voice of his grandfather.  “If you don’t do it, I will,” he said his grandfather’s voice told him, with the voice adding, “This is your chance to make the right choice and join us in heaven.”  Saleh, on the witness stand Wednesday, said he diagnosed Eaton with a psychotic disorder that includes delusions and hallucinations. “As a result of that mental disease he lacked the ability to appreciate the criminality of his conduct,” Saleh told jurors under questioning from Joshua O’Hara, Eaton’s attorney. Saleh described delusions as fixed, false beliefs and Eaton was experiencing them at the time of the shooting and leading up to it.  Saleh said he didn’t believe Eaton was faking the condition or that his actions may have been induced from marijuana use or alcohol. Under cross-examination from Chittenden County State’s Attorney Sarah George, Saleh continued to push back on the suggestion that at the time of the shootings Eaton may have been acting under the influence of marijuana or alcohol. Saleh said that after the shooting, Eaton reported carrying on as normal, taking a shower, sleeping, and waiting in his apartment for authorities. George also pressed Saleh on medical records from the state Department of Corrections. Eaton has been held in custody since his arrest a day after the shooting. Medical personnel there, George said, had diagnosed Eaton with narcissistic personality disorder.  Saleh said that may be because those medical providers had not seen the recording he did, and also might never have asked Eaton about delusions. In addition, Saleh said, Eaton was told by his attorneys not to discuss details of the case against him with corrections staff.  Eaton, 51, is charged with three counts of attempted second-degree murder for allegedly shooting  Hisham Awartani, Kinnan Abdalhamid and Tahseen Aliahmad on the evening of Nov. 25, 2023, as the three U.S college students walked on North Prospect Street in Burlington.  The men were treated for their injuries and one remains paralyzed.  The prosecution closed its case Tuesday, presenting forensic evidence they say ties Eaton to the shootings, including a handgun seized from his apartment that matched casings recovered from the scene. The trial is expected to continue through the week. An expert for the state is expected to testify that Eaton was not insane at the time of the shootings. Amy Rubright at the trial of Jason Eaton in Chittenden Superior criminal court in Burlington on Wednesday, September 16, 2026. Pool photo by Paul Heintz/Boston Globe Rubright, Eaton’s sister, told jurors Wednesday of her brother, “He’s always had struggles.” She said Eaton had moved around a lot, having lived in Vermont, New York and “out west.”  Rubright said while she has had limited contact with Eaton in recent years she recalled an odd phone call she received from him in December 2021 when he was living out of his truck in Syracuse, New York.  In that call, Rubright said, he spoke to her about hearing messages and him being a “lightbearer” and how lightbearers needed to join together to save the world, and demons did not appear to be a threat to lightbearers. She said Eaton said since he had his own struggles that he made a good lightbearer to help others because he would understand other peoples’ hardships. Rubright said she knew that her brother smoked marijuana. She also testified that she never noticed any major changes in his behavior from smoking marijuana. Also, Rubright said, at times Eaton would refer to himself as a “whistleblower,” voicing problems at places where he worked.  Sally Adams, Chittenden County chief deputy state’s attorney, asked Rubright if that might be the reason Eaton has had difficulty holding down a job. “Yes,” Rubright responded. Read the story on VTDigger here: ‘Go stop them now,’ Burlington man says a voice told him before shooting 3 Palestinian students, recording reveals in trial. ...read more read less