Final Justice

How old were you in 2005? Better yet, can you remember how great it felt to be nearing the close of another school year and entering into summer break? If you close your eyes for a moment, I bet you could still smell the scent of chlorine-drenched swim trunks and hotdogs fresh off the grill. Such a pairing makes for the beginnings of a fun-filled summer, wouldn't you agree?

Well, that is similar to the sentiment that little Shasta and Dylan Groene had as they played outside their yard in a kiddie pool one fateful, dreadful day in May 2005. Research suggests that Dylan and Shasta Groene were outside playing in their pool when Joseph Duncan passed by their home in his car and spotted them playing. Seeing that the children were minors gave him unfathomed reasons to stake out and observe their home for weeks before the tragedy. Before I give you the details surrounding the kidnapping, torture, and murder of the Groene family, it is imperative to know that Joseph Duncan was a habitual child molester, rapist, and murderer. Duncan had a criminal history that dated back to when he was 15 years. He was convicted of sexually assaulting a young boy, sentenced to 20 years in prison in 1980, but paroled in 1994.

On or around May 16, 2005, the perpetrator entered the Groene home in Lake Coeur d'Alene, killing the mother Brenda Groene, her boyfriend, Mark McKenzie, and her oldest son, Slade. Evidence shows that the three victims had been bound and suffered severe blunt-force trauma to their heads. The youngest two children, Shasta and Dylan Groene were taken outside, forced into a red Jeep Cherokee, and bound as well. After being shot, Slade tried his hardest to walk outside to his younger brother and sister, but a violent Duncan issued the coup de grace to him by bludgeoning his head. The wound to his head was so severe that he staggered before collapsing to the ground where he died from his injuries.

Thereafter, a cold and ruthless Duncan forced the younger children into a car where he took them to LoLo National Forest in Montana and tortured them for weeks. Simultaneously, an Amber Alert was broadcasted nationwide to alert the public of the missing children and detectives investigated the deaths of their family members back at their home residence.

Dylan at the time time of his kidnapping was only 9 years old. He was shot in the back of the head at point-blank range by Duncan following an initial shot in his stomach that left little Dylan crying and screaming on the ground. Duncan told Shasta that he only shot Dylan in the head to put him out of his misery, but the brutality of it all makes his killing more vicious than not.

Shasta said that she too was supposed to die and was asked by Duncan her preferred way to go and she chose to be strangled; however, upon calling Duncan by his nickname, she managed to escape death. It is said that he then took her to Denny's restaurant to eat, but when the waitress became suspicious she and her coworkers reported them to authorities where Shasta was finally saved from imminent danger.

March of 2021 while awaiting death row, Joseph Duncan succumbed to stage IV Glioblastoma or terminal brain cancer. It is said that his last days were painful, but somehow I believe that justice was delivered that day for the many lives he took...especially young Dylan's.