Death Penalty Sought For Duncan

Convicted Sex Offender Accused Of Idaho Slayings, Child Kidnappings

(CBS/AP)  Prosecutors will seek the death penalty against a convicted sex offender accused of binding and killing three people in a scheme authorities say was designed to enable him to abduct two children for sex.

Prosecutor Bill Douglas made the announcement Tuesday after Joseph Edward Duncan III's arraignment. Not-guilty pleas were entered on Duncan's behalf.

Douglas said he would seek the death penalty on all six charges against Duncan: three counts of first-degree murder and three counts of first-degree kidnapping. First District Judge Fred Gibler set a trial date of Jan. 17, 2006.

Clad in red jail overalls, with scruffy hair and a beard, Duncan did not speak during the 30-minute hearing in the Kootenai County Jail courtroom. When Gibler asked for a plea, public defender John Adams said, "We stand silent on that."

The judge entered not-guilty pleas to the charges.

Police say Duncan used a hammer to kill Brenda Groene, her boyfriend and her 13-year-old son before kidnapping Shasta Groene, CBS News correspondent Hattie Kauffman reports for The Early Show. He allegedly held the children for weeks at a remote camp in Montana, where Dylan's body was later found.

Before the hearing, Douglas said he believes Duncan can get a fair trial in Kootenai County, despite three months of intense publicity about the killings and simultaneous abductions of Shasta Groene, 8, and Dylan Groene, 9, from their home.

Shasta was rescued early July 2 while eating with Duncan at a Denny's restaurant here. Dylan's body was found a few days later in Montana.