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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

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Joseph Duncan

Summary

Joseph Edward Duncan III is the murderer and kidnapper who attacked a Wolf Lodge Bay family in May 2005.

Kootenai County deputies discovered three dead on May 16, 2005. Brenda Groene, 40; her fiance Mark McKenzie, 37; and her son, Slade Groene, 13, were bludgeoned to death. An Amber Alert was issued the next day for Brenda Groene’s two youngest children, 9-year-old Dylan Groene and 8-year-old Shasta Groene.

The murders and children’s disappearance launched the biggest investigative effort in Kootenai County’s history, at one point involving more than 100 FBI personnel and more than 80 investigators from several other agencies.

Shortly before 2 a.m. on July 2, Shasta was recognized by workers and patrons at the Denny’s in Coeur d’Alene, and her kidnapper, Duncan, was arrested without incident.

Duncan, 42 at the time, was a federal fugitive and a Tacoma native who had spent much of his adult life in Washington state prisons for sex crimes against children. He was on the run from a child molestation charge in Minnesota when he drove past the Groene home on Interstate 90 east of Coeur d’Alene and spotted Shasta and Dylan playing outside.

Over the July 4 weekend, investigators found Dylan Groene’s remains at a campsite near St. Regis, Mont.

On Oct. 16, 2005, Duncan pleaded guilty to three counts of kidnapping and three counts of murder in the deaths of Brenda Groene, Mark McKenzie and Slade Groene. He was sentenced to three consecutive life sentences for the kidnappings. The sentences for the murders were undecided, pending federal prosecution.

More than two years later, after numerous legal delays and psychiatric evaluations, Duncan acted as his own lawyer as he pleaded guilty to 10 federal counts, including the kidnapping of the two children and Dylan’s murder, on Dec. 3, 2007.

On Aug. 27, 2008, a federal jury sentenced Duncan to death. The decision ended the state’s earlier case, with a judge imposing three more life sentences for those murders. Later, Duncan was given three more life sentences, for a total of nine, for his federal crimes.

Duncan pleaded guilty in the death of Anthony Martinez, a 10-year-old California boy, adding his 10th life sentence on March 15, 2011. Duncan has also been linked to the 1996 slayings of two young half-sisters in Seattle.

Key people

  • Joseph Duncan

    Joseph Edward Duncan III is the murderer and kidnapper who attacked an Idaho family in May 2005. Duncan was 42 at the time, was a federal fugitive and a Tacoma native who had spent much of his adult life in Washington state prisons for sex crimes against children. On Dec. 3, 2007, after numerous legal delays and psychiatric evaluations, Duncan acted as his own lawyer as he pleaded guilty to 10 federal counts, including the kidnapping of the two children and Dylan Grone’s murder.

  • Brenda Groene

    Brenda Groene, 40, was found at her home by Kootenai County deputies on May 16, 2005, bludgeoned to death, along with her fiance Mark McKenzie; and her son, 13-year-old Slade Groene. Her 9-year-old son Dylan Groene and 8-year-old daughter Shasta Groene were kidnapped by Joseph Duncan.

  • Mark McKenzie

    Mark McKenzie, 37, was found by Kootenai County deputies May 16, 2005, bludgeoned to death, along with his fiancee, Brenda Groene, 40; and her son, Slade Groene, 13, were bludgeoned to death.

  • Steve Groene

    Steve Groene is the father of Shasta Groene. His sons, Dylan and Slade Groene and his ex-wife, Brenda Groene, were killed in 2005 by Joseph Dundan. Shasta was kidnapped and was found two months later.

Key places

  • Wolf Lodge Bay

Latest updates in this topic


  • Duncan to be sentenced Monday

    BOISE – Already sentenced to death, Joseph Duncan should get three more life sentences for his crimes against two North Idaho children in 2005, federal prosecutors say. Duncan is up …


  • Duncan case: What’s next

    Convicted killer Joseph Duncan remains in federal custody in Boise, awaiting final sentencing on the seven non-capital counts in his 10-count federal indictment. He’s pleaded guilty to all charges, and …


  • Duncan juror faces daily trials

    BOISE – The foreman of the jury that sentenced killer and child molester Joseph Duncan to death in August has “no regrets” about the unanimous verdict, which jurors reached in …


  • Idaho counties consider fund for costly court cases

    IDAHO FALLS – Paying for costly criminal prosecutions is on the agenda this week as members of the Idaho Association of Counties gather for their annual meeting in Idaho Falls. …


  • Duncan jurors offered counseling

    BOISE – Jurors who imposed the death penalty on Joseph Duncan are being offered help coping with the horrific things they saw and heard during the killer’s sentencing trial. The …


  • Court appeals could take several years

    Joseph Duncan likely will be transferred soon from Boise to the U.S. penitentiary in Terre Haute, Ind. – the prison where condemned federal inmates are executed. The 45-year-old sex predator …


  • Sentence offers relief from grief

    Before 2005, Wolf Lodge Bay was a place to eat a steak, watch ospreys hunt fish in Lake Coeur d’Alene or find an easy campsite. Now it’s also the site …


