The Twisted Mind of Joseph Duncan lll
Joseph Duncan lll--Will he put his victim on the stand?
On July 29th, The judge ruled that Joseph E. Duncan lll may represent himself at the sentencing trial. A jury at the death-penalty hearing will decide whether Duncan is sentenced to death or will spend life in prison without parole
Jury selection is to resume on Aug. 6, Lodge said.
Duncan's attorneys will continue with the case on standby, and Duncan can still get help from them in representing himself. But now, there is a possibility he could cross examine his surviving victim, Shasta Groene, if she takes the stand. But Russell says, "That is a horrifying prospect for everyone who looks at what could happen in this case. It may be a factor in whether she does testify." Russell says attorneys could use Groene's earlier statements, rather than have her testify.
How we got to this point in time:
Duncan was born in 1963, and by age 16, Duncan had raped thirteen younger boys, some at gunpoint. In 1980 Duncan was convicted of the rape and torture of a 14 yr old Tacoma boy. In March 1982 was sentenced to prison for 20 years, but Duncan served, only, 14 years.
In 1994 he was granted parole to a halfway house in Seattle. Then in April 1997 he violated parole by having contact with a child, and smoking pot. Next he fled to Kansas City, where in August 1997 he was arrested by the FBI, and sent to Washington. He was released from prison again in 2000 and enrolled to study computing in Fargo, N.D.
Duncan became a dean's list computer science student in North Dakota before being arrested and charged with killing four family members and kidnapping and molesting 8-year-old Shasta Groene in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.
Duncan's next encounter with the law came in April, 2005, when he was released on $15,000 bail after being charged with molesting a boy in Minnesota. Police in Fargo, where his last-known address was, had been looking for Duncan since May, when he failed to check in with a probation agent. (How the hell does this happen!)
Shasta was awakened at her home and watched as her mother Brenda Groene, 13-year-old brother Slade and Mark McKenzie, her mother’s boyfriend, were tied up, the document said. She and Dylan were also bound and placed in the pickup truck. The children were later transferred to a stolen red Jeep and taken to the first of three campsites, she said.
Shasta and Dylan were repeatedly molested.
Duncan videotaped the molestations, along with several attempts to kill the children.
Duncan brought the children to three different campsites, including the one in western Montana where Dylan’s body was eventually found.
Duncan showed Shasta the hammer he claimed to have used to kill the adults.
Duncan told Shasta to call him by his nickname “Jet.” This is the name used by the author of the online Blog believed to have been written by Duncan in which he complained about life as a registered sex offender and suggested that he was about to commit an act of violence.
Shasta and Dylan Groene were discovered to be missing on May 16, when police found the bodies of the girl’s mother, older brother and mother’s boyfriend bound and bludgeoned to death.
On July 2, 2005, A Denny's waitress, Amber Deahn, in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, thought she recognized a girl who had come into the restaurant early Saturday morning at 1:50 am, as 8-year-old Shasta Groene, reported missing since her family was found bludgeoned to death in May.
Waitresses said Duncan tore down a missing poster for the Groene children on his way into the restaurant with Shasta. They talked him into buying a milkshake for the girl as they notified the Sheriff's department, and stalled for time.
Police later entered the restaurant and arrested Duncan. When one of the officers asked Shasta where her brother was, she replied "My brother is in heaven." The girl was then removed to a local hospital for observation and care.
Dylan was believed to have died about a week before Shasta’s July 2 rescue. His remains were found at a remote western Montana camp site, and later identified through DNA.
On October 16, 2006, Duncan plead guilty to three counts of first-degree murder and three counts of kidnapping for the deaths of Brenda, Slade, and Mark. In an agreement reached with prosecutors, Duncan, 43, will receive three consecutive life sentences on the kidnapping charges, which stem from the manner in which Duncan detained the victims before their deaths. His sentencing on the murder charges has been delayed until the completion of his case in federal court for crimes that allegedly occurred against Shasta and Dylan Groene after they were kidnapped from the family's home.
In a January 23, 2007 interview, Duncan admitted to killing three other children in the California area. Detectives are checking into this information. Authorities believe he may have committed more murders across the US, and in Washington State.
On December 2, 2007, Duncan appeared in Federal court in Boise, Idaho. At this hearing he plead guilty to a total of 10 federal felonies related to the Idaho kidnapping and murders.
Since that time there has been delay after delay for the sentencing portion of this case.
In May, 2008, U.S. District Judge Edward Lodge suspended the sentencing after Duncan asked for permission to dump his team of lawyers and serve as his own attorney. Lodge ordered a series of mental-health evaluations, then ruled last week that Duncan is at least mentally competent to take part in the sentencing phase of the case.
The judge's ruling, on Tuesday, will finally push this tragic event to it's end.
