Cringing jurors watch Duncan torture boy on tape

Story Highlights
Jurors cringe as tapes of defendant torturing boy play in court
Jury previously saw tape of Shasta Groene describing brother's murder
Edward Duncan III killed four members of Groene family, kidnapped children
Duncan pleaded guilty in December, may put up no defense at penalty trial
Next Article in Crime »

BOISE, Idaho (AP) -- Jurors cringed, cried and some desperately looked away as they were shown a series of deeply disturbing and graphic videos taken by a convicted child killer as he tortured, sexually abused and nearly killed a 9-year-old boy.

Joseph Edward Duncan III stalked the Groene family and killed four of its five members.

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Joseph Edward Duncan III, acting as his own attorney, had argued against playing the videos, saying it would turn jurors "into my victims" as they decide whether he should be executed.

Duncan kidnapped the boy, Dylan Groene, and his sister, Shasta, in May 2005 after murdering their older brother, their mother and her fiance in the Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, area. The two young children were taken deep into the Lolo National Forest, where they endured weeks of horrendous abuse at Duncan's hands.

Duncan ultimately shot the boy point-blank in the head while his sister, then 8, watched. He was arrested after returning to Coeur d'Alene, where a waitress recognized Shasta as the two ate at a Denny's restaurant.

The videos and photos taken at the cabin show Duncan forcing the boy to perform a sex act, whipping him with a belt and hanging him with a wire noose until the boy passed out.

"The devil is here, boy, the devil himself. The demon couldn't do what the devil sent him to do so the devil came himself," Duncan yells in one video. "The devil likes to watch children suffer and cry."

Duncan covered his face as parts of the video were shown, and jurors frequently shot him looks. Two of Duncan's standby attorneys also avoided looking at the screen.

Duncan, a convicted pedophile originally from Tacoma, Washington, has pleaded guilty to federal and state counts including murder. The federal jury is considering the death penalty on charges related to the kidnappings and Dylan's murder, but he also could face execution on state counts in the other three killings.

Duncan, who is representing himself in federal court, objected to showing the videos, saying that would "basically be turning the jury into my victims so I will be tried not by a jury of peers but by a jury of victims."

Judge Edward Lodge overruled Duncan's objection, as well as a last-minute request from Steven Groene, Shasta and Dylan's father, to close the courtroom to everyone but essential court personnel and one news media representative. He did prevail upon U.S. marshals guarding the courtroom to cover the windows on the door.

In the video, after releasing Dylan from the noose, Duncan promised to take him to the hospital so his injured neck could be treated. He also promised to tell hospital staffers where to find Shasta, who had been left back at the campground, so they could come find her. He kept neither promise.

After that, Duncan offered to let Dylan watch the video of his "death," then wandered away from the camera where he could be heard singing part of the Lord's Prayer.

Steven Groene left the courtroom just before the video was played. Before he did he approached some spectators, angrily motioning them out and making an obscene gesture when they stayed put. At one point he threatened to make a citizen's arrest of anyone watching, saying viewing child pornography is a crime.

Once the video had been shown and he returned to the courtroom, Groene confronted some of those who had stayed, asking bitterly if they enjoyed it.

The prosecution's last witness was a man who testified that Duncan had raped him at gunpoint in 1980, when the man was just 14 years old. Parts of the story seemed similar to some of Duncan's videotaped abuse of Dylan.

The Associated Press' policy generally does not identify victims of sexual assault. In Shasta and Dylan Groene's cases, however, the search for the children was so heavily publicized that their names are widely known.

After the prosecution rested, Duncan told the court he wanted to testify, but when took the witness stand he said he only wanted to answer any questions that government lawyers might have. They were unable to cross-examine him, however, because court rules generally prohibit questioning a defendant about anything that wasn't raised in the defendant's direct testimony.

Duncan said he had no other witnesses to call.

Jurors were given instructions Thursday afternoon and are expected to hear closing arguments on Friday morning before they begin deliberations, Lodge said.

If the jury finds Duncan is ineligible for the death penalty, the hearing will be over and he will be sentenced to life in prison without parole.

