Doctor: Tortured Idaho boy didn't have to die
Posted By ap 1 year, 3 months ago in News
BOISE, Idaho (AP) _ A 9-year-old boy who was tortured and killed by a convicted pedophile in front of his younger sister might have been able to survive a shot to the abdomen had he been taken to a hospital, a doctor told a jury that will decide whether the man gets the death penalty.
As it was, the girl testified that Joseph Edward Duncan III blasted the boy in the head after accidentally shooting him in the stomach, having decided his life couldn't be saved.
The boy probably suffered excruciating pain, Dr. Sharon Cooper, a forensic pediatrician, testified.
The doctor said the description of the boy's injury — he was eviscerated, his sister Shasta said, with his "guts" hanging out — indicated it was "a very potentially salvageable injury."
Cooper also said Duncan might have had enough time to get Dylan Groene to a hospital from the remote western Montana campsite where the shooting occurred.
Cooper, former chief of pediatrics at Fort Bragg, a military base in North Carolina, performed a medical assessment of Shasta Groene after her rescue; interviewed her father, Steve Groene; and reviewed interviews of the girl by law enforcers.
Cooper's testimony in U.S. District Court followed the presentation of a videotaped interview in which Shasta Groene, 8 at the time, described how she and her brother were raped and forced to perform sex acts together by Duncan, whom she called "Jet."
Duncan pleaded guilty in December to 10 federal counts in the 2005 kidnapping of the Coeur d'Alene-area children and the murder of the boy. Duncan also faces the death penalty in a separate state case in which he pleaded guilty to murdering the siblings' family.
The children were abducted from their home in May 2005 after Duncan fatally bludgeoned their mother, Brenda Groene; their 13-year-old brother, Slade; and the mother's fiance, Mark McKenzie.
Duncan, acting as his own attorney in the sentencing phase, suggested in cross-examining Cooper that the girl was exaggerating her brother's injury.
"How much in your experience do children tend to elaborate or exaggerate and fill in details ... especially after a traumatic experience like that?" Duncan asked.
Children who exaggerate are typically much younger, between 4 and 6, and lack the vocabulary to describe what happened to them, Cooper said.
While it is The Associated Press' policy not to identify victims of sexual assault in most cases, the search for Shasta and Dylan Groene was so heavily publicized that their names are widely known.
Duncan, formerly of Tacoma, Wash., has a long string of arrests and convictions for crimes ranging from car theft to rape and molestation. He is suspected in the slayings of two half-sisters from Seattle in 1996 and is charged with killing a young boy in Riverside County, Calif., in 1997.
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By now you're probably trying to figure out the identity behind those cryptic initials. Alan Parsons? Alexia Prichard? No, they stand for Associated Press ...
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webtechreviews1 year, 3 months ago
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airwick1944Comment removed: Retracted by user2 Replies
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wms721 year, 3 months ago
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This will end when the lawyers, judges, and politicians who released this man from jail for his previous crimes are also made to pay for this boy and girl's horrible pain.
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This girl saw her mother and two brothers killed by this creep before her very eyes. How will she ever sleep safely at night? Who will love her like her family did? How will she ever be healed and forget these terrors?
May God have mercy on them, and on us, if we allow this kind of society to continue without taking major steps to correct the problems.
That boy's blood cries to Heaven that we cannot turn away from these crimes and continue business as usual.
It is likely that this man aggravated his lusts with porn use before he ever attacked living people. OUTLAW PORN NOW!!!-
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Charlson1 year, 3 months ago
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Porn was the cause for this man's horrific crime? And you know this how? Why do people grasp at ridiculous conclusions to the reason for certain crimes?
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The man had it within himself to commit this and other crimes and deserves the death penalty. -
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dk99041 year, 3 months ago
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"It is likely that this man aggravated his lusts with porn use before he ever attacked living people. OUTLAW PORN NOW!!!"
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If he had fueled his desires with alcohol, would you be pushing to make alcohol illegal? He probably ate a lot of red meat too, so should we pass laws requiring everyone to be vegetarian? Just because some loser uses porn and commits a crime doesn't mean we should be passing laws that apply to everyone. Just because you abhor porn doesn't mean that 99.999% of society can't enjoy it without killing a kid. Every study ever done regarding porn has not determined a cause and effect relationship as to viloent crime. There may be a correlation, but that does not indicate cause and effect. -
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nielewahine1 year, 3 months ago
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Although I understand your anger and distaste for this man's crimes, it is he who made the decisions he did, nothing else. Shasta's father is in her life and he does love her the way she should be loved. Porn is not the one on trial here, it is the person who commited a horrifc crime and has no remorse for his actions. He sought out this family and never made the choice to turn away from his plan. Using Porn as the means to this person's criminal behavior is the same as him saying he had no control over his intentions. It is not about outlawing items which grown adults have a right to chose but making all people take responsibility for thier actions no matter what the concequence.
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mackiemesserComment removed: Retracted by user1 Reply
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Nowalive1 year, 3 months ago
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These crimes are especially heinous. With his arrest record he should have already been put away for life. However, our legal system has become more of a business than a system of punishment. I know of several cases locally where convicted rapists, murderers and the like were released because "they had shown substantial rehabilitative progress" while incarcerated. Only to get out and kill and rape again.
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I say it is a business now because they care more about fines and monitoring fees than what is inside the mind of these monsters. Let them out so they can pay the court system huge sums of money to be "watched". This is incredible.
If there were ever anyone deserving of the death penalty, it is this man. -
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TweekerchickQC1 year, 3 months ago
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Disgusting.
