Thread: This poor little girl

Idaho girl told police suspect tied up family
Convicted sex offender faces two kidnapping counts
Tuesday, July 5, 2005; Posted: 9:27 p.m. EDT (01:27 GMT)


COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho (CNN) -- Eight-year-old Shasta Groene told investigators she saw Joseph Edward Duncan III tie up members of her family in their home on the day authorities say they were killed, according to an investigative report released Tuesday.

Earlier Tuesday, Duncan was formally charged with two counts of first-degree kidnapping. If convicted, Duncan, 42, could face the death penalty or life in prison.

Shasta and her 9-year-old brother, Dylan, disappeared May 16, the same day authorities discovered their mother, 40-year-old Brenda Groene, a brother, 13-year-old Slade, and their mother's 37-year-old boyfriend, Mark McKenzie, bound and bludgeoned to death at the family's home in Coeur d'Alene.

Duncan, a convicted sex offender, was arrested after a Denny's waitress in Coeur d'Alene recognized Shasta when she came into the restaurant with him about 2 a.m. Saturday. (Full story)

Dylan has not been found, but investigators fear human remains found Monday in western Montana may be his.

The report does not say if Shasta witnessed the killings, but it marks the first time anyone has put Duncan at the scene.

Shasta also told investigators she and Dylan were repeatedly raped by Duncan at least two camp sites in Montana, according to the handwritten report by an investigator recapping an interview with the girl.

"Shasta saw Mr. Duncan molest Dylan," the report says.

The report does not mention Shasta as saying anything about the whereabouts of Dylan.

The interview with Shasta was conducted by Kootenai County Sheriff Sgt. Daniel Mattos and was videotaped, according to the report.

According to the report, Shasta told Mattos she was asleep in her home May 15 when she was awakened by her mother and "went to living room." It says a man forced the "family in ligatures."

She and Dylan were carried and placed into a pickup truck, removed from the property and later transferred to a Jeep, the report says.

"Was same person she was found with, Joseph Duncan," the report alleges.

She told investigators she had never met Duncan before and that he was the only person involved in the kidnappings.

Shasta never used the term rape with investigators, but she provided graphic details about what allegedly occurred.

Meanwhile, Shasta continues to recover at a local hospital. "She's doing very well," said Kootenai County Sheriff's Capt. Ben Wolfinger. "Her medical condition is listed as good."

First court appearance
Duncan was subdued when he made his first appearance in Kootenai County Superior Court via a video link Tuesday.

The kidnapping charges include the intent to rape, commit an unnatural act or perform a lewd and lascivious act upon a child under the age of 16.

Judge Scott Wayman told Duncan he could not enter a plea on the felony charges. He is not eligible for bail, and the next court date was not set. A public defender was appointed for him.

Duncan also was charged with being a fugitive from a prior criminal charge in Minnesota. Wayman set bail of $2 million on that count.

Duncan, with dark curly hair and a mustache, wore a yellow jumpsuit and a shackle around his waist.

Asked if he understood the nature of the charges, Duncan replied, "I believe I do, yes."

Asked if he had any questions, he said, "No, none."

Duncan had already been charged in Washington with failure to file a change of address with the state sex offender registry.

In 1980, when he was 16, Duncan was convicted in Washington of raping a 14-year-old boy at gunpoint and served most of a 20-year sentence.

More recently, he was charged in Minnesota with failure to contact his probation officer, a condition of his release on bail after he was charged with child molestation there earlier this year.

Remains analyzed
The remains found in Montana are "most likely" those of Dylan, Wolfinger said.

He said investigators have determined that the area where the remains were found "is one of the many sites where we believe that Duncan held the Groene children or stayed with the Groene children."

"However, we're not going to make that 100 percent until we get the DNA confirmation later in the week."

In St. Regis, Montana, FBI Special Agent Tim Fuhrman told reporters Duncan and the children "spent some time in the Lolo National Forest over the last seven weeks."

"We continue to process several areas which we believe are crime scenes which are located in an extremely remote part of the forest," Fuhrman said.

Because the sites are in remote areas of the 2-million-acre forest, there are "significant safety concerns," Fuhrman said.

Fuhrman asked people who were in the forest or town in the last seven weeks to "search their memories" and call a tip line (208 446-2292 or 208 446-2293) with any useful information.

Also Tuesday, a convenience store released a surveillance tape that shows Duncan and Shasta Groene arriving in a red SUV, entering the store, making purchases and leaving again.

The video was taken Friday evening in Kellogg, Idaho, about 40 miles east of the Denny's where Shasta was recognized just hours later.

At one point on the tape, the girl walked the aisles of the store by herself while Duncan looked at a newspaper on a different row.

Bless her heart. How in the world will that child ever heal from all that she's been through?

The sad part is that we do have to release people after they have served their time and somewhere along the line we have to hope that they will conform to society. Even more so is that we have to wait until they perform another act of violence before we can put them away forever.

I am dealing with this with the man who broke into my house. He is serving 5 years with 5 years of probation. If he breaks probation he goes back to jail for the five years of probation plus another 15 years. He is illiterate, a drug addict and ADHD. He won't make it in normal society. He doesn't have the skills. So chances are he will break probation and be back in jail. Then when he finishes his 20 years and still has no skills and can't read, he will break into someone else's home and end up back in jail for the rest of his life.

There are all sorts of people who should be in a structured enviroment like a jail because they will never make it outside. Too bad we can't just pick those people out and put them in a regimented social enviroment to keep the rest of us safe.

What a horrific story, My prayers go out to her and her family.

That one strong little girl, I feel so bad for her....She lost everything because Of some sicko that somehow got out on bond after her raped a 6 year old....(at least thats what I heard on the news) This is so awful....He needs the Death Penalty if you ask me.....not that anyone did....Some of what I heard is different then this story....They said on the news (CNN I think) that he was out on bond...I dont know doesnt really matter ....

How sad for that little girl.

I may be wrong, but I thought I remembered reading in People magazine someone saying her brother who died with his mom and her boyfriend had said something to a friend about drug abuse in the household. So, this poor girl may have been subject to that, then this monster? They should seriously take him out back of the jail and just beat the living *&^% out of him! I mean, she is, what? eight years old? Man, this pisses me off. I try to be all logical about stuff like this - you know, he is probably mentally ill, but when I see her picture and begin to think what she has been though, I guess the redneck in me comes out! I am just including her in my prayers hoping she can somehow overcome all this and lead a normal life.

Libby

Originally Posted by lpelham

I may be wrong, but I thought I remembered reading in People magazine someone saying her brother who died with his mom and her boyfriend had said something to a friend about drug abuse in the household. So, this poor girl may have been subject to that, then this monster? They should seriously take him out back of the jail and just beat the living *&^% out of him! I mean, she is, what? eight years old? Man, this pisses me off. I try to be all logical about stuff like this - you know, he is probably mentally ill, but when I see her picture and begin to think what she has been though, I guess the redneck in me comes out! I am just including her in my prayers hoping she can somehow overcome all this and lead a normal life.

Libby

Your right there was meth use, thats how this guy was able to tie her family up..Hes a little guy i think they said about 150lbs and at first they thought this guy had to have help but shasta told police that he was the only one that tied them up...The mothers boyfriend was big I guess like a football player and they were baffled at first due to how little the other guy was....I think it was meth that was in the household....I have heard so much its hard to remember everything...Its so sad