Aug. 25
INDIANA:
Indiana justices approve execution
Death row inmate Arthur Baird II is competent to be executed as scheduled
next week for killing his parents in 1985, the Indiana Supreme Court ruled
today.
The state's high court ruled 3-2 against a stay of execution, saying
evidence presented on Baird's behalf did not meet a test set out in a U.S.
Supreme Court ruling. That ruling barred states from executing people who
are insane, defined as being unaware of the punishment about to be
received and the reason for that punishment.
"He may be denying to himself that it will actually occur," the Indiana
justices said. "He may have mental illness. But read as a whole, the
evidence presented amply shows Baird knows he is about to be executed
because he murdered his parents."
The Indiana Parole Board voted 3-1 on Wednesday to recommend that Gov.
Mitch Daniels deny clemency for Baird, 59, of Darlington. Baird is
scheduled to die by chemical injection on Aug. 31 for killing his parents,
Kathryn and Arthur Baird. He also was sentenced to 60 years in prison for
killing his pregnant wife, Nadine, the day before his parents' slayings.
Sarah Nagy, an attorney for Baird, said Baird was clearly insane and she
planned to appeal the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court.
"What this case boils down to and what it has always boiled down to is how
we as a society are going to treat our mentally ill," Nagy said.
Police said Baird confessed to the killings, saying he had gone "berserk"
and had believed the federal government was about to pay him $1 million
for advice on solving the national debt. He had planned to buy a farm for
$575,000. But the money never arrived, and Baird was in debt and had been
laid off from a factory job.
Phil Coons, a forensic psychologist, told the parole board Baird had been
sexually molested as a child and developed mental illnesses that included
delusions and an obsessive compulsive disorder. Coons said Baird was under
intense stress, heard voices and felt possessed when the killings
occurred.
Baird told the parole board he felt "2 beings" manipulated his hands as he
strangled his wife in their mobile home. He said he didn't see any beings
the next day but believed he was being controlled again when he fatally
stabbed his parents.
Attorneys and a clinical psychologist argued in this latest appeal that
Baird was not competent because he believed God would turn back time and
bring the victims back to life. The appeal also said Baird believed a "big
burly man" moved his arms during the murders, so he was unable to
experience culpability or fully understand the nature of the penalty.
But the high court said Baird's references to God turning back the clock
and other claims indicated that he was aware that was to be executed
because he had committed murder.
Justices Theodore Boehm and Robert Rucker dissented from the majority
ruling, saying the meaning of "insane" had not been definitively addressed
by the U.S. Supreme Court. Boehm said attorneys had cited facts that "at
the very least lead one to conclude that Baird is only marginally in touch
with reality."
Boehm said Baird had shown a "reasonable possibility" that he may be
insane and should be allowed to pursue further litigation to make that
case.
Barring a late, favorable court ruling or clemency by Daniels, Baird would
be the 5th person executed in Indiana this year.
(source: Associated Press)
IDAHO:
All Info About Crime, Justice and the Law
Joseph Duncan Arraigned, Pleads Not Guilty, Could Face Death Penalty
Following Joseph Duncan's arraignment Tuesday (August 23), in which 1st
District Judge Fred Gibler entered not guilty pleas on his behalf (Duncan
refused to speak, and public defender John Adams declined to enter a
plea), Kootenai County Prosecutor Bill Douglas announced that he would
seek the death penalty.
Duncan is scheduled to stand trial on January 17, 2005 on 3 counts of
1st-degree murder and 3 counts of 1st-degree kidnapping. The kidnapping
charges refer to Brenda Groene, Slade Groene and Mark McKenzie having been
held captive in their home: Duncan is expected to face federal charges for
the abduction of Shasta and Dylan Groene and the murder of Dylan Groene
after this trial is concluded, and he could face the death penalty once
again.
Aggravating circumstances cited by Kootenai County Prosecutor Bill
Douglas:
"The murder was committed in the perpetration of, or attempt to
perpetrate, rape, robbery, burglary, or kidnapping"
The crimes involved multiple slayings
The crimes involved, "exceptional depravity" and utter disregard for human
life
The crimes showed a propensity to murder constituting a continuing threat
to society.
Under Idaho law, aggravated kidnapping alone -- without a murder
conviction -- can call for the death penalty.
Timeline:
Please note that since Duncan is not cooperating with the investigation,
many of the details about the night of the murders and abduction are based
and subsequent events are based on the observations of 8-year-old Shasta
Groene and statements that Duncan allegedly made to her. That being said,
Shasta has so far been a remarkably observant and reliable witness.
1980: Joseph Edward Duncan III, of Tacoma, Washington, is arrested one
month before his 17th birthday, for raping a 14-year-old boy at gunpoint.
Duncan is subsequently sentenced to 20 years in prison.
1986 to 2001: Steven and Brenda Groene are married and have 5 children:
Vance, age 20 (who has a juvenile record), Jesse, age 18, currently in
jail on burglary charges, 13-year-old Slade, 9-year-old Dylan, and
8-year-old Shasta.
1994: Duncan is paroled
1997: Duncan is re-arrested after testing positive for marijuana and
stealing his girlfriend's car
July 2000: Duncan is released from prison and moves to North Dakota, where
he registers as a Level III sex offender
2001: Brenda Groene and her 3 younger children move in with her boyfriend,
Mark McKenzie. They're living just outside of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.
July, 2003: 5-year-old Leeanna "Beaner" Warner (photo at left; click here
for more information) goes missing just blocks from her Chisholm,
Minnesota home. A few months later, in his blog (online diary), Duncan
speculates that he might be blamed for her disappearance. On the face of
it this seems like paranoia -- the blog certainly isn't lacking in
paranoia -- but according to a website run by Steve Huff, Duncan traveled
from Fargo, North Dakota to Lake Superior, Michigan during this period,
and could have passed through Chisholm.
