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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883
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Joseph Duncan

News about the investigation, trial and sentencing of Joseph Edward Duncan for the 2005 kidnap, torture and murder of 9-year-old Dylan Groene of Coeur d’Alene; the murders of Dylan’s mother, mother’s fiance and 13-year-old brother; and the kidnapping and molestation of Dylan’s then-8-year-old sister Shasta.

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News >  Idaho

Duncan juror phase begins

BOISE – Three hundred fifty people will gather in Boise's convention center on Monday to start an extraordinary process: deciding whether Joseph Duncan should die for what he did to two North Idaho children. Available legal records suggest no one's received the death penalty in federal court for a crime committed in Idaho since the 1920s. But Duncan's case is rare in its heinousness and shock value. The convicted killer and child molester attacked a North Idaho family at their home in 2005, killed three family members in order to kidnap two young children, molested both youngsters and held them captive for weeks. Only one child, then-8-year-old Shasta Groene, survived.
News >  Idaho

Duncan lawyers seek sentence delay

BOISE – Attorneys for convicted murderer Joseph Edward Duncan III are asking a federal judge to postpone his sentencing hearing on 10 federal charges until September, and to prevent the only surviving victim from testifying about the effect the deaths of her mother, older brother and family friend had on her. The flurry of defense motions, filed in U.S. District Court on Tuesday and Wednesday, also include a request to take the death penalty off the table for one of the charges against Duncan.
News >  Idaho

Duncan evidence won’t be suppressed

BOISE – A federal judge has rejected defense attorneys' motions to suppress evidence seized from the vehicle Joseph Duncan was driving when he was found with young Shasta Groene, the only survivor of Duncan's bloody attack on her family.
News >  Idaho

Shasta told police of Duncan’s claims

BOISE – Shasta Groene told authorities that Joseph Duncan, during the weeks he held her captive at a remote Montana campsite, described killing at least three other children – a tip that prompted authorities to investigate Duncan as a possible serial killer. In federal court hearings Tuesday and Wednesday, documents submitted into evidence and testimony from law enforcement witnesses showed that the 8-year-old girl, just hours after her rescue from Duncan on July 2, 2005, told police about Duncan's possible prior crimes.
News >  Idaho

Shooting details revealed at Duncan hearing

BOISE – The night she was rescued from killer Joseph Duncan, young Shasta Groene gave such a vivid description of Duncan's killing of her brother, Dylan, that it left little doubt that 9-year-old Dylan was dead. Nevertheless, authorities anxiously hunted for Dylan out of fear he might still be alive. Kootenai County Sheriff's Detective Sgt. Brad Maskell said Duncan earlier had left both children chained to a tree in the forest and "our concern was that that situation still existed."
News >  Idaho

Shasta’s advocate fights delay

BOISE – The court-appointed advocate for Shasta Groene said in court papers Friday that even if the child doesn't have to testify against Joseph Duncan, it's in her best interest to have all the proceedings in his case wrapped up as soon as possible. John Sahlin, guardian ad litem for Shasta, argued that all proceedings in the case should be finished "on or before June 1, 2008, so that SG may have a summer to enjoy and prepare for her transition to public middle school, a major life transition for her."
News >  Idaho

Shasta won’t need to testify

BOISE – Shasta Groene won't have to testify in federal court against killer Joseph Duncan under an agreement reached by both sides in the case. "The parties will stipulate that S.G. will not be called as a witness at the capital sentencing hearing," federal prosecutors wrote in a motion filed with the court this week. "Her testimony will be presented by statements she made to law enforcement officers in July 2005."
News >  Idaho

Duncan admits to all 10 counts

BOISE – A chilling tale of child molestation and murder emerged in a Boise courtroom Monday, as Joseph Duncan pleaded guilty to all counts in a federal indictment for kidnapping and molesting two North Idaho children in 2005 and killing one. The remaining question is whether Duncan will be put to death for his crimes or spend the rest of his life in prison. A federal jury will be convened late next month to decide that.
News >  Idaho

Duncan may plead guilty

BOISE – Joseph Duncan, who has been charged with kidnapping two North Idaho children in 2005 and killing one of them, is scheduled to enter a guilty plea Monday in federal court. A court document filed late Friday does not detail exactly which charges Duncan will plead to. But the penalty phase of his case now is due to begin Jan. 28, the document noted.
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