Posted on 07/13/2005 11:59:52 AM PDT by TheOtherOne
Detective: Young Captive Remembered Every Detail of Attack on Her Family
Published: Jul 13, 2005 COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho (AP) - Convicted sex offender Joseph Edward Duncan bragged to his 8-year-old captive during more than six weeks on the run, telling her how he used a shotgun and hammer to kill her family after staking out their home for days, court documents show.
Shasta Groene remembered it all and has been providing authorities with details that are building a strong case against Duncan, according to the minutes and a recording of a closed-door probable-cause hearing.
Duncan was charged Tuesday with three counts of first-degree murder and three counts of first-degree kidnapping in the deaths of Shasta's mother Brenda Groene, 40, her brother Slade, 13, and Groene's boyfriend Mark McKenzie, 37. If convicted, he could face the death penalty.
"He told her he was out driving around looking for children to kidnap," Kootenai County sheriff's detective Brad Maskell testified during the probable cause hearing Tuesday. "He ... saw her playing in the yard with her brother and wearing a bathing suit. At that point he chose them as possible kidnap victims."
Public defender John Adams declined to comment after the hearing. "We try to do our litigation in the courtroom," he said.
Duncan's mother, Lillian, who lives in Tacoma, Wash., told The Seattle Times she had spoken briefly with him and he showed remorse, the newspaper reported Wednesday.
"I don't know what he has done or what he hasn't done," Lillian Duncan said. "I still love him; he's my son."
Shasta's family is trying to make sure she does not see news about the crimes. She was "devastated" Tuesday when she saw a picture of Duncan while changing television channels, said her grandmother, Darlene Torres.
"She saw this guy and said, 'There's Jet!'" Torres said, referring to a nickname used by Duncan. "It was really disturbing."
According to the court records and testimony, Shasta's ordeal began when she heard her mother call her into the living room early on the morning of May 16. Her mother, brother and McKenzie were bound with zip-ties and duct tape.
Duncan then bound her and Dylan and left them on the ground outside near a swing set. Shasta said she heard McKenzie yell out several times, and at one point they saw Slade stagger, incoherent and bleeding profusely from the head, out of the home. The children yelled for Slade to untie them, but he was unable to respond.
According to the account, Shasta remembered that Duncan wore dark gloves and had a shotgun and night-vision goggles. She also recalled the brand name of the hammer used to bludgeon the victims, which Duncan showed her after the attacks.
During weeks of captivity at a remote campsite in western Montana, Duncan told Shasta that he cased the family's home for two to three days, using his goggles to look in the windows and study the family's habits and the layout, officials said.
"Shasta was very specific that Mr. Duncan is the only person responsible for these acts," Maskell added.
Shasta was rescued early in the morning of July 2, when employees at a Denny's restaurant in Coeur d'Alene recognized her and called police. She has since been reunited with her father.
Dylan was found dead in Montana last week.
Duncan had been charged with kidnapping Shasta and Dylan, but those state charges will be dismissed and instead handled by the federal court system because the youngsters were taken across a state line, authorities said.
Officials have alleged that the children were repeatedly sexually molested during their ordeal, and sheriff Rocky Watson has said he believes the motive for the killings was to acquire the children for sex.
While it is The Associated Press' policy not to identify alleged victims of sexual assault in most cases, the search for Shasta and her brother was so heavily publicized that their names were already widely known.
Duncan was released on $15,000 bail earlier this year in Becker County, Minn., after being charged with molesting a 6-year-old boy. Police in Fargo, N.D., where Duncan lived, had been looking for him since he failed to check in with a probation agent there in May.
Duncan had spent more than a decade in prison for sexually assaulting a 14-year-old boy at gunpoint in Tacoma, Wash.
AP-ES-07-13-05 1424EDT
According to the court records and testimony, Shasta's ordeal began when she heard her mother call her into the living room early on the morning of May 16. Her mother, brother and McKenzie were bound with zip-ties and duct tape.