If the panel finds him eligible for capital punishment, the hearing will enter a second phase in which the government will try to convince the jury that Duncan should be executed while he will be able to present evidence to try to convince the jury that his life should be spared.

Chain wrapped around 'old man's body' found in mosque

Story Highlights
Iraqi authorities discover 27 bodies at mosque and find torture room
"Here is a chain we found tied to an old man's body," official says
Dad of 25-year-old: "His hands, legs were amputated and his head was decapitated"
Residents say militia has left mosque, but still intimidates them
Next Article in World »

By Arwa Damon
CNN

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- "There are the bloodstains on the wall, and here it is dried on the floor," Abu Muhanad said as he walked through a torture chamber in a Baghdad mosque where more than two dozen bodies have been found.

Two women clutch photographs of loved ones believed killed by the Mehdi Army.

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"And here, a woman's shoes. She was a victim of the militia. We found her corpse in the grave."

Chunks of hair waft lazily across the floor in the hot Baghdad breeze.

"This was the torture room," said Muhanad, the leader of a U.S.-backed armed group that now controls the mosque.

"This is what they used for hanging," he said, pointing to a cord dangling from the ceiling. "Here is a chain we found tied to an old man's body." Go inside the mosque's torture chamber »

The horrific scene at this southwestern Baghdad mosque is what officials say was the work of a Shiite militia known as the Mehdi Army. Residents who live near the mosque say they could hear the victims' screams.

The militia had been in control of the mosque, called Adib al-Jumaili, from at least January 2007 until May of this year. Residents say coalition forces weren't in the region and the torture and killings went unchecked.

Some of the victims were accused of being spies for U.S. forces. Other family members don't know why their loved ones disappeared. The family members at the mosque who spoke to CNN were all Shiite, the same branch of Islam as the Mehdi militia. But, they say, some of the victims were Sunni as well. Watch mosque atrocities uncovered »

The neighborhood lies in an area that became one of the capital's many sectarian fault lines when violence was at its worst.

It's been about three months since the Mehdi Army, loyal to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, abandoned this mosque as it withdrew from several strongholds across the country.

Spray painted on the walls is a chilling warning: "Spies, you will dig your own graves. Long live the Mehdi Army."

Now the mosque is under the watch of the Sons of Iraq, a local armed group that is largely financed by the Americans working alongside the Iraqi police. They are charged with trying to keep the peace in the neighborhood.

Muhanad is their leader.

"We found this chain on an old man's corpse that we dug out of the grave," he said, gesturing to a bloodied chain on the floor. "We recovered about 22 corpses and then another five."

Only now are people able to understand the true magnitude of the Shiite militia's atrocities and the brutal laws they were enforcing on the people.

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"This was my son's grave," Abu Wissam said, pointing to one of the many shallow holes in the mosque's garden. "We recovered his corpse completely rotten. His hands and legs were amputated, and his head was decapitated."

"He was just a college graduate," his mother sobbed, clutching her 25-year-old son's photo.

They say the Mehdi Army abducted their son about a year ago, accusing him of being a traitor. They shot up and looted his home. The family fled.

A gruesome video of their son's mutilated body was delivered to their doorstep.

The militia "still raid our homes," Abu Wissam said. "Their families are in the district. The day before yesterday, at noon, they tried to assassinate me, but I was able to call the police for help."

The neighborhood is eerily deserted. Most of the residents fled the militia's reign; many who stayed bore the brunt of the violence. Homes stand abandoned, shops shuttered, buildings shot up.

A single car drives down the main street as a pack of dogs runs through the twisted piles of metal that was once an outdoor market.

Lingering at the mosque are a handful of residents whose loved ones were also abducted, looking for clues.

"They said they were just taking him for a few minutes, for an investigation," said Karima, who only wanted to be identified by her first name, as her eyes filled with tears. "But they never released him and we heard he might be buried behind the mosque."

Umm Diab's breath came in shallow gasps as tears flowed from her turquoise-green eyes. She wiped them away using the corner of her abaya, or robe. In her hand, there's a passport photo of her father, who was abducted by the militia.

"All we want are their dead bodies," she said.

lthough the Mehdi Army has moved out of this mosque and is less visible on the street, residents know that they're not gone.

"They're still threatening us," Umm Diab said.