Posted on 05/19/2005 7:19:46 PM PDT by Graybeard58
COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho (AP) -- Detectives who questioned a man in the killings of three people ruled him out as a suspect Thursday and said they still had no idea where two children missing from the family's home were.
The man, Robert Roy Lutner, 33, of Hayden, voluntarily took and passed a polygraph test during a seven-hour interview with investigators, Kootenai County sheriff's Capt. Ben Wolfinger said. Lutner said he saw the three alive when he attended a "barbecue-type get-together" at their rural home Sunday night, less than 24 hours before the bodies were found.
"He had nothing to do with the death scene or the abduction of the children," Wolfinger said.
Lutner, a concrete worker with an extensive criminal record, contacted authorities through his probation officer Wednesday after learning he was being sought for questioning, Wolfinger said.
He was the last known visitor to the rural house where the victims, Brenda Kay Groene, 40; her 13-year-old son, Slade Vincent Groene; and her boyfriend, Mark McKenzie, 37, were discovered slain Monday evening.
County Coroner Dr. Robert West said Thursday the three were bludgeoned to death. He would not say when they died or what kind of weapon was used.
An Amber Alert had been issued Tuesday for Groene's missing children, Dylan Groene, 9, and Shasta, 8.
"Please, please release my children safely," Steve Groene, the children's father, pleaded in a televised statement. "They had nothing to do with any of this."
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He and other family members declined to comment further, except to thank law enforcement, the media and the public for their concern.
Wolfinger urged anyone who attended the Sunday gathering to contact the sheriff's office. Otherwise, investigators searching the house for fingerprints might assume they are suspects, Wolfinger said.
Hundreds of tips have flowed in, but nothing solid, Wolfinger said.
Police have kept many details of the killings secret, saying it would help them spot false confessions.
"We know this was a triple homicide because all three victims were bound," Wolfinger said, declining to elaborate.
"Please, please release my children safely," Steve Groene, the children's father, pleaded in a televised statement. "They had nothing to do with any of this."
Has Daddy Dearest been cleared of this? Kind of a weird statement to make...like maybe someone took his kids to get back at him due to gambling debts, or some other malfeasance?
I haven't been following this one too closely...
Sorry I didn't see this and edit it out.
I thought it seemed odd too when I happened to flip on the TV during their brief press remarks. I figure that the father may be referring to something that the police know but haven't released to the public.
Father: "They had nothing to do this."
Analysis: The Father has knowledge of what "this" the reason is.
Sounds like a drug party that went south for some reason. Looks like the Sherriff needs to round up the usual suspects (local druggies) and put a little heat on them. Maybe one of them will turn.
Yeah, lets start blaming everybody without knowing a damn thing! That always works. Remember when everybody wanted to hang the runaway bride's fiancee?
That certainly is the trend around here.
Lots of folks think they know other peoples minds and hearts and can tell you with 100% certainty that this person did this for this reason.
The fiancee of the crazy bride is a perfect example.
Barbeque on a stormy night?
Why your hostility? My analysis was based on what the man
said, plain and simple AND the combined experience of my wife and I,40 years.
In the hateful, adulterous, unconstitutional, feminist rush to help the media exterminate fatherhood and family, the father of the children is guilty until proven innocent.
Here's a scenario for you. The father is innocent, having apparently little contact with his wife or the children. The dead are the woman, her present boyfriend and the oldest child.
What if the two younger children were actually fathered by a third man, that recently got out of prison and went to claim what he thought was his rightful place. On being told to get lost he murders the woman, the child not his own, and the offending boyfriend, then takes off with "his" children.
all he was saying is that the father may have some background info on why the family was slaughtered...
go take your meds......
There wasn't any "hostility", I was just saying we should wait until a few facts come out instead of jumping to an obvious conclusion.
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