BOISE, Idaho, Aug. 14, 2008
Tortured Kids' Letters Shown To Idaho Jury
Anguished Father Confirms Handwriting On Notes Apparently Written At Behest Of Killer
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Joseph Edward Duncan III, right, is shown during a hearing at the Kootenai County Sheriff's Department Justice building in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, on Oct. 16, 2006. (AP Photo/Kathy Plonka, Pool, File)
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Shasta Groene (left), 8, a few days after her rescue from the man police believe kidnapped her and her brother, Dylan (right), 9, at their Kootenai County, Idaho, home on May 15 or May 16 and killed him, their 13-year-old brother Slade, mother Brenda Groene, and Mark McKenzie, their mother's boyfriend. (AP/Kootenai County Sheriff)
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Joseph Edward Duncan III, of Fargo, N.D., who is charged with kidnapping, appears in this undated photo released by the Kootenai County Sheriff's Department. (AP)
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In this image made from security camera video provided by the owner of the convenience store, Shasta Groene and her alleged abductor, Joseph Edward Duncan III, are seen inside a convenience store Friday evening, July 1, 2005 in Kellogg, Idaho, hours before she was rescued. (AP)
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Play CBS Video Video Death Penalty Sought Prosecutors in Idaho say they plan to seek the death penalty for Joseph Duncan, who is accused of killing three people in an effort to abduct two children. Hattie Kauffman reports.
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Video Duncan Linked To '97 Murder There's a new charge against accused killer Joseph Duncan, who is currently under arrest for four murders and a kidnapping. Police say he may also be responsible for the 1997 murder of a little boy.
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Video Idaho Suspect In Court Joseph Duncan lowered his head and seemed to quiver as charges were read against him in court. Investigators are relying on the chilling testimony of 8-year-old Shasta Groene, John Blackstone reports.
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Interactive Out Of Sight: Missing Kids Get the facts on kidnappings, learn predator profiles and check out resources for locating missing children.
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Interactive Capital Punishment Learn about the death penalty in the United States. Check out statistics, history, famous trials and more.
Steven Groene said it was the first time he had seen one of the letters, which offered a false promise. "I have good news we will be home soon," it read, "maybe in a week or 2."
Joseph Edward Duncan III pleaded guilty in December to 10 federal charges in the 2005 kidnappings of Dylan and Shasta Groene, and the slaying of Dylan. A federal jury is determining whether he should be put to death or spend life in prison without parole.
Earlier, Duncan pleaded guilty in state court to murdering the children's older brother, their mother and the mother's fiance during the attack at the family's Coeur d'Alene home. Prosecutors say he killed the three to kidnap and sexually brutalize Dylan, 9, and Shasta, then 8.
As their father testified, the letters from Dylan and Shasta flashed on a screen only briefly, and prosecutors avoided discussing the contents. But they're likely to be the letters found in the car Duncan was driving just before he was arrested with Shasta in a Coeur d'Alene restaurant weeks after the kidnapping.
Excerpts suggest Duncan directed the children to write them.
"Dear dad, I miss you very much. Me and Dylan know what happened," to their slain family members, one letter from Shasta read.
"I'm sorry you had to lose a son and an ex-wife and I'm sorry we were taken from you ... We are still alive and we are ok," read another.
After testifying about the identities of his children and confirming their handwriting, Groene stepped down, visibly choked up by the evidence. Duncan, who is representing himself, did not question him.
In May 2005, Duncan went to Idaho, broke into the home and bludgeoned 13-year-old Slade Groene, his mother, Brenda Groene, and her fiance, Mark McKenzie, before abducting Shasta and Dylan and taking them to a remote campsites and other locations in Montana. After sexually traumatizing the children for weeks, Duncan killed Dylan in front of his little sister and burned his body.
Former Kootenai County Deputy Dale Moyer, now a deputy in Spokane County, Wash., was the first prosecution witness Thursday.
He knew the family from previous calls to the house, and because when the children were playing in their front yard, they would sometimes wave him down as he drove by.
"The younger girl wanted stickers," the kind featuring law enforcement insignias, Moyer said. "And the 9-year-old, he wanted to talk about guns."
On the evening of May 16, 2005, Moyer was dispatched after the sheriff's department got a call asking them to go to the house.
As he approached the front door, he noticed blood on the porch and door, Moyer said.
While waiting for the other deputies to arrive, Moyer walked around the building and looked through a window. He could hear dogs barking inside and see blood on a wall inside the home.
"There was an odor ... of carnage and carnage smells," Moyer said. "There was a definite odor."
After other deputies arrived, Moyer said he went inside, finding the three bodies and realizing that Shasta and Dylan were missing.
One officer testified that the scene was so grisly he actually quit law enforcement for a time because "this case pushed me to the end," reports CBS affiliate KBCI-TV in Boise.
Duncan questioned FBI Special Agent Mike Geneckow, who took the stand to discuss a security video taken from a gas station in Kellogg, Idaho, on July 1, 2005, the day before Shasta was rescued.