On top of the fact that this pervert was allowed to roam among us, all of these years, he was allowed to be released early, and now killed a little boy and 3 older people in such a brutal way.... they also allowed this trial to be postponed so many times that Shasta Groene, and the family she has left, have been held hostage to the slow justice system as they play games with the rights of this, serial killing, predator.
What about Shasta's rights? She got a verdict of "life" the minute he kidnapped her.
And what about the rights of the other victims of Duncan's, and the victims of his that we don't know about?
We'll be keeping an eye on this trial.
Resources......
http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/07/28/duncan.slayings.ap/index.html
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2008078728_duncanslayings29.html
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8485031/page/2/
http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/serial_killers/notorious/joseph_duncan/10.html
http://www.pe.com/sharedcontent/southwest/pecom/duncan/
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,167234,00.html
http://jaimesite.homestead.com/josepheduncaniii.html
http://crime.about.com/b/2005/07/02/shasta-groene-found-in-idaho-brother-presumed-dead.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_E._Duncan_III
Interesting reads...
Joseph E. Duncan's--The Fifth Nail Blog spot... http://fifthnail.blogspot.com.nyud.net:8090/
UPDATES...
To comment on this story click here
08/27/08
Death to a pedophile
A federal jury in Boise Idaho has passed the death sentence on Joseph E. Duncan lll.
It only took the jury three hours to come to the decisions.
Duncan, a convicted pedophile originally from Tacoma, Wash., kidnapped Dylan Groene and his 8-year-old sister in May 2005 after murdering their older brother, their mother and her fiance near Coeur d'Alene. Duncan took the two children deep into the Lolo National Forest, where he tortured and sexually abused them over several weeks. He finally shot Dylan point-blank in the head while his sister watched.
Duncan smiled as the verdict was passed to the judge.
Duncan may now be brought to Riverside County, Calif., to face a murder charge there for the 1997 slaying of 10-year-old Anthony Martinez.
Read resource details and more...
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/376699_duncan28.html
http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/2008/08/pedophile-sente.html
http://www.kndo.com/Global/story.asp?S=8910933&nav=menu484_2_8
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/08/27/duncan.death.ap/index.html
08/27/08 Update 12:02 pm PDT
A federal jury begun deliberating the fate of convicted child killer Joseph Edward Duncan III on Wednesday after he declined to plead for his life.
"This defendant is dangerous. He is a predator who takes pride in his work," Assistant U.S. Attorney Traci Whelan said. "He earned this day. His actions ... call out for the death penalty."
Read resource details...
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2008141827_apidduncanslayings2ndldwritethru.html
08/27/08
Both sides rest case
Both sides rested their case Tuesday in the death sentencing hearing of Joseph Edward Duncan III, who has been convicted of torturing, abusing and murdering a 9-year-old boy in Montana in 2005.
A federal jury could begin deliberating as early as Wednesday whether Duncan lives or dies.
Dylan Groene's father and grandmother on Tuesday offered a personal glimpse into the life of the impish third-grader.
His grandmother, Darlene Torres, described a shy but affectionate young boy who loved being outside, whether he was playing in the creek near their northern Idaho home or riding a four-wheeler around their property.
His father, Steve Groene, said Dylan was protective of his younger sister, Shasta, stepping in to protect her when older siblings tried to pick on her.
Read full resource details...
http://www.salon.com/wires/ap/us/2008/08/26/D92QC6L00_duncan_slayings/
08/23/08
Closing Arguments in Duncan Case
Joseph E. Duncan lll deemed eligible for death penalty
Duncan told the jurors, in his closing arguments,"You people really don't have any clue yet of the true heinousness of what I've done. I was not searching for a child, but rather I was on a rampage."
"I should actually thank the government for helping me get my eye for an eye by showing you the evidence that you've seen, the videos," Duncan said.
Duncan told the jurors that by presenting the evidence, the government was "helping me to take away your heart and your innocence."
"That's what they have done, and I should thank them, but I won't," Duncan said.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Wendy Olson outlined the aggravating factors that must be met for Duncan to be eligible for the death penalty and then walked the jury step-by-step through the state's case, showing them the aggravating factors in Duncan's writings, Shasta Groene's interviews, the physical evidence and the videos that Duncan filmed with him sexually abusing and physically assaulting Dylan Groene to near death.
Duncan pleaded to the 10 federal felony counts against him for the suffering he inflicted on his two victims, Shasta Groene and murdered brother Dylan.
The jury deliberated for only two hours before issuing its unanimous ruling. When the hearing resumes next week, jurors must decide whether Joseph Edward Duncan III should be put to death for killing Dylan Groene in 2005.
The jury not only found Duncan eligible for the death penalty but agreed to every single aggravating factor. Duncan waived his right to poll the jury and showed no emotions while Judge Edward Lodge read the verdict.
The jury's decision after roughly a week of testimony only caps the first of two phases in the sentencing trial.
