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 Duncan left at his Fargo, N.D. apartment in which he made references to the murder and penned a poem entitled “An Ode to the Killer.” Later, in a letter written to a woman from jail in 2006, Duncan said he wrote the poem the day after Anthony was murdered.

In a journal entry in the leather-bound journal dated three days after Anthony’s abduction, Duncan wrote, “I want to be dead. Now that I have fulfilled my greatest fantasy, I have no reason left to live, except to flesh it out … I have no feelings for my victim, and I never will, but I do have feelings … I love life even more after my fight – with a true monster, after being a first hand witness to what others are inraged (sic) by merely imagining.” In another entry, he wrote, “I just realized! The pain is gone! The PAIN IS GONE! Now there is only FEAR!!!! I like the fear better.”

The sentencing trial will continue today with more evidence of the earlier crimes, followed by evidence about the impact Dylan’s murder had on Shasta and other members of his family. Here’s a link to my full story in today’s Spokesman-Review on Monday’s developments.

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