A beam from an old cabin in the Lolo National Forest, with a wire loop hanging from the beam, was wheeled into the courtroom this morning and displayed to jurors, along with another large case containing pieces of floorboard from the cabin. The floorboards, from…
Two weeks ago, Idaho Sen. Larry Craig said he wouldn’t be attending this year’s national Republican Convention in Minneapolis-St. Paul, which is set for Sept. 1-4, prompting lots of chortling in the blogosphere about how the senator won’t be “returning to the scene of the…
Idaho Gov. Butch Otter today released a review of Idaho State Tax Commission practices, prompted by a whistleblower’s allegations that the commission was signing illegal secret deals to excuse large, multistate corporations from paying millions in Idaho taxes. Otter’s review, conducted by accountant P. LaVern…
A Department of Defense expert on identifying skeletal remains just testified that the bone and tooth fragments recovered after 9-year-old Dylan’s body was burned were just tiny, whitened fragments. The 1,752 bone and tooth fragments weighed only a total of 423.6 grams, Dr. William Rodriguez…
Joseph Duncan has formally and vehemently objected to his first piece of prosecution evidence – and it’s the most grisly evidence presented in the case so far, a fair-sized piece of his victim’s skull, with 9-year-old Dylan’s lush, strawberry blond hair. “Objection overruled,” U.S. District…
An FBI firearms expert who extensively tested the murder weapon testified this morning that Joseph Duncan’s Browning 12-gauge shotgun could not fire accidentally, such as from being dropped, and that multiple tests showed that 5 pounds of pressure was required on the trigger to get…
As a child’s voice told of horrors suffered by herself and her 9-year-old brother, jurors listened intently, some clasping their hands over their mouths, other leaning forward or occasionally jotting a note on a clipboard. The victims’ father, Steve Groene, sat in the audience, where…
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…
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 |
