BREWERTON — On Feb. 7, when her 48-year-old husband, Isaac Eames, killed their 21-year-old son, Troy, and shot his wife in the face, Karen Eames was clearly the victim of a brutal crime committed at the family home in Brewerton.
On May 26, however, her status as a victim changed dramatically. Onondaga County Sheriff Eugene Conway announced that Karen Eames had been arrested and charged with grand larceny and criminal possession of stolen property.
Conway appeared at a press conference that day along with District Attorney Bill Fitzpatrick, who said the Eames couple collaborated on the theft of more than $529,000 from the sheriff’s office, where Isaac Eames worked as a civil deputy. Karen Eames, 46, worked as a secretary at Liverpool High School.
Her charge is for thefts of more than $50,000. She’s accused of sharing the personal account to which her husband transferred money from a sheriff’s office account.
The thefts attributed to the Eames couple occurred between January 2020 and July 2021, Fitzpatrick said. In all, the investigation revealed 13 transfers and two additional transfers that were flagged and stopped.
Between their two jobs, the couple legitimately earned approximately $115,000 annually. But they had just bought a new riverfront house for more than $200,000, Fitzpatrick said, and they frequently visited local casinos and tourist destinations such as Orlando, Toronto and New York City.
After the murder-suicide and shooting of Karen Eames, a GoFundMe account raised nearly $100,000 for her and their surviving son, Andrew.
Now GoFundMe and the district attorney’s office are working to refund the donations. Late last week, Eames’ attorney, Michael Vavonese, agreed to freeze the account and transfer the money to the district attorney.
“If we get permission,” Fitzpatrick said, “we’ll start making reimbursements now. If we don’t get her permission, we will hold onto the money, so I’m optimistic people will get their money back.”
The DA has subpoenaed GoFundMe for a complete list of donors’ names and addresses.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for GoFundMe pointed to its “GoFundMe Giving Guarantee,” which allows donors to apply for refunds if they are concerned about where their money went.
When Karen Eames was arraigned last Thursday, her attorney questioned her culpability.
“I sincerely hope that as we go through this,” Vavonese said, “we find that there is some misinterpretation or confusion of events.”
Eames pleaded not guilty and was released from jail until her next court appearance in July.