In the video, Shasta walks around the convenience store with her arms tightly folded and Duncan nearby. At one point, Geneckow pointed out, a police car drove by the two, apparently not noticing that Shasta was the missing girl.
In cross-examination, Duncan asked the court to show the last frame of the video again - only to point out that a second police car had also passed them by.
During opening statements Wednesday, U.S. Attorney Tom Moss characterized Duncan as a cold, calculating killer and pedophile who terrorized the family because he wanted to "live out his fantasy" and exact revenge on society for perceived wrongs. Moss also said Duncan carefully researched police investigation procedures and took steps to avoid getting caught.
During his brief statement, Duncan told the jury that most of what Moss said was fair and accurate "up to the point of what occurred at the campground."
He said he would testify so he could try to "clarify things."
His standby legal counsel, Judy Clarke, has said Duncan doesn't plan to offer any mitigation, such as evidence of his own traumatic childhood.
Duncan's past is littered with arrests and prison time for crimes ranging from car theft to rape and molestation. He is suspected in the 1996 slayings of two half-sisters from Seattle and is charged with the 1997 killing of a young boy in Riverside County, Calif.
The sentencing hearing is expected to last up to six weeks.
© MMVIII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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- The passion of lovers is for death, said she
Licked her lips, and turned to feather . . .
LOL
Posted by Voltaire777 at 08:53 PM : Aug 15, 2008
Your quoting the lyrics of the gothic group Bauhaus, reveals a lot about you. They specialized in dark, gloomy sounds and images of the macabre and death. Usually ,association with such weird groups has a negative influence on ones disposition and ideology.
I certainly hope that is not the case with you persisting in attacking those who seek swift and suitable justice for this perverted,pedophilic murderer. - Reply to this comment
- "A federal jury is determining whether he should be put to death or spend life in prison without parole."
Death please. Its an easy decision. - Reply to this comment
- jankebenz, do all christians lie, or just you? You are really quite the patholgocial liar accusing me of defending this guy, but I''''ve found that most christians can''''t open their judgey little mouths without telling a lie.
jankebenz = botched abortion? Is it another one god''''s miracles that you survived with that much brain damage?
Posted by Voltaire777 at 08:40 PM : Aug 16, 2008
First you ask me if Christians lie, and then assert that you find most do, then you resort to childish name calling, a trait congruous to the immature when confronted by the truth. Your lack of maturity and knowledge tells me you have some growing up to do. - Reply to this comment
- Before you can judge righteously, jankebenz, you must remove the stick from your own eye.
Posted by Voltaire777 at 01:28 PM : Aug 16, 2008
Judging by your posts in defence of this self admitting perverted murdering pedophile (read the story), you must be "blinded by the truth" because of "the root of evil" in your eyes. Now would be a good time to remove the blinders in order to see reality. - Reply to this comment
- Why, naturally, jankebenz, one must either be a twisted perverted rightwing nutcase, like you, or a totally insane, irratioanal bleeding heart, pedophile defending liberal, right? I mean, there can''''t possibly be any rational ground between, correct? Christians are frankly stupid with there totally black and white view of the world. It''''s either evil or good, conservative or liberal, smart or stupid, right or wrong. Your overly simplistic view of the world is frankly sickening.
Posted by Voltaire777 at 01:34 PM : Aug 16, 2008
Well then, using your "logic'' you must be the totally insane, irratioanal bleeding heart, pedophile defending liberal,right. After all, in your own words , It''''s either evil or good, conservative or liberal, smart or stupid, right or wrong. To have to eat your own word''s must be "sickening" ,your "flaws'' have gotten the best of you. Ever read the biblical verse "as a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool returns to his folly"? - Reply to this comment
- I WORKED AS A NURSE IN A VERY LARGE JAIL. I SEEN FIRST HAND HOW SOME PEOPLE ARE NOT ABLE TO BE REHABILITATED.THERE IS EVIL IN THIS WORLD AND ONLY A COUPLE OF TIMES DID I "FEEL IT" IN OUR JAIL. NEVERLESS,THIS SICKO IS VERY EVIL.WHAT WAS HE DOING ROAMING AMONG THE REST OF US ANYWAY? HE HAD SOME SERIOUS PRIORS BEFORE THIS INSANE ACTION! HE DESERVES SWIFT/PAINFUL/TORTUROUS DEATH NOT NOW , BUT YESTERDAY! I PRAY FOR THOSE POOR CHILDREN AND THEIR FAMILIES. I DON''T REALLY CARE ABOUT HIS CHILDHOOD,THIS GIVES NOBODY THE RIGHT TO HURT INNOCENT CHILDREN. HE WILL BURN IN HELL !!!!
- Reply to this comment
- How pitiful for those poor children.
- Reply to this comment
- Yikes, another rightwing nut about to go postal on someone!
The passion of lovers is for death, said she
Licked her lips, and turned to feather . . .
