Federal prosecutors told a jury Monday that convicted killer Joseph Duncan had killed at least three times before 2005, when his attack on a northern Idaho family left four dead.
The testimony in U.S. District Court is designed to convince a jury that Duncan should be executed for the kidnapping, torture and murder of 9-year-old Dylan Groene in 2005. In the next few days Duncan will be given the option to present evidence to balance against the heinousness of the crime in an effort to sway the jurors toward a life sentence.
Duncan pleaded guilty last year to 10 federal charges related to the kidnapping and torture of Dylan and his sister Shasta Groene, and to Dylan’s murder. He’s already been convicted in state court to murdering 13-year-old Slade Groene, his mother Brenda Groene and her boyfriend Mark McKenzie at the family’s Coeur d’Alene-area home.
Monday FBI agent Mike Sotka testified that Duncan confessed to three other murders after his arrest in the Groene case - the slayings of half-sisters Sammiejo White and Carmen Cubias in Seattle, Washington and the slaying of Anthony Martinez in Riverside County, California.
Of the seven people believed to be his victims, only two are adults - the rest are between the ages of 9 and 13. All but one were bludgeoned to death. Dylan Groene was shot twice.
Testimony continues Tuesday in Boise. (AP)