Joseph Edward Duncan. The Groene Family Case

2022-04-04 21:29:18 Written by Cold Case Blogger

The Kidnapping, Sexual Assault, and Murders of the Groene Family

 

On May 16, 2005, Coeur d’Alene authorities discovered the decomposing corpses of Brenda Groene (40), her fiance Mark McKenzie (37), and Brenda’s son Slade (13). The investigation quickly turned into a missing person’s case when it was discovered that Brenda’s two youngest children, Shasta Groene (8) and Dylan Groene (9) were missing. An Amber Alert was issued in hopes of locating the children and seven weeks later, a waitress at Denny’s restaurant just miles from where Shasta went missing alerted authorities that a young girl was matching her description sitting at one of her tables. Upon the arrival of authorities, Shasta remained silent as she bore her eyes into those of her captor; in what seemed like ages, and after a shared look of understanding, Joseph Duncan nodded his head in silent approval and Shasta told the police who she was and that Joseph was her kidnapper and the murderer of her entire family, including Dylan. 

Joseph Edward Duncan III was born in Tacoma, Washington on February 25, 1963. By the age of 15, he had already raped a nine-year-old boy at gunpoint; he was sentenced to 20 years in prison for this crime. During his incarceration, he told his state-appointed psychiatrist that he had already bound and sexually assaulted 6 boys and raped 13 younger boys by the age of 16. Just two years after his first sexual assault, he stole numerous guns and sodomized a 14-year-old boy at gunpoint. After his release on parole in 1994, he moved around to various areas near Seattle, Washington. During this time, he murdered sisters Sammiejo White (11) and Carmen Cubias (9) on July 6, 1996, after they left a motel to panhandle, and Anthony Martinez (10) on April 4, 1997, after abducting him from a playground at knifepoint.

However, due to a lack of forensic evidence, all three of these murders went unsolved until Duncan was arrested for the Groene family murders. In March of 2005, Duncan was arrested and charged with molesting two boys at a playground in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota. 

 

After autopsies were performed on Brenda, Mark, and Slade, it was determined that each family member was bound with nylon zip ties and bludgeoned to death with a claw hammer. After the recovery of Shasta, she revealed the true brutality of the day her family was murdered. She claimed that while waking up in the morning, her mother called for her to come into the living room. When she walked into the room she saw Duncan with black gloves on and a gun pointed at her mother.

He then ordered her mother, Mark, and Slade to the ground of the living room floor and bound their hands behind their backs before taking herself and Dylan to the Red Jeep Cherokee rental car he stole. Shasta recalls hearing Mark screaming and then seeing Slade stumbling out of the front door of the house after being mortally wounded by Duncan. As they were driving off, Shasta witnessed her brother Slade pass away at the family picnic table outside of the home. At this point, three of her family members were murdered and Duncan was in the process of abducting her and her brother. 

(The letter 8 year old Shasta wrote to her father.  Pic:The Spokesman Review)

For the following four weeks, Duncan took Shasta and Dylan to various campgrounds where he sexually abused and tortured them; he would recall the details of beating their family to death as a way of emotional torture. As Shasta was standing on the opposite side of the Jeep from Duncan and Dylan, she heard a loud explosion. As she ran to the other side of the vehicle to see what happened, she saw Dylan on the ground screaming. Duncan began crying and claiming that he shot Dylan in the stomach on accident when he went to grab a beer from the same container as the gun. As Dylan began begging Duncan not to shoot him, he reloaded his 12-gauge sawed-off shotgun and shot him in the head at point-blank range; Dylan died immediately. 

 

For nearly a week after Shasta witnessed her only surviving sibling murdered, she was in a PTSD dreamlike state; in subsequent interviews, she hardly recalls the five days following his death. On one fateful day, Duncan’s rage focused on her and he gave her an ultimatum; she could either choose to die by strangulation or by being shot like Dylan. In an act incomprehensible to even the most hardened adults, Shasta chose to die by strangulation with the thought that it would be her only way to potentially talk him out of killing her. Her captor then tightened a rope around her neck and squeezed with such strength her vision went white; in her last breath, she recalled the nickname his family gave him that often softened his rage-filled episodes and muttered “Please don’t, Jet,” and at that moment, he dropped the rope and began to sob. He told Shasta that she taught him how to love another human being and even wanted her to meet his mother before bringing her back home to her biological father; it seemed too good to be true, but Shasta maintained her facade of confidence with him. 

 

On July 2nd 2005 at 2am Joseph and Shasta entered a Denny’s restaurant and sat down to order food. On shift at that time was Linda Barger who was instantly drawn to the pair. She recalls Shasta looking unkempt, neglected and very on edge. As she approached the table she became certain that this little girl was missing Shasta Groene and whilst a fellow waitress stalled their order, she called the Coeur D’Alene police department telling them she believed the missing child was present in the diner.

The police were quick to respond and as staff at the diner watched on, officers approached the pair and asked Shaster what her name was. After looking toward Joseph Duncan for an indication of what to say, he gave her permission to tell them who she was. Duncan was promptly arrested and Shasta was finally safe and able to return home to her father.

 

After Duncan’s arrest, he was diagnosed with pedophilia, sadistic personality disorder, and antisocial personality disorder but was declared legally sane to stand trial. On August 27, 2008, after only three hours of deliberation, the jury recommended the death penalty for the crimes against Shasta’s family. The judge imposed three life sentences related to the death and abuse of Dylan and on November 3, 2008, he was given an additional three consecutive life terms for the kidnapping and sexual assault of Shasta and Dylan. 

 

On July 16, 2005, on what would have been Dylan’s tenth birthday, a memorial service was held in his memory and on April 3, 2007, a community effort raised $50,000 to build Shasta a home that would be put into a trust fund until she was 25.

 

In recent interviews, Shasta maintains that she does not feel hatred or resentment towards the man that so viciously ripped her family away from her and even hopes to one day sit with him face to face in prison and tell him that she forgives him. Despite the trauma and torture Shasta suffered, her strongest message is that without forgiveness, he still holds power over her happiness.