SPOKANE, Wash. — The father of abduction victim Shasta Groene says he is satisfied with the Idaho state court plea agreement under which Joseph Edward Duncan III pleaded guilty to three counts each of murder and kidnapping.
Some family members of the victims have criticized the deal, but Steve Groene said the agreement struck by Kootenai County, Idaho, Prosecutor Bill Douglas is notable because it retains a death penalty option for Duncan, who this week allegedly admitted killing one of Groene's sons and his ex-wife.
Next, federal authorities are expected to prosecute Duncan in the 2005 abduction of Shasta, then 8, and her 9-year-old brother, Dylan, and Dylan's subsequent slaying.
"I personally think that Bill Douglas and his entire staff should be commended," Steve Groene wrote in an e-mail posted by KREM-TV of Spokane on its Web site.
"As most people know, in this world, to get, you gotta give," wrote Groene, who is recovering from throat cancer surgery and cannot speak.
"Not only did they (prosecutors) work on this case for over a year for something that ended up being a 45 min. court case, but they also salvaged 75 to 85 percent of the original plea deal, and kept the death sentence on the table," he wrote.
Last Monday, the day Duncan's triple murder trial was to begin in 1st District Court in nearby Coeur d'Alene, the defendant pleaded guilty to kidnapping and murdering Brenda Groene, 13-year-old Slade Groene and Brenda's fiance, Mark McKenzie, at their rural home near Coeur d'Alene.
He was immediately sentenced to three consecutive life terms in prison without the possibility of parole for the kidnappings. Sentencing on the state murder counts was deferred pending federal prosecution.
In court documents, prosecutors say Duncan committed the slayings so he could kidnap the two younger children for sex. Dylan was killed during the seven weeks the siblings were in captivity. Shasta was rescued at a Denny's restaurant in Coeur d'Alene on July 2, 2005.
The federal government has said it intends to seek the death penalty for Duncan in the abductions and slaying of Dylan.
Under the plea deal, if the federal government does not secure conviction and a death sentence, Duncan must be returned to Kootenai County, where Douglas will pursue the death penalty on Duncan's confessions to the three murders.
The state deal became controversial immediately for two reasons: While it saved Shasta, now 9, from having to testify against Duncan in state court, the girl may still have to face him in federal court.
Also, Duncan was not required to provide to law enforcement officers the password or key to his encrypted personal computer files, which are thought to contain evidence of his criminal activities. He was required to give the password only to a defense lawyer, who is not required to share the contents of the computers with law enforcement.
Those provisions drew criticism this week from relatives of Brenda Groene and McKenzie, who said they had been under the impression Duncan would have to reveal his computer password to police, and that Shasta would never have to testify against the registered sex offender in any court.
In an earlier plea offer that was rejected by prosecutors, Duncan had offered to confess to crimes against the two younger children, and to give his computer password to law enforcement officers, in exchange for avoiding the death penalty.