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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 describes murders in detail, gets moved to state prison

After 478 days in isolation, Kootenai County's most notorious inmate was transferred Monday to the state's maximum-security prison in Kuna, Idaho. Joseph Duncan was moved three days after an interview with Kootenai County investigators, a requirement of the Oct. 16 plea deal in which he admitted to three charges of murder and kidnapping.
News >  Idaho

Shasta key to Duncan plea deal

Kootenai County Prosecutor Bill Douglas said Wednesday he feels bad for family members of Joseph Duncan's murder victims if they misunderstood key points in the plea deal that Douglas crafted and Duncan accepted over the weekend. "Perhaps to some of the family members it was unclear," Douglas told The Spokesman-Review.
News >  Idaho

Duncan admits guilt

Justice and closure. The words were repeated again and again Monday morning as investigators, attorneys and victims' relatives reacted to Joseph Duncan's admission that he murdered three members of a Coeur d'Alene-area family.
News >  Idaho

Password is key bargaining chip

Joseph Duncan didn't throw in all his cards when he accepted a last-minute plea deal that short-circuited the need for a jury trial. As part of the unique plea bargain, the 43-year-old confessed killer must answer questions put to him by Kootenai County sheriff's detectives who investigated the grisly triple-murders at Wolf Lodge Bay in May 2005.
News >  Idaho

The case against Duncan

Joseph Edward Duncan will be tried in Kootenai County without two key pieces of evidence: The murder weapon and physical proof that in May 2005 he was in the Wolf Lodge home where he's accused of having murdered three members of a local family. The only eyewitness who can put Duncan in the family's home at the time of the crimes is 9-year-old Shasta Groene, whose testimony is crucial in convicting the accused killer. Duncan's trial starts Monday with jury selection.
News >  Idaho

Death sentence would be first for prosecutor, defender

If Joseph Duncan is convicted and sentenced to death, it will be a first for both Kootenai County Public Defender John Adams and Prosecutor Bill Douglas. In the dozen years that Adams has been the county's chief public defender, not a single death sentence has been handed down. In his career, not one person he has represented at trial has been sent to death row.
News >  Idaho

Duncan jury selection closed

The public and news media will not be allowed to watch jury selection in the Joseph Duncan murder-kidnapping trial that begins Monday in Coeur d'Alene. First District Judge Fred Gibler ruled Friday that the accused killer's "right to a fair trial outweighs the right of the press" and the public to watch as potential jurors are questioned by attorneys in the case.
News >  Idaho

Duncan jury pool gets questionnaire

A hefty jury questionnaire was mailed recently to 800 Kootenai County residents summoned for the jury pool in the Joseph Duncan triple-murder trial. The prospective jurors, who are scheduled to begin reporting to court Monday to answer questions from defense and prosecution lawyers, were required to answer 75 questions "truthfully and completely" without consulting anyone else.
News >  Idaho

Duncan case gets gag order

Joseph Duncan's attorney and the Kootenai County prosecutor want to pick the accused killer's jury out of view of the public and news media. Duncan's lawyer, Public Defender John Adams, made the motion Thursday to close voir dire, the legal term for attorney questioning of potential jurors. Prosecutor Bill Douglas agreed with Adams' request. Jury selection is set to begin Monday in a Coeur d'Alene courtroom.
News >  Idaho

Shasta competent to testify, judge says

Shasta Groene, the key witness in the case against accused killer Joseph Duncan, has been declared competent to testify in his triple-murder trial. First District Judge Fred Gibler spent 90 minutes interviewing 9-year-old Shasta in his chambers Thursday before announcing she could take the stand.
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