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Those poor children. At least that boy finally gets some peace now. That little girl is going to suffer for the rest of her life.
How someone can hurt a child just blows my mind, and makes me so angry. I hope he suffers, because his victims certainly are. -
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CamsKat1 year, 3 months ago
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There are no words to describe how sick and disgusting this man is, and to think Obama wants to do away with prisons as it is unjust and inhumane and put these people on "house arrest"???? I put my own brother in jail for raping a girl and had 2 warrants put against my father for molesting and hurting children. This is the worst of all crimes. Children are innocent and defenseless and I cannot see anyone EVER damaging and scarring these beautiful babies for life. I will be the children's family!
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Charlson1 year, 3 months ago
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What evidence do you have about Obama wanting to do away with prisons? And why are you injecting this tripe in this post? The crime was horrific and he also committed other crimes and should have been in prison. It was the failure of our justice system and not Obama's.
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lbrtyordeath1 year, 3 months ago
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CamsKat.....it is people like you who truly make me sad about our prospects as a country.
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What lying e-mail have you been reading about Obama doing away with prisons?
Lies lies lies lies lies. Not saying you're a liar for perpetuating them, merely a sheep being led around by wolves.
Do some research. Listen to someone other than Rush Limbaugh. Watch something other than the 700 club.
Then form your OWN opinions. -
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rgganong11 year, 3 months ago
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Why on earth, do you feel the need to drag Obama into this??? You have been brainwashed to believe he is evil because why????????? John McCain is good, right??? you are azwfully sick if you believe that Obama would allow this man to go free, he is a just and good man with 2 daughters of him own, come on who are you anyway??????
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Mdiar1 year, 3 months ago
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Yup.
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Same here.
Luckily, we have a way of dealing with them... increase the sentence about ten fold for pedophiles and let everyone know what they're in there for.
Running out of room? We'll legalize pot and clear out most of the prisons.
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vaar691 year, 3 months ago
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There are certain animals that should be destroyed immediately whenever they pose a threat to our children..this was one of them. No rights, no second or third chances to do this again and again. Rabid animals are killed to protect us, why not evil scum like this freak?
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normallysilent1 year, 3 months ago
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silverram1 year, 3 months ago
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that is perfect, but the bears will rip him up way to quickly. Take this mother ucker
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and put him in the DENTIST CHAIR AND DRILL OUT EVERY TOOTH LEAVE ONLY THE FRONT TWO THEN TAKE PLYERS OUT AND JUST PULL. WHEN HE IS
SCREAMING JUST SHOVE THE TWO TEETH BACK IN HIS MOUTH AND SEW IT UP WITH A NEEDLE AND WIRE. THEN, YES, TAKE THIS THING OUT TO THE FOREST AND COOK BACON, LOTS OF BACON, AND PULL HIS PANTS DOWN YOU KNOW AND PUT HIS THING IN THE PLATE WITH THE BACON,
BEARS WILL ENJOY THIS, PLEASE PUT A CAMERA THERE SO WE ALL CAN WATCH IT ON UTUBE. THE DEVIL IS TO GOOD FOR THIS ONE, ONLY THE BEARS CAN BE THE JUDGE WITH THIS ONE. I HOPE THEY ARE VERY VERY HUNGRY.
CALLING ALL HUNGRY BEARS.
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sisco30Comment removed: Spam
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sisco301 year, 3 months ago
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People like him make me SICK! He admitted to doing these horrible crimes so he can get a lesser sentence?! What is wrong with that? He has pleaded guilty, give him the death sentence, do not let us tax payers pay for him to have 3 free and a cot for life!
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Saberdude19631 year, 3 months ago
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I believe the real crime against society has been made by the judge, lawyers, and even the Idaho governer. They should be locked up for a minimun mandatory of at least 25 years. Such a shame to the judicial system to let a known criminal of his magnatude walk free to prey on innocents again. They share an equal guilt for being an accessory to this childs murder.
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Damachula1 year, 3 months ago
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I wrote the same thing before reading your blog! Jeez were is the Justice for this Family. this wasnt his first offense the sick bastard did this before what kind of people set him free, and how many others like him roam the earth on there behalf?
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Cass5911361 year, 3 months ago
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Until our laws actually empower the victims of sex crimes to testify with anonymity in a safe, unthreatening environment and THEN put pedophiles away for life, we will continue to see the crimes of these sick men escalate. The recidivism rate is astronomical and that's even given the fact that so freaking many of them GET AWAY with their crimes because the victims are too frightened and traumatized to testify or half the time even prosecute.
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We have SO much activity with political groups these days. WHERE are the activists for children? Why won't people even bother to WRITE an email to their elected officials to demand stricter laws for pedophiles? We CAN make a difference. We just have to care enough. -
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coolasapopsicle1 year, 3 months ago
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oh please let me have him before he goes to prison. I'd love to torture him for a few days. I have a special idea what to do to him with a broken beer bottle. an eye for an eye. If I can't have him, give him to the inmates-I hear most of them don't think much of child molesters.
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annoythedonkey1 year, 3 months ago
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What a creep, is it me or does this guy just look like a freak in this picture, It's to bad they don't use Capital Punishment for people like him, give him to the prisons and put a sign on his back that says what he did, from what I hear child molesters and people who have killed kids don't last very long in prison
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charles11111111 year, 3 months ago
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I don't understand...
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When these animals commit murder and rape they must get only a year or two behind bars, and then when released after their short stay, murder and rape again. This cycle is repeated multiple times. Something must be wrong with Idaho justice. The guy should have been fried years ago after the first rape and murder.
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