  • Amid evil, jury shines moral light

    As I write this Wednesday the newsroom is abuzz with the latest on a two-legged monster. A federal jury in Boise just ruled that Joseph Duncan must die for his …


  • Death for a killer

    BOISE – If ever a case justified the death penalty, Joseph Duncan’s kidnapping, torture and murder of a 9-year-old Coeur d’Alene boy is the one, federal prosecutors argued Wednesday. A …


  • Dylan’s father, relatives testify

    BOISE – With heartfelt testimony from the father of murdered Dylan Groene, prosecutors wrapped up their case Tuesday in the federal death penalty sentencing trial for admitted killer Joseph Duncan. …


  • Killings of three other children recounted

    BOISE – A mother sobbed on the witness stand, telling of her two murdered daughters. Glum federal jurors listened to her testimony, but several looked away from her and across …


  • Duncan may face other trials

    BOISE – As a federal jury decides whether Joseph Duncan lives or dies for his murder and torture of a 9-year-old boy, the killer’s legal saga may have only just …


  • Duncan: ‘I was on a rampage’

    BOISE – Joseph Duncan wasn’t just planning to kidnap, rape and murder one child – he planned to commit such crimes over and over until he died, the convicted killer …


  • Jury sees abuse videos

    Editor’s note: This story contains explicit descriptions of severe abuse of a child. BOISE – On the screen, a child screamed in pain, and his tormentor raved.


  • Father asks that video be limited

    BOISE – Steve Groene, father of the victim, has filed an emergency motion urging U.S. District Judge Edward Lodge to reconsider his order that a graphic video be shown in …


  • Expert rebuts Duncan’s version of shooting

    BOISE – Joseph Duncan’s story that his initial shooting of 9-year-old Dylan Groene was an accident was undermined in court Wednesday, when an FBI firearms expert testified that extensive testing …


  • Duncan alternately kind, cruel, Shasta says

    BOISE – Joseph Duncan repeatedly threatened to kill the two children he held captive for weeks at a remote Montana campsite in 2005, the surviving victim told police shortly after …


  • Impossible not to be shaken by case

    After nearly 30 years in the news business (yes, I really did start writing for my hometown newspaper at the age of 16), I like to think of myself as …


  • GPS trail shows Duncan’s path

    BOISE – Joseph Duncan was 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 …


  • ‘I wish I could kill myself,’ Duncan wrote

    In a day filled with tragic photos, shocking videos and the display of the shotgun used to kill 9-year-old Dylan Groene, federal jurors also were given a closer look into …


  • Tapes show Duncan with kids at campsite

    BOISE – Videotapes of Shasta and Dylan Groene clowning around at a Montana campsite with their abductor, Joseph Duncan, were played to the jury in Duncan’s federal death sentence trial …


  • Details revealed in tape of Shasta

    BOISE – One of the big mysteries surrounding Joseph Duncan’s murderous crime spree three years ago was resolved Thursday as the frightened, tearful voice of an 8-year-old girl explained to …


  • Spokane music school among sites Duncan tracked via GPS

    Before Joseph Duncan kidnapped and sexually abused two children near Coeur d’Alene in 2005, he stalked a musical activity school for preschoolers on Spokane’s South Hill, authorities revealed Wednesday. The …


  • Shasta won’t have to testify

    BOISE – Jurors frowned, pursed their lips, some reddened visibly and one gasped out loud as U.S. Attorney Tom Moss detailed the horrific tale of Joseph Duncan’s crimes, intricately planned …


  • Shasta might not take stand

    BOISE – Shasta Groene, the only survivor of Joseph Duncan’s murderous rampage in 2005, may not have to testify against her attacker after all. On the eve of today’s opening …


  • Duncan needs just one juror to avoid death

    BOISE – Here’s how high the stakes are in the jury selection under way in the Joseph Duncan case: If one juror objects in any of three different votes, Duncan …


  • Duncan admits to disturbing nature of videotape

    BOISE – Joseph Duncan, acting as his own attorney, acknowledged Friday that a videotape he made of himself torturing and abusing a 9-year-old North Idaho boy he later murdered is …


  • Judge lets Duncan question would-be jurors

    BOISE – Confessed killer Joseph Duncan insisted on taking over questioning his potential jurors Thursday, sidelining his standby attorneys, but then refused to ask any questions. The move, which U.S. …


  • Lawyers stuck with Duncan

    BOISE – Joseph Duncan’s standby attorneys told a federal judge Wednesday that the confessed killer is so irrational they can’t ethically follow his wishes, and they asked to withdraw from …


  • Shasta’s testimony would close courtroom

    BOISE – A federal judge has ordered the courtroom closed if confessed killer Joseph Duncan’s surviving victim takes the stand in his death penalty sentencing trial, even though the 11-year-old …


  • Duncan lawyers must question jurors

    U.S. District Judge Edward Lodge has ruled that Joseph Duncan’s standby attorneys must act on his behalf to question prospective jurors, if he asks them to do so. Duncan’s attorneys, …


  • Duncan’s new role seen as liability

    BOISE – When Joseph Duncan takes over as his own attorney in his upcoming death penalty sentencing hearings, it’ll change the nature of the proceedings, experts say – and make …