This is the animal that led Polimom to start blogging (ABC):
SPOKANE, Wash. Oct 12, 2006 (AP)— Lawyers for Joseph Edward Duncan III said Wednesday he will admit to the murder of 9-year-old Dylan Groene in Montana and to killing three of the boy’s relatives in Idaho if prosecutors will drop the death penalty option.
The atrocities committed against Shasta and Dylan Groene by Duncan (a.k.a. Jet, and Jazzi Jet) appalled me more than any other, and his actions crystallized my position on the death penalty in cases like his.
And yet… there’s a little girl out there in the world who somehow survived (WaPo):
COEUR D’ALENE, Idaho — A girl who survived a massacre at her family’s home last year is competent to testify in the trial of Joseph Edward Duncan III, which begins next week, a judge ruled Thursday.
Unfortunately, as terrible as that massacre was, it isn’t all she came through. She also witnessed the hideous murder of her brother, with whom she was kidnapped… and with whom she was apparently molested. And as Captain Fantastic at The Cellar blog writes, he is accused of:
Crimes which caused the violent death of young Dylan Groene in view of his little sister, survivor Shasta– who was allegedly forced to participate in “cleaning up” the crime scene- a “camp” Joseph Duncan brought the children to in an otherwise peaceful, remote area of western Montana’s Lolo National Forest.
That a judge has ruled her competent to testify implies (to me) that she’s an incredibly strong little girl who has been getting the support and help she has to have.
But she’s still a 9-year-old little girl, and she should, if at all possible, be spared further pain.
Peven said Duncan is willing to plead guilty to spare Shasta Groene the trauma of having to testify in court against him.”It’s the right thing to do,” Peven told The Associated Press. “Mr. Duncan doesn’t advantage himself in any way.”
Duncan understands that by making the confessions, he will make it easier for the federal government to convict him of expected charges of kidnapping and murder in the abduction of Shasta and Dylan when the state case concludes, Peven said.
Polimom’s very skeptical that Duncan’s acting altruistically, but if it is true that, as a result of Duncan’s confessions, the federal government will be able to pursue their case against Duncan without Shasta, then the Kootenai County prosecutor’s office should have accepted this plea bargain…. but they didn’t.
However Duncan’s defense team says Prosecutor Bill Douglas has rejected the deal.
Douglas has said all along that Duncan deserves the death penalty for his crimes. The revelation of the plea rejection comes just five days before jury selection begins in the case against Duncan for the Wolf Lodge Bay murders.
By insisting on going forward with the trial at the local level, prosecutor Bill Douglas appears to be looking for a notch in his belt at the expense of a little girl. Worse yet, it isn’t necessary if the federal case will only get stronger as a result of the guilty plea.
Shasta may be competent; if she is, that’s wonderful. Terrific! Miraculous! But her mental strength is the only bright spot in this very dark tale.
Yes, Duncan deserves to die… but not at Shasta’s further expense.
She’s suffered enough.
* * * * *
Update Monday Oct. 16: From CNN:
COEUR D’ALENE, Idaho (AP) — The man accused of kidnapping two children from their Idaho home and killing their family agreed Monday to plead guilty to murder and kidnapping charges to escape the death penalty, officials announced in court as his trial was about to begin.
Under the deal, Joseph E. Duncan III, 43, will be sentenced to three consecutive life terms in Idaho, then face federal charges which could carry the death penalty.
The deal also means the only survivor, 9-year-old Shasta Groene, will not have to testify. She was expected to be a primary witness against Duncan at trial.
According to the article, they’ve had some difficulty finding an unbiased jury (go figure!).
Obviously, Polimom’s relieved at this outcome for Shasta’s sake. There’s more, though:
The plea bargain request included an offer to give investigators access to encrypted files in Duncan’s computer, which are thought to contain graphic evidence of his crimes.
Experts have yet to unlock the files and Duncan, a computer expert, has bragged that the encryption protection he used is so strong that it will take authorities three decades to crack it.
Since his arrest, Duncan has also been implicated in the unsolved deaths of two children in Seattle and one in Southern California.
There were lots of reasons to do the right thing here…