The Groene Case

Convicted sex offender Joseph Edward Duncan bragged to 8-year-old Shasta Groene during more than six weeks on the run, telling her how he used a shotgun and hammer to kill her family after staking out this home for days, court documents say. Little Shasta Groene remembered it all and has been providing authorities with details that are building a strong case against Duncan, now charged with three counts of first-degree murder and three counts of first-degree kidnapping.

A hand-written message about the safe recovery of Shasta Groene was added to a missing child poster featuring the girl and her brother at a motel July 5, 2005, in St. Regis, Mont. Authorities said Joseph Edward Duncan III was with the children in the surrounding Lolo National Forest at some point in the last seven weeks. Shasta was found with Duncan at a Denny's restaurant in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, on the morning of July 2. Dylan's remains were later discovered near a campsite.

In this image made from security camera video provided by the owner of the convenience store, Shasta Groene and her alleged abductor, Joseph Edward Duncan III, are seen entering a convenience store on the evening of July 1, 2005, in Kellogg, Idaho, hours before she was rescued. Shasta and her brother Dylan had been missing since May 16, when the bound and bludgeoned bodies of their mother, older brother and mother's boyfriend were found at their rural home.

Here is another image made from security camera video provided by the owner of a convenience store, showing Shasta Groene in an aisle. Early July 2, 2005, employees and customers spotted Shasta eating breakfast with Duncan, a violent sexual predator, at a Denny's restaurant in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. An alert restaurant worker kept them occupied while her boss dialed 911 to summon police, who arrested Duncan at the restaurant.

Shasta Groene and her alleged abductor, Joseph Edward Duncan III, in a photo taken from security video, are seen inside a convenience store July 1, 2005 in Kellogg, Idaho, hours before she was rescued. Duncan has been charged with three counts of first-degree murder and three counts of first-degree kidnapping in the deaths of Shasta's mother Brenda Groene, 40; her brother, Slade, 13, and Brenda Groene's boyfriend, Mark McKenzie, 37.

Jackie Allen, left, makes change for a customer working at her job as a gas station and convenience store clerk, July 5, 2005, in St. Regis, Mont. Allen said she recognized Joseph Edward Duncan III, who was found with kidnapped eight-year-old Shasta Groene several days earlier in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, after seeing his photo following his arrest. She said that he was a customer several weeks after the children's disappearance and asked her about area campgrounds.

The Cameron Conoco gas station and convenience store is seen, in Kellogg, Idaho, July 5, 2005. Shasta Groene's ordeal began when she heard her mother call her into the living room early on the morning of May 16. Her mother, brother and McKenzie were bound with zip-ties and duct tape. Duncan then bound her and Dylan and left them on the ground outside near a swing set. Shasta said she heard McKenzie yell out several times, and at one point they saw their older brother, Slade, stagger, incoherent and bleeding profusely from the head, out of the home. The children yelled for Slade to untie them, but he was unable to respond.

Kootenai County Sheriff Rocky Watson, left, FBI Special Agent Tim Fuhrman, center, and Idaho State Patrol Capt. Wayne Longo leave following a brief news conference July 4, 2005, in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. Watson announced that police found human remains during their search for Dylan Groene, that were later confirmed to be those of the 9-year-old boy. After her rescue, Dylan's sister, Shasta, reportedly told police that she remembered that Duncan wore dark gloves and had a shotgun and night-vision goggles. She also recalled the brand name of the hammer used to bludgeon the victims, which Duncan showed her after the attacks.

Reporter Teresa Reardon reviews her notes July 6, 2005, while examining the campsite where FBI agents believe Joseph Edward Duncan III spent several weeks with kidnapped siblings Dylan and Shasta Groene in St. Regis, Mont. After her rescue July 2, Shasta reportedly told police that, during weeks of captivity at the remote campsite in western Montana, Duncan told her that he cased the family's home for two to three days, using his goggles to look in the windows and study the family's habits and the layout.

Reporters leave the campsite where FBI agents believe Joseph Edward Duncan III spent several weeks with kidnapped siblings Dylan and Shasta Groene in Lolo National Forest July 6, 2005, in St. Regis, Mont.

Kootenai County Sheriff Capt. Ben Wolfinger is surrounded by microphones during a news conference July 6, 2005, in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.

In this image released by Kootenai County First Appearance Video Court, suspect Joseph E. Duncan, left, appears before First District Magistrate Judge Scott Wayman via video July 5, 2005, in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.

Steve Groene addresses the media during a news conference July 6, 2005, in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. Groene thanked everyone involved in helping to recover his kidnapped daughter, Shasta. Steven Groene also said that the public should call on their elected officials to prevent Level Three sex offenders from being allowed out in public.

In this photo released by the Kootenai County Sheriff's Department, Shasta Groene is shown on July 4, 2005, at the Kootenai Medical Center in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.

In this photo released by the Kootenai County Sheriff's Department, Steve Groene, left, is shown with his daughter, Shasta, July 4, 2005, at the Kootenai Medical Center in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.