Duncan then bound her and Dylan and left them on the ground outside near a swing set. Shasta said she heard McKenzie yell out several times, and at one point they saw Slade stagger, incoherent and bleeding profusely from the head, out of the home. The children yelled for Slade to untie them, but he was unable to respond.
According to the account, Shasta remembered that Duncan wore dark gloves and had a shotgun and night-vision goggles. She also recalled the brand name of the hammer used to bludgeon the victims, which Duncan showed her after the attacks.
I KNOW WE NEED A TRIAL, BUT PLEASE LET IT BE QUICK, AND THEN PUT THIS SICK BASTARD TO DEATH.
Are there any consequences for the idiot judge who let him off on $15K bail? Insane.
Strong little girl. I hope that composure doesn't fade if it comes to a trial. On the other hand, it also sounds like she'd launch herself at him, fists, shoes and gnashing teeth for what he has done....
You know, death really isn't sufficient.
But, yeah, I know we need a trial first... I hate to think of that little girl having to testify about the rapes though. But its in the constitution you get to confront your accuser.
We really don't need a trial. Jailhouse justice would be fine in this case.
I'm afraid they will plea bargain this down. But he is a dead man when he gets to prison.
That poor little thing. I only pray that God gives her the strength to stand all that she's going to need to stand, probably for the rest of her life. Her dad too.
It makes me nervous that there's already talk of "remorse" on the part of that POS Duncan. Hopefully it won't make any difference once he gets to prison.
Oh no, the liberal/Democrat world view is crumbling.
According to their sacred beliefs, the rich can only prosper at the expense of the poor -- and vice-versa. Their pie is fixed for all eternity because there can be no innovation, no profit, no merit. Everything must stay the same -- with privileged liberals at the top of the universities, media, unions. No new songs and anthems can be written -- only the oldies but goodies must be replayed until that generation passes away (See Live 8 concert, '60s demagogues, etc). Only the politicians that have been around for ages must be allowed to continue obfuscating and obstructing -- because it is their entitlement and divine right
What can the liberal/Democrat do to maintain their privileged place at the trough? I can already hear their anguished oinks demanding more if there is going to be an expanding pie. "Oink, oink," the mainstream media protested and all the liberal/Democrats who only want their fair share of all of the pie.
Would Death by a thousand cuts work?
http://www.answers.com/topic/death-by-a-thousand-cuts
I KNOW WE NEED A TRIAL, BUT PLEASE LET IT BE QUICK, AND THEN PUT THIS SICK BASTARD TO DEATH.
In exactly the same way he took his victims. I'd let Shasta's Dad have the first crack at him! He's a real sick S**t!
I would love to tie him up where he was near motionless and let her have at it with anything she wanted.
Can somebody explain to me why we put missing children's info and faces all over TV, milk cartons, highway signs, etc., like it's a national emergency, but when a guy with a record like this jumps bail it's ho-hum no big deal? If we'd act like it's a national emergency when one of these convicted sickos jumps bail, fails to check in with a probation officer, can't be found at the address he's registered at, etc., there wouldn't BE so many missing/raped/murdered children!
Are we "good people" such losers that we only respond to alerts about cute little children who go missing, but wouldn't pay any attention to alerts and media coverage about a sicko middle-aged child molester who's gone missing? Because that's the only reason I can think of to explain this irrational approach to issuing alerts.
My mind cannot envision what could be sufficient retribution for this scumbag
He is being charged with 3 counts of murder and 3 counts of kidnapping at this point. It sounds like it is for tying up and murdering the older brother, mother and mothers boyfriend.
Obviously this is posted on the wrong thread. I don't know what happened here. One of those freak happenings.
I was wondering what was going on.
Why don't we have the execution televised: show a close-up of his head and a 357 barrel next to his temple..then a slow count down to 0 from 5...let the govenment pay to have it on cable and the networks...
I was thinking the exact same thing. I hope they start. In fact, how many are out TODAY that need to be found? Let's get 'em. I would support using my tax dollars as a bounty to be paid for finding these creeps.
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