LOL
Posted by Voltaire777 at 08:53 PM : Aug 15, 2008
+ report abuse
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yeap you pedophile..this is one nut who you should worry about.. - Reply to this comment
- Obviously there''''''''s only one course of action for this demon.
Posted by jankebenz at 08:55 PM : Aug 15, 2008
LMAO -- I love it when god''''s followers pretend to be god. They are all such incredible hypocrits!
Posted by Voltaire777 at 08:56 PM : Aug 15, 2008
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its not ''god''s followers'' you have to worry about you pedophile its people who would rip you apart when you are exposed..even god himself cannot save you then.. - Reply to this comment
Actually, stupid, if you had read the post, you would realize that his point was that "the trial serves no purpose." So, you see, idiot, he would like to take away a criminal''''s right to a fair trial, which necessarily means taking away your right to a fair trial because a fair trial is what determines whether one is a criminal or not. I realize you can''''t get your head around this, so maybe you should just stick to washing dishes, huh?
Posted by Voltaire777 at 09:00 PM : Aug 15, 2008
Apparently you have literacy problem,reread the story and you will see that he has pleaded guilty! Sentencing is now to take place. The labels "stupid" and "idiot" are calling the kettle back.- Reply to this comment
- LMAO -- I love it when god''''s followers pretend to be god. They are all such incredible hypocrits!
Posted by Voltaire777 at 08:56 PM : Aug 15, 2008
I take it you are defending this perverted sicko? - Reply to this comment
- I just read the story, i''m sickened and disgusted. Hard to believe to what lenghts the depraved and perverted will go to get their jollies. Obviously there''s only one course of action for this demon.
- Reply to this comment
- No, he wouldn''t have, diatreme. Everyone has a trial. Everyone has ALWAYS had a trial, even 100 years ago, except out in rural areas where there were no judges. What you''re talking about is vigilante justice. If you don''t like our justice system, go move to Iran.
Let me tell you a story: back in the early 1990s, I was living in Everett, Washington. I saw this story on the news.
There was a big stink because a registered *** offender had been released and was going to be living in a particular neighborhood. An alert was put out in that neighborhood, as required by law.
Some residents in the neighborhood stood watch for the man. They weren''t going to let him move in, and were prepared to use any means necessary to prevent it.
Well, a man who really resembled this guy drove through the neighborhood, and he was surrounded by the group, with big rocks up, clubs -- "It''s him! It''s him!" The man finally managed to present ID, proving he wasn''t the *** offender. "I guess it''s not him," someone said. "Let him go."
"No, it''s not," said the man. "But I look like him, don''t I? And that was going to be enough for you, wasn''t it?"
If you had your way, diatreme, that sort of thing would happen daily. - Reply to this comment
- One hour is all I need with this P.O.S.
- Reply to this comment
- Didn''t he tie up the mother, boyfriend, and 13 year old son before he bludgeoned them? If I remember correctly, he had a gun. This is why I will never, ever let anyone tie me up, walk me, or drive me out of a populated place by threatening to shoot me. You''ll have to shoot me, because what they can do while you are helpless is even more terrifying. They might have had a chance to rush him, or at least wound him before dying. When you are alone and/or immobilized, they can do whatever they want to you. Good God, where do these monsters come from?? I''d like to think they are creatures vomited up out of some pit in the bowels of hell, because it doesn''t seem right that they were once innocent human beings.
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The horror''s those children and family has had to endure is beyond belief. May God bless this family.- Reply to this comment
- The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he, who in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother%u2019s keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who would attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know my name is the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon thee.
- Reply to this comment
- Wow, imagine if we could harness your anger and doing something productive with it!
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Posted by Voltaire777 at 04:19 PM : Aug 15, 2008
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********* something like hunting down brutal pedophiles******* - Reply to this comment
- Posted by Voltaire777 at 06:17 PM : Aug 15, 2008
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as i predicted, you stuck your head out of that fox hole and found every excuse to lighten up the tone of this brutality. it goes beyond sympathy for this person but more on leniency towards the act of pedophila..I AM WATHCIN GYOU - Reply to this comment
- Right, right, we know. However, did you know that without the right to a trial, our politicians would become even more corrupt and dangerous than they already are? GWB could have his political enemies executed on mere suspicion of being terrorists. Trust me, we don''''t want to go that route because the people who would rise to power would make GWB look like an innocent school boy, and we all know he is far from that.
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Posted by Voltaire777 at 06:17 PM : Aug 15, 2008
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the point here is that..when this piece of garbage IS FOUND GUILTY (and yes, the jury will not be sympatethic nor those bleeding heart liberals would find any traction to defend this act)...he DOES NOT DESERVE AN OUNCE OF LINENCY..I am sure that sends a volt of electricty down your spine and gives you the heevejeebees.. - Reply to this comment
Best-selling author Mitch Albom on his first nonfiction work since "Tuesdays with Morrie."
