Duncan Day Two

Aug 14 2008

Published by Annie Bishop at 7:45 pm under North Idaho Insider

It was another rough day in the courtroom. We heard a conversation between Shasta and a Coeur d’ Alene Police officer recorded just moments after she was found at Denny’s. And, we read letters Dylan and Shasta wrote to their dad and each other while being held captive. The saddest part about these letters? Dylan was so hopeful he would be able to go home. Reading through the letters it sounds like Duncan kept telling Dylan he would take him home. Can you imagine?

I was also amazed today about how much Joseph Duncan was concerned for the two family dogs inside the Groene/Mckenzie home. I love dogs, don’t get me wrong, but it appears Duncan was more worried about not injuring the dogs than he was a human life. How can that be? Sgt. Brad Maskell with the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Department says Duncan loaded his shotgun with a bird shell, so it would only injure (spray beebees) the dogs and not seriously hurt them. Yet, he makes sure to have a different kind of shell for Mark Mckenzie. I just don’t get it.

Duncan made a few statements in court as well. He cross examined an FBI agent and the manager at Denny’s. He asked the Denny’s manager about how the restaurant typically serves its milkshakes. And, asked the FBI agent if he noticed the police car in the surviellence video of Duncan and Shasta at a Conoco station in Kellogg. The conversations were brief.

Here are a few tidbits from today that I didn’t get to share in my story:

-It took six days for ISP to process the Wolf Lodge home where Brenda and Slade Groene and Mark Mckenzie were murdered.

-Sgt. Brad Maskell has investigated more than 400 death scenes in the past decade.

-When Duncan went into the Groene home the family pit bull ran out the door like a “bullet.” No one has ever seen the dog since.