Coeur d’Alene, Idaho – Joseph E. Duncan III, 43, pleaded guilty Monday to killing two adults and a teen at their home near Coeur d’Alene and kidnapping the family’s two youngest children for sex. His plea deal leaves him still eligible for the death penalty.
Duncan pleaded guilty shortly before his trial was to begin Monday. He is to be sentenced to three consecutive life terms without parole. But authorities said sentencing would be postponed pending federal prosecution that could result in the death penalty.
Kootenai County Prosecutor Bill Douglas said the sole survivor, Shasta Groene, had agreed to testify against the man accused of holding her captive in the woods for seven weeks: “This agreement is possible because of a brave little 9-year-old girl who was willing to confront Duncan face-to-face in the courtroom.”
Federal prosecutors have said they intend to charge Duncan with kidnapping Shasta and her brother Dylan and taking them to a campsite in Montana. They said they expect to seek the death penalty.
Court documents allege he repeatedly molested the pair, then killed Dylan, whose body was found later. Shasta was rescued after she walked into an Idaho restaurant with Duncan and was recognized.
If the federal trial does not produce a death sentence, Duncan could return for a death-penalty hearing in state court, Douglas said.
