Posted on 07/12/2005 2:49:18 PM PDT by Peace4EarthNow
COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho - A convicted sex offender, already facing kidnapping charges in the abduction of two Idaho children, will be charged with murder in the slayings of three people found dead at the children's home, a prosecutor said Tuesday.
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The kidnapping charges against Joseph Edward Duncan III will be handled in federal court because the youngsters were taken across a state line, Kootenai County Prosecutor Bill Douglas said. Federal prosecution will follow the state's case, he said.
Duncan, 42, is being held in the abduction of Dylan and Shasta Groene, who were declared missing in May after police found the bound and beaten bodies of their mother, her boyfriend and the children's older brother in their home.
Duncan was arrested after 8-year-old Shasta was spotted with him in a Coeur d'Alene restaurant on July 2. The body of Dylan, 9, was found at a remote campsite in western Montana last week after Shasta gave authorities information about where the children had been held.
A closed probable cause hearing to consider evidence against Duncan was scheduled Tuesday, and Duncan likely will appear in court Wednesday to hear the charges against him.
Douglas said he will ask that Duncan be denied bail.
Kootenai County Sheriff Rocky Watson has said he believes the victims in the house were killed so the perpetrator could kidnap the two young siblings for the purposes of sex. He has said the victims were apparently chosen at random, although the killings were carefully planned.
Authorities believe Duncan is also the sole person responsible for the deaths of Brenda Kay Groene, 40; Slade Groene, 13; and Mark Edward McKenzie, 37.
Shasta has been released from Kootenai Medical Center to her father, Steve Groene.
Duncan was released on $15,000 bail earlier this year in Becker County, Minn., after being charged with molesting a 6-year-old boy. Police in Fargo, N.D., where Duncan lived, had been looking for him since he failed to check in with a probation agent there in May.
Police said he got the $15,000 from a Fargo businessman, Joe Crary, 51, who said he became acquainted with Duncan on bicycle trails around Fargo.
"In my contact with him, I saw him like many others apparently did — he was polite, soft spoken, and seemed sincere in turning his life around," Crary said in a statement faxed Monday night to The Forum newspaper of Fargo.
"I was trying to help him get things straightened out, just like I have tried to help many others over the years," he told the newspaper.
Crary said Duncan told him he was working on a college degree and holding down two jobs. "Furthermore, he assured me he was innocent of the charges in Becker County," Crary wrote in his statement.
God be with you, Shasta.
Looking on the bright side, Idaho does have the death penalty.
I think that lethal injection is impractical where sexual predators are concerned.
Sign me up for "The Squad!"
Just let a few of us Freepers at him. We could save the good taxpayers of Idaho a lot of money.
I'd pony up $15 to buy a nice strong rope for hanging the sob from the tallest tree.
I wonder how Crary - and the judge who virtually let Duncan go - can sleep at night. I would be having nightmares for the rest of my life.
naa that is too good for this guy.. nail his hide to a barn door, rusty knife.. you get the idea
Duncan seems to have been a con artist as well as a violent pedophile. People were always giving him money - not only Crary, but many other people paid his bail, gave him spending money, etc. at various points in his life.
He lived mostly in Florida and had a strange relationship with a doctor - a pediatrician - who had lived here for awhile and then moved to ND. The doctor (a Dr. Wacksman, who is apparently licensed in Florida but doesn't practice here) wanted Duncan to come and live with him and his kids, but a judge said no.
Very strange. Duncan was clearly a dangerous pyschopath, but he was also a sociopath, and many of them have very attractive personalities that always make people want to help them. (I have my doubts about Dr. Wacksman's good intentions, though - he was just too involved with Duncan not to know what was going on.)
Seems to me these pedophiles are attracted to one another and find each other. That said: the people who have assisted this POS in gaining his freedom need to be check out fast.
Just let Steve have 5 minutes alone with him.
Our local news reported that after killing their family, he returned to the car where the younger two waited and described to them what he had just done, showing them the murder weapon. This was testimony from the poor child who survived.
I have an 8-year-old daughter; my heart just aches for Shasta and rages in solidarity with her dad. Words can't even express how evil that creature is.
Could we all sign up to take a shot at Duncan? I am glad this freak is finally getting what he should have got years ago. I just wish Dylan could still be alive.
I am wondering how Duncan came in contact with this family.
I had seen a woman on tv say that he might have driven by and seen the kids and dog playing out in the yard.
He used night vision goggles to study the layout of the home and then broke in, tied up the adults and the older brother, and had the mnother call for the children to come out into the living room. The children were then tied up and taken outside before Duncan beat the rest to death with a hammer. He showed Shasta and Dylan the hammer and described what he had done to their mother, etc.
He took the children to have sex with them! At some point he obviously killed Dylan. Shasta either witnessed it or she at least knew when and where it happened since she was able to tell authorities where to look for his body.
Nightmarish. The guy is an unspeakable monster. Death is too easy for him.
Do you know how he managed to tie up the 2 adults and 1 male teenager? Did he have a gun? I haven't heard an explanation for that part of the story.
This guy is just downright evil. When someone comes along who's this evil, it makes me wonder if God has a 'special' place in hell reserved for them. It just seems like anyone who hurts defenseless children, and especially people as evil as Duncan, should have their own, special "Reserved" section so they can receive extra punishment.
< /rant >
Yes. Shasta said he was wearing gloves and had a shotgun when she entered the living room.
Sangoo's wife
The story about this guy is so disgusting, even his photo is repulsive.
On Billy O'Reilly it was stated yesterday that Duncan had been supplied with money by a Dr. Wachsman (or Waxman?, $7,000?) who apparently want the guy to move in with his family and also by another man (a developer, $15,000?). I received a phone call and didn't get the entire report.
It is ironic that Martha Stewart gets home monitoring, yet these sexual predators are allowed to roam freely. This story is the bottom of the barrel. I am sure that Shasta felt she was going to be murdered after he finished with her. The video of her in the convenience speaks volumes, the tension in her is obvious. Unbelieveable what scum walk the earth.
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