Blogging the Fifth Nail: An online blog believed to have been written by
Duncan, which is updated through May 13, 2 days before the murders and the
children's disappearance.
July 2004
Duncan allegedly molests a 6-year-old boy by a lake in Minnesota, pulling
down his pants and touching him. He tries to do the same to an 8-year-old
boy.
Duncan is ultimately charged with molesting the 6-year-old.
Dr. Richard Wacksman (who in 1997 and 1998 tried to convince the
Department of Corrections to parole Duncan into his custody -- where
Duncan would have lived with Wacksman, his wife, and their two children,
ages 8 and 11) lends him $6,500 for an attorney and another friend, Joe
Crary, gives Duncan $15,000 to cover his bail.
Additional information about these charges
April 2005: Duncan rents a jeep in Minnesota, and jumps bail. Police begin
a search for him.
Days before the May 16 2005 attack:
Duncan drives around the neighborhood near looking for children; sees
8-year-old Shasta Groene, in a bathing suit, playing with her 9-year-old
brother Dylan.
Duncan stalks the McKenzie/Groene home for several days, using
night-vision goggles to learn the home's layout.
The goggles were purchased, along with other items, at a local Wal-Mart on
May 13 (authorities have a written record of this purchase).
May 16 2005, shortly after midnight:
According to "sources familiar with the investigation," Duncan parked a
stolen Jeep Laredo near about a quarter-mile away from the home shortly
after midnight on May 16
Duncan breaks into the McKenzie/Groene home, using a shotgun and a hammer
to subdue the adults.
Shasta wakes up when she hears her mother Brenda call her into the living
room
There are conflicting reports on whether Shasta sees the adults being
bound with Zip Ties and duct tape, or whether they're already bound when
she sees them.
Duncan is wearing black gloves.
Duncan asks McKenzie is he has any money (McKenzie's wallet was found in
Duncan's Jeep after his arrest).
Duncan ties up Shasta and Dylan and leaves them on the ground outside.
Shasta hears McKenze cry out several times
Shasta sees Slade stagger out of the house (Brenda and McKenzie had both
their hands and their feet bound; Slade only his hands).
Dylan and Shasta are driven off in a white pickup truck, then switched to
a Jeep (there are reports, probably incorrect, that it was the other way
around: Jeep to pickup truck).
Shasta says she never saw Duncan before May 16.
Probably no longer relevant:
The coroner's office revealed the three murder victims were found in the
same area of the house, but not together.
A toxicology report says that traces of methamphetamine were found in the
bodies of Brenda and McKenzie.
Brenda and her family are said to have been "involved with" drugs and
petty crime.
The sheriff's department initially believed there was more than one killer
(because the victims were tied up before they were murdered), and that the
victims knew the killers (because there was no sign of forced entry).
During the children's captivity:
Shasta and Dylan are repeatedly molested.
Duncan videotapes the molestations, along with several attempts to kill
the children.
According to Shasta, Duncan acted alone at all times.
Duncan brings the children to three different campsites, including the one
in western Montana where Dylan's body was found.
Duncan shows Shasta the hammer he claimed to have used to kill the adults
(Stanley Fat-Man brand). At a mid-July court hearing, Kootenai County
(Idaho) Sheriff's Detective Brad Maskell demonstrated, using a hammer of
the same style, that this hammer matches the wounds on the adults' skulls
(the actual murder weapon has apparently not been recovered).
Duncan tells Shasta to call him by his nickname "Jet." This is the name
used by the author of the online blog believed to have been written by
Duncan in which he complained about life as a registered sex offender and
suggested that he was about to commit an act of violence.
Dylan is believed to have died about a week before Shasta's July 2 rescue.
There are unconfirmed reports that his body was burned.
July 2 2005, around 2am:
Shasta is recognized by Amber Deahn, a waitress in a Denny's restaurant in
Coeur d'Alene, less than ten miles from the McKenzie/Groene home. Deahn
stalls Shasta's milkshake order until police arrive.
Shasta is brought to the hospital
Duncan is arrested.
Found in Duncan's (stolen) Jeep: a shotgun, black gloves, night-vision
goggles, and Zip-ties (some reports say only the empty Zip-tie package was
found).
There are initial, unconfirmed reports that Shasta told investigators that
Dylan was still alive.
July 4 2005:
Dylan's body is found at a campsite in western Montana, after Shasta
directs investigators to the spot.
There's no official word on how Dylan died, or even whether investigators
have determined cause of death.
July 5 2005: Duncan is charged with two counts of kidnapping and ordered
held without bail.
Court documents charged that Duncan intended to "rape, seriously injure or
commit a lewd and lascivious act on a child under 16 years old."
July 6, 2005: Investigators announce they believe Duncan worked entirely
alone
July 10 2005: Dylan's body is positively identified.
July 12 2005:
Joseph Duncan is charged with first-degree murder and kidnapping in the
deaths of Mark McKenzie, Brenda and Slade; any of these six charges could
lead to the death penalty.
State kidnapping charges are dropped and will be replaced with federal
kidnapping charges, since the children were carried across state lines. A
federal murder charge for Dylan's death is also expected.
Duncan is being held without bail
July 16 2005: Dylan's funeral is held on what would would have been his
tenth birthday.
July 18 2005: Based on the possibility that Duncan was responsible for
5-year-old Leeanna "Beaner" Warner's disappearance, her parents organize a
new week-long search.
July 20, 2005: Chisholm, Minnesota Police Chief Scott Erickson announces,
without significant elaboration, that Duncan "is not a viable suspect" in
Leeanna's disappearance (additional information).
(source: Crime.allinfoabout.com)
