The sleepy child, speaking with difficulty, told Capt. Dan Mattos about Duncan’s molesting of her and her brother, and said he also forced them to do things he videotaped. She said she saw the movie of Duncan torturing Dylan at an old cabin near their…
It seems like Joseph Duncan is trying to suggest that there’s an alternative explanation for the 36 “way points” he marked on his GPS as he traveled around on a multistate trip, during which he purchased items, considered victims, and then committed his crimes. Prosecutors…
Bryan Olson, a forest service worker from South Dakota, testified this morning that he encountered Duncan near the campsite the admitted murderer had set up near Stryker, Mont. in May of 2005, while Olson was spraying for weeds at a nearby gravel pit. “He was…
Joseph Duncan was all set to commit his crimes in northwestern Montana, with different children as his victims, before he changed his mind, drove to Idaho and targeted the Groene family. The convicted child-rapist went so far as to set up a remote campsite in…
Jurors are being taken on a photographic tour of the “way points” Joseph Duncan marked on his GPS in 2005, including a hillside 25 to 30 miles north of Casper, Wyo., where Duncan left an odd inscription on a rock: “Deep in my dunjun (sic),…
Joseph Duncan submitted a letter to the court first thing this morning asking that he be able to “establish a standing ‘non-objection’ with the court on all evidence submitted, and on all witnesses dismissed.” He also wanted the court to assume that he’s agreed with…
Enterprise rental car employee Jonathan Hager told the court today that when Joseph Duncan came to his counter in Minneapolis in 2005 to rent a Jeep Cherokee, he didn’t have a reservation and said he wanted the vehicle to take up north to do some…
Dr. Richard Wacksman, the third witness called today, said he first met Joseph Duncan at a coffee shop in San Francisco in 1997, and then kept in touch with him weekly by phone or email. When Duncan moved to Fargo to attend college, Wacksman, a…
Here’s an odd detail: Among the items admitted into evidence in court on Friday was a note card, found in the center console of Joseph Duncan’s stolen red Jeep, with several phone numbers and names written on it in Duncan’s handwriting. They included numbers for…
After nearly thirty years in the news business (yes, I really did start writing for my hometown newspaper at the age of just 16), I like to think of myself as calm and fairly tough in the face of news of all types. I covered…
Today’s proceedings in Joseph Duncan’s sentencing trial included testimony from seven witnesses, starting with ISP Detective Sgt. Fred Swanson, who also testified yesterday. Swanson introduced numerous exhibits of items that were taken from Duncan’s vehicle after his arrest, including the murder weapon, a Browning 12-gauge…
Videotapes of Shasta and Dylan Groene clowning around at a Montana campsite with their abductor were played for the jury this afternoon, including one in which Duncan slices up a big watermelon and he and the children eat slices. After Duncan walks over to the…
Joseph Duncan, his long hair pulled back into a knot at the nape of his neck, disputed nothing in court so far today, and agreed in a stipulation with prosecutors that blood found both on the 12-gauge shotgun and on duct tape removed from the…
The gun that Joseph Duncan used to shoot 9-year-old Dylan Groene to death was admitted into evidence in court this morning - with blood found on the gun and on duct tape removed from the gun both testing positive for Dylan's blood - as were…
The items seized from Joseph Duncan’s red 2005 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo are being introduced into evidence now, one by one, including Duncan’s green “Tommy Jeans” jacket with bloodstains that when tested showed Dylan’s DNA; a laptop computer (with a sticker on it proclaiming “I’m…
The frightened, tearful voice of an 8-year-old girl filled a Boise courtroom today, as audio of little Shasta Groene’s conversation with a Coeur d’Alene Police officer just after she was rescued from Joseph Duncan was played for jurors.“Where’s your brother at?” Officer Shane Avriett asked…
Joseph Duncan just asked his first question on cross-examination, but it was an odd one. The jury had just viewed surveillance video from a Conoco station and convenience store in Kellogg, Idaho where Duncan and Shasta stopped about five hours before she was spotted with…
Former Kootenai County Sheriff’s Deputy Dale Moyer, the first officer on the bloody scene after the three murders at the Groene family home, went around the yard after finding the bodies, looking for the two missing children and calling their names to no avail. The…
Idaho State Police Detective Sgt. Fred Swanson, the third witness today, told of processing evidence at the crime scene at the Groene family home, and identified zip ties and duct tape, some with blood on them, that were on the three bodies. He held them…
The second witness was Steve Groene, the children’s father. Speaking through an electronic larynx, Groene identified photographs of Dylan and Shasta, and their handwriting in four letters that were submitted into evidence, three of which were addressed to him. Groene told the court he never…
Federal prosecutors will call 90 witnesses over the coming weeks to show why Joseph Duncan should die for his 2005 crimes. Those witnesses, however, won’t include Duncan’s only surviving victim, 11-year-old Shasta Groene. Instead, Duncan and prosecutors filed an agreement with the court late Wednesday…
A stipulation just filed on the court docket between Joseph Duncan and federal prosecutors clears Shasta Groene from having to testify against Duncan, and Duncan waives his right to have her testify or to cross-examine her. Instead, he’s agreeing to allow introduction, without objection, of…
Among the revelations in the prosecution’s opening statement: Duncan told the two children he’d kidnapped all about the terrible things he’d done, including how he’d killed their older brother, mother and mother’s fiancé. Court documents earlier revealed that Duncan told Shasta that he’d killed other…
Admitted killer Joseph Duncan just gave a very short opening statement – just a minute or two – in which he said, “I debated whether or not to do an opening statement, simply because I don’t want to get into an argument with the government…
Jurors frowned, pursed their lips, some reddened visibly and one gasped audibly as U.S. Attorney Tom Moss detailed the horrific tale of Joseph Duncan’s crimes, intricately planned out in every detail in advance, culminating in the sexual torture and murder of a 9-year-old boy and…
News, happenings and more from the Idaho Legislature and the state capital.
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