RCFL: Regional Computer Forensics Laboratory

CONVICTED CHILD KILLER RECEIVES FINAL SENTENCE

Convicted pedophile and child murderer Joseph Edward Duncan III received six life prison terms in federal and state court on November 3, 2008, for the torture and slayings of an Idaho family. The judge told him his cruel rampage "exceeds the bounds of human understanding." In August, Duncan received the death penalty in federal court for the kidnapping, sexual abuse and homicide of 9-year old Dylan Groene, in addition to receiving three life sentences given by a state judge in 2006.

Duncan was apprehended in 2005 when he was spotted with Shasta Groene at a restaurant. The day Shasta was found; the arresting agency seized computers owned by Duncan and requested the Intermountain West RCFL's (IWRCFL) assistance with imaging and examining the hard drives.

The IWRCFL, which recently received international accreditation from the American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors/Laboratory Accreditation Board, supported the 3-year investigation from the start and examined video tapes made by Duncan depicting the torture and sexual abuse of Dylan. The jury was shown the tapes including the footage of Duncan shooting the boy point-blank in the head in front of Shasta. In one news article, it was reported that "jurors cringed, cried and looked away" at the graphic videos. It took the jury of eight women and four men three hours to rule unanimously on the death penalty for Duncan. U.S. Attorney Tom Moss said, "The jury had the heaviest burden that a jury had to deal with. I have nothing but the utmost admiration for them."

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