How horribly tragic. I was hoping that somehow he had survived. And I hope the name of that judge is posted who released Duncan on such small bail.
Yes. I read on Fox News that the judge said he didn't know about Duncan's past. Well, he should have made it his business to know.
Judge who set bail for suspect not sure if he knew background
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
DETROIT LAKES, Minn. -- The judge who set bail for the Fargo, N.D., man charged with kidnapping a girl in Idaho said Sunday he barely remembers the case and isn't sure if he knew then that the man was a registered Level 3 sex offender.
Becker County District Judge Thomas Schroeder told KSTP-TV of the Twin Cities that the details of Joseph Edward Duncan III's bail hearing were just coming back to him.
"You hear so many of these, and apparently I did set the bail in this matter," Schroeder said.
Schroeder set Duncan's bail at $15,000. Duncan made bail and later skipped out.
"Usually on a bail hearing you have limited information, and so you set it in an amount that you think is appropriate," the judge said.
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Becker County District Judge Thomas Schroeder, who had set bail at $15,000 despite prosecutors' request that it be $25,000, said Sunday that he barely remembers the case and isn't sure if he knew then that Joseph Edward Duncan III was a registered Level 3 sex offender.
"Usually on a bail hearing you have limited information, and so you set it in an amount that you think is appropriate," the judge said. He said if he had known Duncan's record, he would have set it high enough that Duncan would not have gone free.
I haven't heard deatails -- could you expand on your comments on the judge releasing him?