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FBI Says Remains Are Dylan Groene

Monday , July 11, 2005


COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho — The remains of 9-year-old Dylan Groene have been identified, ending his family's hope that he had survived a kidnapping ordeal as his 8-year-old sister, Shasta, had.

Dylan and Shasta were declared missing May 16 after police found the bound and beaten bodies of their mother, their older brother, and their mother's boyfriend. Shasta was discovered July 2 in a local diner with James Edward Duncan III , a registered sex offender who had fled Fargo, N.D.

After questioning Shasta, authorities said they believed Dylan was likely dead, and human remains thought to be Dylan were found last week in western Montana. The confirmation was made public Sunday.

"According to the FBI lab in Quantico, Va., the remains found last week in Montana have been positively identified as Dylan Groene," Sheriff's Capt. Ben Wolfinger said.

Wolfinger declined to provide more details at the brief Sunday news conference, citing the continuing investigation and sensitivity for the Groene family.

Duncan was held without bail in the Kootenai County Jail on two kidnapping charges. Authorities believe he also is the sole person responsible for the deaths of Brenda Kay Groene, 40; Slade Groene, 13; and Mark Edward McKenzie, 37, in the Groenes' rural Coeur d'Alene home.

Sheriff Rocky Watson has said he believes the motive for the killings was to acquire the children for sex. Watson also said authorities believe the family was chosen at random, but that the attack was carefully planned and executed.

Duncan, 42, was on the run from a child molestation charge in Minnesota. Public defender Lynn Nelson on Thursday filed a bail reduction request that will be heard at a July 19 hearing at which Duncan is expected to enter a plea.

Kidnapping in Idaho can carry the death penalty, but authorities have not decided whether to seek that punishment and do not have to make a formal decision until 30 days after a plea is entered. Duncan also may face federal charges.

Shasta has been released from Kootenai Medical Center to her father, Steve Groene.

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Father of slain children sues Joseph Duncan for wrongful death

Oct 5, 7:44 PM EDT
By REBECCA BOONE

BOISE, Idaho (AP) -- Joseph Duncan III, the man accused of killing three members of a northern Idaho family so he could molest two children, has been sued by a relative of the victims.

Steven Groene filed the wrongful death lawsuit Wednesday in U.S. District Court, alleging that Duncan, a convicted child molester, was responsible for the deaths of 13-year-old Slade Groene, 9-year-old Dylan Groene and their mother, Brenda Groene. Steven Groene also claims that Duncan caused intentional infliction of emotional distress and battery against Shasta Groene, who was 8 at the time of the May 2005 slayings and abductions.

Steven Groene is the father of Slade, Dylan and Shasta and the ex-husband of Brenda Groene.

In the lawsuit, Groene asks a judge to prevent Duncan from profiting from the crimes by writing books, providing television or movie content or any other activities. He also asks for a jury trial and monetary damages in an amount to be proven in court.

Duncan, 43, a Tacoma, Wash., native, faces the death penalty if he is convicted in an Idaho court on three counts of murder. He is accused of using a hammer to kill Brenda Groene; her fiance, Mark McKenzie; and Slade Groene, at the family's home east of Coeur d'Alene.

Prosecutors allege he killed the three so he could abduct and molest young Shasta and Dylan Groene.

Duncan was arrested July 2, 2005, at a Denny's restaurant in Coeur d'Alene while eating with Shasta. Dylan's remains were later found at a remote campsite near St. Regis, Mont.

On Tuesday, a spokeswoman for federal prosecutors said they, too, plan to seek the death penalty once they charge Duncan in the abduction of the two children. Jean McNeil, spokeswoman for U.S. Attorney Tom Moss in Boise, declined to say exactly what federal charges Duncan would face.

Steven Groene claims that both he and his daughter, now 9, have suffered severe emotional distress, medical expenses and the loss of the care and companionship of family members as a result of Duncan's actions.

Duncan's federal public defender, Roger Peven, said Duncan would not speak to The Associated Press and that he likely did not yet know about the civil lawsuit.

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Father of abducted Idaho girl supports Duncan plea deal

Fri, Oct. 20, 2006

NICHOLAS K. GERANIOS
Associated Press

SPOKANE, Wash. - The father of abduction victim Shasta Groene says he is satisfied with the Idaho state court plea agreement under which Joseph Edward Duncan III pleaded guilty to three counts each of murder and kidnapping.

Some family members of the victims have criticized the deal, but Steve Groene said the agreement struck by Kootenai County, Idaho, Prosecutor Bill Douglas is notable because it retains a death penalty option for Duncan, who this week admitted killing one of Groene's sons and his ex-wife while he was on the run from a child molestation charge in Minnesota.

Next, federal authorities are expected to prosecute Duncan in the 2005 abduction of Shasta, then 8, and her 9-year-old brother, Dylan, and Dylan's subsequent slaying.

"I personally think that Bill Douglas and his entire staff should be commended," Steve Groene wrote in an e-mail posted by KREM-TV of Spokane on its Web site Thursday night.

"As most people know, in this world, to get, you gotta give," wrote Groene, who is recovering from throat cancer surgery and cannot speak.

"Not only did they (prosecutors) work on this case for over a year for something that ended up being a 45 min. court case, but they also salvaged 75 to 85 percent of the original plea deal, and kept the death sentence on the table," he wrote.

Last Monday, the day Duncan's triple murder trial was to begin in 1st District Court in nearby Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, the defendant pleaded guilty to kidnapping and murdering Brenda Groene, 13-year-old Slade Groene and Brenda's fiance, Mark McKenzie, at their rural home near Coeur d'Alene.

He was immediately sentenced to three consecutive life terms in prison without the possibility of parole for the kidnappings. Sentencing on the state murder counts was deferred pending federal prosecution.

In court documents, prosecutors say Duncan committed the slayings so he could kidnap the two younger children for sex. Dylan was killed during the seven weeks the siblings were in captivity. Shasta was rescued at a Denny's restaurant in Coeur d'Alene on July 2, 2005.

The federal government has said it intends to seek the death penalty for Duncan in the abductions and slaying of Dylan.

Under the plea deal, if the federal government does not secure conviction and a death sentence, Duncan must be returned to Kootenai County, where Douglas will pursue the death penalty on Duncan's confessions to the three murders.

The state deal became controversial immediately for two reasons: While it saved Shasta, now 9, from having to testify against Duncan in state court, the girl may still have to face him in federal court.

Also, Duncan was not required to provide to law enforcement officers the password or key to his encrypted personal computer files, which are thought to contain evidence of his criminal activities. He was required to give the password only to a defense lawyer, who is not required to share the contents of the computers with law enforcement.

Those provisions drew criticism this week from relatives of Brenda Groene and McKenzie, who said they had been under the impression Duncan would have to reveal his computer password to police, and that Shasta would never have to testify against the registered sex offender in any court.

In an earlier plea offer that was rejected by prosecutors, Duncan had offered to confess to crimes against the two younger children, and to give his computer password to law enforcement officers, in exchange for avoiding the death penalty.