A decade before Joseph Duncan allegedly abducted and killed Dylan Groene, he killed two girls in Western Washington and a boy in Southern California – crimes to which he has confessed, federal prosecutors said. Duncan, 43, has admitted to the 1997 slaying of Anthony Martinez in Riverside County, Calif., and the 1996 slayings of 9-year-old Carmen Cubias and 11-year-old Sammiejo White in the Seattle area, according to federal court documents filed Tuesday and reported first at spokesmanreview.com.

BOISE – Federal prosecutors have filed their first charge against convicted murderer Joseph Duncan, but it's not for abducting two North Idaho children and killing one of them. Duncan has been charged with illegally driving a stolen Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo across state lines. Federal investigators say he rented the car from a rental car agency in Minnesota and never returned it.

A decision hasn't been made on where Joseph Duncan might be tried for alleged crimes against the youngest Groene children, Assistant U.S. Attorney Marc Haws said Tuesday. Haws said he's not sure about the origin of media reports that Duncan would be tried in Boise.

Steve Groene is looking for a nonprofit group that can raffle off his Harley-Davidson motorcycle. Some proceeds from the bike's raffle will go to the individuals who helped rescue his daughter, Shasta Groene, after the Wolf Lodge girl had been kidnapped and assaulted following the murder of her mother and brother in 2005.

The brother of murder victim Mark McKenzie is suing to prevent confessed killer Joseph Edward Duncan from making money off his crimes. Steve McKenzie filed the suit on behalf of his brother and his brother's fiancee, Brenda Matthews Groene, whom Duncan bludgeoned with a hammer in May 2005.

Joseph Duncan's defense team spent about $400,000 preparing for his triple-murder trial in Coeur d'Alene before the trial was canceled last week after a last-minute plea bargain. The Kootenai County public defender's office paid private investigators and defense experts tens of thousands of dollars and spent hundreds more on meetings over meals, including some at upscale Coeur d'Alene restaurants, according to records obtained by The Spokesman-Review.

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.

For one of the few times in his adult life, Joseph Duncan did something with others in mind. At least he said he did. Who knows what truly motivates this killer and child molester?

Jury selection in the triple-murder trial of Joseph Edward Duncan III has been canceled, fueling speculation that a plea deal has been reached with Kootenai County prosecutors. Kootenai County sheriff's Capt. Ben Wolfinger issued a brief statement late Sunday, saying that instead of jury selection, a 9 a.m. hearing will be held today in front of District Judge Fred Gibler.

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.

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.

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.

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.