Duncan will have a chance to plead for his life before the jurors next week as he continues to represent himself as his own attorney.
It's not known if Shasta Groene will testify or not. If she does, Duncan would have the right to question her.
Resource details...
http://www.kxly.com/Global/story.asp?s=8885820
http://www.kxly.com/Global/story.asp?s=8885572
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20080822/duncan-slayings/
08/22/08
Closing Arguments to start in Duncan case
Joseph E. Duncan lll videos shown to jury
Closing arguments in the sentencing hearing will begin Friday morning at 9:00 am PDT. Then the case will go to the jury.
Thursday morning federal prosecutors began showing jurors graphic videos of Joseph Duncan physically and emotionally abusing young Dylan Groene in a remote Montana mining cabin.
The first two videos showed Duncan sexually assaulting Dylan.
The third video was the darkest of the clips, a near snuff film shot by Duncan that showed him hanging the young boy with wire while Duncan railed at God and alternately sang, screamed and pleasured himself while Dylan writhed in pain.
As they watched the videos several of the jurors' eyes were welling up and some looked away briefly before continuing to watch. One juror put her hand over her mouth at one point.
In a case that was anticipated to take up to four weeks federal prosecutors wrapped up their case against Joseph Duncan in less than seven days.
Duncan, on the other hand, wrapped up his defense in less than five minutes.
After prosecutors rested surprisingly Duncan decided to call one witness to the stand. Himself.
"I have no statement prepared I was just intending to sit and answer any questions the government may have," Duncan said after being sworn in.
Judge Edward Lodge asked Duncan if he had any questions for himself which Duncan did not.
Judge Lodge asked if he was calling any witnesses for himself and Duncan said he wasn't.
Prosecutors did not cross-examine Duncan.
Resource details...
http://www.kxly.com/Global/story.asp?S=8878784
http://www.kxly.com/Global/story.asp?s=8879992
http://www.idahopress.com/?id=12685
08/21/08
Joseph E. Duncan lll Trial Week in Review
Joseph E. Duncan lll Updates
On Friday, August 15th, a letter was read to a jury who holds Joseph E. Duncan's life, literally in their hands.
The letter was written by Duncan to his mother, and was found in the pocket of his coat, never sent.
In the letter Duncan blamed society for feeding the evil in his heart.
Prosecutorsalso played video clips Duncan made of the children while they camped deep in Montana’s Lolo National Forest.
In one, he taunted the children, joking that he would take them home. “Help, they kidnapped me, they won’t let me go home or nothing!” Duncan says in the video.
Another clip showed a strange campfire ritual in which he said they were burning their wishes by burning a log covered in writing.
“All of our wishes being burned,” Duncan says, off camera. “My wishes for forgiveness, your wishes for ...”
“Going home,” both children interject.
Jurors, on Monday, got a glimpse into Joseph Duncan's past and his travels across the country during the fourth day of testimony at his sentencing hearing.
Investigators connected a post on Duncan's blog with the timing of his abrupt leave from the Fargo apartment. The blog post read, "I am scared, alone and confused, and my reaction is to strike out toward the perceived source of my misery, society. My intent is to harm society as much as I can, then die."
Another person from Duncan's past, Dr. Richard Wacksman, testified on Monday. The doctor, who lived in Fargo, said he often loaned Duncan money and helped him get a car, pay for college tuition and get an apartment.
Wacksman said he loaned Duncan $6,500 in March of 2005 for a lawyer when Duncan was charged with child molestation in Minnesota, but Duncan cashed the check and disappeared.
One of the items seized from his vehicle after Joseph Edward Duncan III was arrested with Shasta Groene at an Idaho restaurant was a GPS device on which he had marked several points of interest. Several of the locations marked on the GPS were homes, including a daycare center, at which play equipment was in the yard.
Between Fargo and Montana, Duncan marked seven homes, including a daycare center. All were in rural areas, had play equipment in the yard and were visible from a major highway nearby, jurors were told.
That description also fits the home of Dylan and Shasta Groene in Idaho.
The sole survivor of Joseph Duncan's murderous rampage took center stage as jurors heard from Shasta Groene Tuesday, August 19.
Shasta's testimony at Joseph Duncan's federal sentencing hearing in Boise is being presented through a series of recorded interviews she had with police in July of 2005. In the interviews Shasta tells investigators about the night her family was killed and what happened to her and Dylan in the Montana woods while they were in captivity.
In great detail Shasta described everything that happened, showing why her testimony was so pivotal to the prosecution's case.
As the interviews played out to jurors one covered their mouth while several others looked on in disbelief as they watched Shasta describe in great detail what happened during the seven weeks she was held captive by Joseph Duncan in the Lolo National Forest.
