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We’ve been covering the Joseph Duncan case for three years and three months now. Over that time, we’ve produced countless stories on Duncan’s background, criminal history, ideology, etc. Now that we’re on the eve of opening statements in his sentencing, I wanted to comply for you some of the basic background information you may have missed or forgotten about over the years. Before you read this, I want to respond to an irate message I received on my voicemail this morning. A woman was extremely upset that we’re even covering this case. She says we’re making Dunacn a hero and a celebrity by putting him on the news. I disagree. I feel like the only way to honor the victims whose lives Duncan has destroyed is to show what’s being done to bring justice in their cases. If we ignored Duncan and this case, we’d be doing a disservice to the victims. So, if you aren’t interested in seeing the coverage, I apologize. But, you’ll be seeing a lot of it (here and in other local media) in the coming weeks and days. That said, here’s some basic background information, to help guide you through what’s ahead.

*Joseph Duncan is originally from Western Washington. In 1980, he was sentenced to 16 years in prison for raping a young boy at gunpoint.

*Duncan had problems with other inmates in prison, by his own accounts and what is shown in his Department of Corrections records. He was moved around to several facilities in Washington state.

*Duncan was released in 1994 and moved to Seattle.

*In 1996, two young sisters in Duncan’s neighborhood went missing and were later found dead. Duncan’s home was less than a mile from where they disappeared. His place of work was less than a mile from where their bodies were found eight months later.  Police never released information about a suspect. When Duncan had Shasta Groene in Montana, he reportedly confessed to her that he killed those two girls. They are referred to in court documents as possible victims of Duncan, but he has not been charged.

*In 1997, Duncan violated his parole and, police later learned, went to California. While there, police say he kidnapped a young boy named Anthony Martinez, killed him and dumped his body in the woods. Police never connected Duncan to the crime until his arrest in Kootenai County. Duncan’s fingerprints match those left at the Martinez crime scene. He has been charged with Anthony’s murder.

*Duncan was later arrested in Missouri and sent back to prison for violating his parole.

*In 2000, Duncan was released and moved to Fargo, North Dakota. He enrolled in North Dakota State University. He majored in computer science and had two jobs working in computers.

*In 2004, Duncan was accused of molesting two boys in a public park in Detroit Lakes, MN.

 *In April 2005, a wealthy businessman gave Duncan money to pay his $15,000 bail. The check bounced and Duncan skipped town. He left behind notes on the walls of his home in Fargo, North Dakota and asked a neighbor to take care of his cats.

*Before leaving town, Duncan went to a Wal-Mart in Fargo and bought night-vision goggles and other items later used in the Groene/McKenzie murders.

*Duncan rented an SUV from the airport in Minneapolis. He never returned it and it was reported stolen. Duncan was driving that red Jeep Cherokee when he was arrested in Coeur d’Alene in July, 2005.

*According to his own statements, Duncan was driving along I-90 outside Coeur d’Alene when he spotted Dylan and Shasta Groene playing outside. For the next couple of days, Duncan stalked the family using those night-vision goggles. On the night of May 15, Duncan broke into the Wolf Lodge home, killing Brenda Groene, her 13-year old son Slade and her boyfriend, Mark McKenzie. He kidnapped Shasta and Dylan and took them to a remote campsite outside of St. Regis, Montana. An Amber Alert was issued and a nationwide hunt for the children and their abductor began.

*In the early morning hours of July 2, 2005, Duncan and Shasta walked into a Denny’s restaurant in Coeur d’Alene. A waitress and several patrons thought it was odd to see a child there at that time of the morning - and, also recognized the little girl from the pictures hanging all over town. To keep Duncan and Shasta from leaving, waitress Amber Deahn stalled them by making Shasta a milkshake. When police arrived, Shasta admitted who she was and took Duncan into custody.

*After his arrest, investigators discovered Duncan’s blog, on which his writings became increasingly erratic. He talked of wanting to “harm society as much as he can and then [wanting to] die.” He also talked of demons that had taken over. The last entry was written two days before the Wolf Lodge murders.

*We learned after his arrest that Duncan held the Groene children for six weeks off a remote logging road near St. Regis, Montana. On several occasions, Duncan took the children into St. Regis, but no one recognized them as the missing children from Coeur d’Alene. Sometime during that six weeks, Duncan explained to Shasta how he killed her family. Also during that six weeks, Duncan took pictures and videos of the children, including a video of himself abusing Dylan in a remote Montana cabin. Those videos will be allowed in court - and, the courtroom will be open to public when and if they are shown.

*Duncan later said he wanted to return Shasta to reunite her with his family. He referred to her as an angel.

*While in jail, Duncan started blogging again. He was writing letters to someone “on the outside” who was posting them on Duncan’s behalf. Shortly after it was reported in the media, the blogging stopped.

*Days before his trial was set to begin in Kootenai County, Duncan pleaded guilty to the murders at Wolf Lodge. He was sentenced to three life terms without the possibility of parole. As part of the plea deal, prosecutors in Kootenai County said that if Duncan did not the death penalty in the federal case, he would be returned to Kootenai County for sentencing and they would seek the death penalty. Duncan was transferred to the Idaho Maximum Security Institution in Boise and held in protective custody.

*December 3, 2007: Duncan pleads guilty to the federal charges against him. That includes kidnapping Dylan and Shasta Groene and killing Dylan. For these crimes, the sentencing begins August 13, 2008.

As you can imagine, there’s a lot more to the case than just this. These, though, are some background facts you may not hear about in our coverage of the sentencing. This case is very unusual - both locally and nationally. Rarely do you see federal death penalty cases in which defendants represent themselves. Also, as I wrote on this blog a few weeks ago, it doesn’t appear Duncan will try to sway the jury against sentencing him to death. I have long believed he wants to die rather than spend the rest of his life in prison. Whatever happens, I hope more than anything that the only surviving victim, Shasta, gets to see justice for her family and for the horrific crimes she’s endured.

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