Joseph Duncan’s former girlfriend in Seattle, Sadequa “Dee” Ellis, testified only briefly today. She said she met Duncan at work at Time-Life Libraries between 1995 and 1996. Asked the nature of their relationship, she said simply, “girlfriend.” Duncan sat gazing at her over clasped hands,…
Cindy Snyder, a friend of Duncan’s former roommate Joe Ruan in Seattle, was called to testify. She said she often came by Ruan’s to visit, and she and Ruan were so concerned about the missing girls in their neighborhood that they handed out fliers and…
Joseph Duncan’s former girlfriend, roommate and parole officer from Seattle testified this morning, leading to some odd exchanges. Joseph Ruan, an auto mechanic and former tow truck driver who rented his back bedroom out to Duncan in 1996, recalled Duncan making disparaging comments about the…
Court started 35 minutes late this morning, and the defendant, who’s usually the first one in court, wasn’t there. The only explanation was that it was “security related.” Numerous deputy marshals are required to move Duncan; it’s possible some could have been delayed by closed…
Former Bothell, Wash. police detective Dennis Nizzi told the court this morning that he was troubled by finding the skeletal remains of Carmen Cubias, 9, and Sammiejo White, 11, in Bothell when the girls had disappeared from Seattle, and he never was able to draw…
Among the pieces of evidence introduced in court on Monday were an immigration document showing Joseph Duncan visited Mexico two days after 10-year-old Anthony Martinez’s murder in southern California; photos of duct tape found near Anthony's body that bore Duncan's fingerprint; and a leather-bound journal…
As morning dawns over the fire site, the news comes that a body was discovered in one of the destroyed homes. Boise Fire Chief Dennis Doan confirmed the sad news to KTVB-TV about 2:30 this morning. In the end at least nine homes were destroyed,…
Ralph Nader has qualified for the Idaho presidential ballot, after his supporters turned in nearly 7,000 certified signatures on Monday to the Idaho secretary of state. Four years ago, running as a write-in, Nader got less than 1 percent of the Idaho vote. Click below…
At least half a dozen Boise homes are burning tonight, under a bloody-red sunset that followed a super-strong windstorm late this afternoon. The burning homes are in the Sweetwater area in southeast Boise; some residents there said they heard a bang, then a field went…
The fingerprint expert followed much more dramatic testimony from three previous witnesses. Ernesto Medina, Anthony’s father, told of the day his son was abducted. “A terrible thing happened that day,” he told the court. He heard children screaming from outside his apartment, “A man’s got…
FBI Special Agent Mike Sotka testified in court today that Joseph Duncan, in a conversation with authorities at the Kootenai County Jail on July 19, 2005, told him he killed Carmen Cubias and Sammiejo White as his “first revenge.” “He told me that these two…
Mark Medina was just six years old when Joseph Duncan, a tall, thin Caucasian man in a white car, pulled up into the alley behind a neighbor’s house where he was playing with his 10-year-old brother, Anthony Martinez, and three other friends. Medina is now…
U.S. District Judge Edward Lodge has ruled that evidence of previous, unadjudicated child murders can be presented to show Joseph Duncan’s future dangerousness. It doesn’t just show he’s a danger to children, the judge said. “The evidence … in this case is highly relevant in…
Today marks the start of the second phase of Joseph Duncan’s death penalty sentencing trial, the “selection” phase. It’s so called because while the jury decided in the first phase whether he qualified for the death penalty (they said yes), in this phase they decide…
Steve Groene, father of the victim, sat stoically in the courtroom, as he has through much of the case, as the verdicts were read finding Joseph Duncan eligible for the death penalty for the murder of 9-year-old Dylan. Groene, his black sunglasses tucked into the…
Joseph Duncan is eligible for the death penalty, a jury of eight men and four women found just now after just under two hours of deliberation. Now, the case will move into its second phase, in which prosecutors will offer evidence of victim impact and…
Duncan said he wasn’t telling the jury about the effect little Shasta had on him – prompting him to change his mind about killing her – because he thought he’d been redeemed. “This is not for my own salvation, but it’s for the hope of…
Joseph Duncan began his closing argument by addressing the jury directly, saying, “You people really don’t have any clue yet on the true heinousness of what I’ve done. … I’ll try to fill you in on some of the details.” When he went on the…
“I should actually thank the government for helping me get my eye for an eye, by showing you the evidence that you have seen, by showing you the videos,” Joseph Duncan told the jury, “… helping me to take away your heart and your innocence.…
In his closing statement, Joseph Duncan told the jury, “Everyone tends to lie to children. It’s not something that should be considered to weigh upon my own honesty. … I have been honest, I have been forthright.”
Assistant U.S. Attorney Wendy Olson is a little over an hour into her closing argument for the first phase of Joseph Duncan’s death penalty sentencing trial, and is weaving a narrative that ties together the various, disparate pieces of evidence presented to the jury during…
Here’s a link to my full story at spokesmanreview.com on Thursday’s developments in the Joseph Duncan sentencing trial, and here’s my sidebar on what happens next in the case. It was a difficult and distressing day in court, but one that, on balance, makes sense…
“The purpose of this eligibility phase is to determine whether the defendant is eligible for the death sentence, not whether a death sentence is imposed,” Judge Edward Lodge cautioned the jurors. The jurors must agree unanimously, beyond a reasonable doubt, on three items in order…
Federal prosecutors just rested their case for the first phase of the death penalty sentencing trial, and the judge asked the defendant, Joseph Duncan, if he’d like to call his first witness. “I intend to testify, but I do not have a witness,” Duncan responded.…
Before the jury came back in the room for the showing of the graphic videos, Joseph Duncan told the court he wanted to express strong objections to its showing. “I would just like to state for the record … that I strongly object,” he said.…
News, happenings and more from the Idaho Legislature and the state capital.
| Dec. 2008 | Nov. 2008 | Oct. 2008 | Sept. 2008 |
| Aug. 2008 | July 2008 | June 2008 | May 2008 |
| April 2008 | March 2008 | Feb. 2008 | Jan. 2008 |