As federal prosecutors played a series of interviews with Shasta describing the most horrific weeks of her young life Joseph Duncan looked away from the video, closing eyes his eyes for minutes at a time.
Shasta says Duncan accidentally shot and killed Dylan. In the interview Shasta tells Capt. Mattos that Duncan cried when Dylan was killed and then she helped Duncan dispose of her little brother's body.
In the interview Shasta says Duncan told her he felt bad for killing her family members.
Shasta says "he thought God was telling him to do it" and that "he was out looking for children to kidnap."
Shasta Groene told police that at one point Duncan brandished the claw hammer that he'd used to fatally bludgeon three members of her family.
"This is what I killed your parents with," he told Shasta and her brother, Dylan, then 8 and 9, "and I think he said, 'I'm gonna kill you with it too,' " Shasta told Kootenai County sheriff's Capt. Dan Mattos in an interview at Kootenai Medical Center. "Me and Dylan were crying."
When Duncan's 12-gauge shotgun was recovered it went through a series of test at an FBI laboratory and an expert took the stand Wednesday said that they tried several times using various methods to make the shotgun go off by accident and it never did. The FBI agent said he had to apply a normal trigger pull of about five pounds of pressure to get the weapon to fire.
The testimony puts into doubt Duncan's story that he shot Dylan by accident. In Shasta's interview Duncan had said that Duncan was searching for a beer in a box when the shotgun accidentally went off, striking Dylan in the abdomen.
Shasta said in the taped interview that Duncan told her he had to then shoot Dylan in the head because there was nothing more they could do for him.
However, a forensic pediatrician who testified Wednesday says that isn't necessarily true. Based on Shasta's description of Dylan's first shotgun injury, it's likely Dylan could've survived had Duncan taken him to a hospital.
The jury also heard testimony from a doctor who examined Dylan's remains, which included 1,700 tiny bone fragments recovered from a fire pit and a culvert near Duncan's campsite in Montana.
Resource details...
Be sure to keep an eye on www.kxly.com for updates on this sentencing phase of Joseph Duncan's federal trial. Will Duncan be sentenced to death???
http://www.in-forum.com/News/articles/211640
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20080816/duncan-slayings/
http://crime.about.com/b/2008/08/19/duncan-targeted-other-families-with-children.htm
http://www.kxly.com/Global/story.asp?S=8858759
http://www.kxly.com/Global/story.asp?s=8868228
http://www.kxly.com/Global/story.asp?s=8874945
http://www.spokesmanreview.com/sections/duncan/?ID=257513
08/02/08
Duncan's Lawyer's want out of jury selection
Joseph Duncan is allowed to represent himself Which allows his former defense attorney's to be standby counsel with the purpose of assisting him with any legal questions.
U.S. District Judge Edward Lodge told the attorneys that they could be responsible for selecting the jurors who will decide if Duncan should be sentenced to death on three of 10 federal charges involving the 2005 kidnapping of two northern Idaho children, and the slaying of one of them. Duncan earlier pleaded guilty to those charges.
But the standby attorneys - Mark Larranaga, Thomas Monaghan and Judy Clarke - objected to that proposal, saying that it would put them in a position to render ineffective assistance of counsel.
"Standby counsel, if required to conduct voir dire for Mr. Duncan, would be effectively eroding Mr. Duncan's right to self-representation while simultaneously providing ineffective representation," the lawyers wrote. "Neither standby counsel, nor this court, should ask Mr. Duncan to permit this trial role by standby counsel."
Duncan's comment about differing "ideologies" shows that the standby lawyers and Duncan would have "significantly different approaches to the overall strategies in this case; this necessarily would include the content of voir dire," the standby team wrote. "Standby counsel are therefore placed in a position to ask questions that would be strategically reasonable if counsel were in control of the case, but which will be in conflict with Mr. Duncan."
Federal prosecutors Traci Whelan, Wendy Olson and Tom Moss said they felt there was no legal reason not to have the standby team conduct jury selection. After all, they said, Duncan himself requested that his standby team handle jury selection if the court declined to do it, and attorneys on both sides could make it clear to the prospective jurors that once the hearing got under way, the standby attorneys would take a smaller role and Duncan would be representing himself.
Lodge found that the request wasn't specific enough for him to grant, and told Duncan to work with his standby lawyers on that or similar requests.
Duncan earlier pleaded guilty in state court to murdering McKenzie and Slade and Brenda Groene. Sentencing on those state counts is not at issue here.
The Federal charges are as follows:
Count One charges Duncan with Kidnapping Resulting in Death, Count Two charges him with Kidnapping, Counts Three and Four charge him with Aggravated Sexual Abuse of a Minor, and Count Five charges him with Sexual Exploitation of a Child Resulting in Death.
Read full resource details...
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2008087019_apidduncanslayings.html
http://www.kgw.com/sharedcontent/APStories/stories/D929RLQ81.html
More to come...