Arrow-right Camera
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Forensics experts expected to testify against Duncan

Taryn Brodwater Staff writer

Federal prosecutors have identified the first expert witnesses expected to testify in the case against convicted killer Joseph Duncan.

A forensic anthropologist and forensic odontologist from the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology examined the remains of 9-year-old victim Dylan Groene, according to court documents. Both are expected to testify at Duncan’s January trial in federal court in Boise.

Several witnesses from the FBI lab also may be called, including eight forensic analysts named in court papers this week.

Duncan faces the death penalty if convicted of murdering the Coeur d’Alene boy. Numerous charges have been filed against Duncan related to the kidnapping of Dylan and Shasta Groene and to Dylan’s killing.

The children were taken from their home east of Coeur d’Alene in May 2005 after Duncan killed their mother, her fiancé and their 13-year-old brother, Slade. Duncan allegedly held the children captive for weeks at a remote Montana campsite.

He was arrested in July 2005 after he brought Shasta Groene, then 8, to a Coeur d’Alene Denny’s, where she was recognized. Authorities found Dylan’s charred remains at the campsite.

Prosecutors will call Maj. Laura Regan, a forensic anthropologist, to testify about her examination of Dylan’s remains, according to court documents.

Forensic odontologist Dr. Brion Smith examined the boy’s dental remains, the court documents said.

The FBI experts will testify about DNA evidence, evidence recovered from one of the places Duncan reportedly held the children, and liquids found in small bottles in the stolen Jeep that Duncan drove at the time of the crimes. Expert testimony also will address a sawed-off shotgun found in the Jeep and fingerprints on the gun.

Many of the motions and documents that have been filed in the federal case are under seal, hidden from public inspection. Duncan’s attorneys, who did not return calls seeking comment this week, asked for a protective order on behalf of Duncan, but the details of the request were not disclosed. Federal prosecutors have yet to respond to that request and declined to comment on the nature of the protective order.

Duncan is in a Boise prison serving life sentences for crimes related to the triple-murder at Wolf Lodge Bay in Kootenai County.

If Duncan does not receive the death sentence at the federal level, he will be returned to Kootenai County to face imposition of the death penalty for the murders of Brenda Matthews Groene, Mark McKenzie and Slade Groene.

Meanwhile, California authorities have asked that Duncan be extradited to their state so he can be tried for the 1997 slaying of a 10-year-old boy in Riverside County.