Results tagged “beaumont” from Inland Empire Courts

A man charged with the violent murders of three men was sentenced today to life in state prison, after a Superior Court judge denied his attempt to back out of a plea bargain that helped him avoid the death penalty.

Defendant Christopher Richard Lanteigne, 29, and co-defendants Camille Vredenburg, 27, and Christopher Weaver, 32, pleaded guilty as part of a package deal for their roles in a 2004 series of crimes, including the murders, that extended from San Bernardino to the San Gorgonio Pass.

On Mar. 5, Lanteigne and Weaver pleaded guilty to three counts of murder - as part of a plea bargain package - in the deaths of Scott Fisher, 42, of San Bernardino, Clayton McCobb, 44, of Ramona and Kareem Mohammed Radwan, 26, of Loma Linda. But Lanteigne later changed his mind.

Riverside County prosecutors intend to extradite convicted child killer Joseph Edward Duncan and try him in the death of a 10-year-old Beaumont boy, despite objections from the father of one of Duncan's other victims.

Earlier this week, a federal judge in Idaho sentenced Duncan to three life prison terms for kidnapping and sexually abusing two children. Those federal terms were in addition to three more life terms, imposed the same day in state court, for the murders of the children's mother, her fiance and the children's 13-year-old brother.

Duncan was sentenced to death in August for the kidnapping, sexual exploitation and murder of 9-year-old Dylan Groene in 2005. The 45-year-old convicted pedophile also kidnapped the boy's younger sister.

Meanwhile, Riverside County prosecutors have been waiting for their chance to prosecute Duncan on charges in the abduction and death of Anthony Martinez.

November 4, 2008 3:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

BOISE (AP) -- The father of Dylan and Shasta Groene says the man who kidnapped his children and received three death sentences should not be tried for additional crimes he is accused in a California slaying.

Ten-year-old Anthony Martinez of Indio was abducted and killed in 1997.

Steve Groene says another trial for convicted child-killer Joseph Duncan could subject the family of that child to the same type of graphic evidence his family had to endure.

Jurors watched a horrifying video Duncan made of his sexually abusing, torturing and hanging Dylan until the boy lost consciousness.

Dylan and then 8-year-old Shasta were taken from their Coeur d'Alene home in 2005. Shasta was rescued after a waitress recognized her at a restaurant.

Duncan received three death penalties in August for the kidnapping, torture and murder of 9-year-old Dylan.

For more details, read:

Child-killer Duncan gets 6 life sentences

By Stacia Glenn on November 3, 2008 12:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) |

A federal judge in Idaho has sentenced convicted child killer Joseph Duncan, who is also wanted for the kidnapping and killing of a 10-year-old Beaumont boy, to three life prison terms for kidnapping and sexually abusing two children.

Those federal terms imposed today are in addition to three more life terms imposed the same day in state court for the murders of the children's mother, her fiance and the children's 13-year-old brother.

Duncan was sentenced to death in August for the 2005 kidnapping, sexual exploitation and murder of 9-year-old Dylan Groene (GROAN'-ee). The 45-year-old convicted pedophile also kidnapped the boy's younger sister.

A hearing for a man who avoided the death penalty with a plea bargain in three homicides -- and who now wants to back out of his guilty pleas -- was postponed to Nov. 7 during court proceedings Friday.

Lawyer Sean O'Connor, who represents Christopher Richard Lanteigne, requested the continuance after running into delays securing potential witnesses at West Valley Detention Center, in Rancho Cucamonga, O'Connor said during proceedings in San Bernardino Superior Court.

O'Connor said he plans to subpoena witnesses at the jail for the hearing.

"That is the cause for the delay," O'Connor told Judge Brian McCarville.

A federal judge has set the sentencing date for convicted child molester Joseph Edward Duncan III in an federal capital case in Idaho for later this fall.

Duncan is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 3 on a jury's recommendation of the death penalty for the 2005 kidnapping, torture and murder of a northern Idaho boy, according to federal court records. Jurors deliberated only three hours before reaching their decision.

Riverside County prosecutors have been waiting for their chance to prosecute Duncan on charges stemming from the 1997 abduction and death of 10-year-old Anthony Martinez, of Beaumont.

We've been tracking the federal case in Idaho for convicted molester Joseph Edward Duncan III, and jurors have returned with a verdict. Riverside County authorities are waiting to get a crack at Duncan who is charged with the molestation and death of 10-year-old Anthony Martinez, of Beaumont, in 1997.

My colleague here at The Sun, Staff Writer Stacia Glenn, tracked the latest news on the verdict from the Associated Press:

http://www.insidesocal.com/news247/2008/08/duncan-gets-death-penalty.html

Here's more from the federal trial in Idaho for convicted pedophile Joseph Edward Duncan III. Riverside County prosecutors are awaiting the chance take Duncan to trial in the abduction and murder of 10-year-old Anthony Martinez of Beaumont in 1997.

Witnesses outline killer pedophile's life in Wash.
By REBECCA BOONE
Associated Press Writer
BOISE, Idaho (AP)-- Jurors in the death sentencing hearing of a convicted child killer were told Tuesday that he lived near where two girls were abducted in Seattle in 1996 and worked near where their bodies were found months later.
The testimony is part of an effort by government lawyers to convince jurors at Joseph Edward Duncan III's federal sentencing hearing that he should be executed for the kidnapping, torture and murder of 9-year-old Dylan Groene in 2005.
Duncan has already been convicted in state court of murdering the boy's older brother, mother and stepfather at their home in the Coeur d'Alene area.
Retired Bothell, Wash., police Detective Dennis Nizzi testified that the skeletal remains of 9-year-old Carmen Cubias and her half-sister, 11-year-old Sammiejo White, were found in an empty field in the same suburban neighborhood where Duncan worked.
The bones were so badly damaged by decomposition and work done in the field to prepare it for development that Kathy Taylor, a forensic anthropologist with the King County medical examiner's office, told jurors she could list their cause of death only as "homicidal violence of undetermined origin."
The testimony comes a day after FBI agent Mike Sotka testified that after Duncan was caught at a Denny's restaurant with Dylan's kidnapped sister, Shasta Groene, he eventually confessed to the slayings of Sammiejo and Carmen in Seattle, and to the 1997 slaying of Anthony Martinez in Riverside County.
Joseph Ruan, a former roommate of Duncan, testified Tuesday that their home was a few blocks from the Taco Time restaurant in Seattle where Cubias and White were last seen. Duncan scoffed at the effort to find the missing children after learning his roommate had helped distribute fliers about them, Ruan said.
"He said, 'Look at those two little whores. They're dressed like gangbangers ... What are you worried for?'" Ruan said.
Cindy Snyder, a friend of Ruan, told jurors that she saw Duncan smirk when Ruan talked about volunteering to help with the search.
"He was smirking while Mr. Ruan was saying where they went," Snyder said. "He said, 'Oh well, I'm sure that was a complete waste of time.'"
On Monday, Margaret Delaney, the mother of Sammiejo and Carmen, sobbed on the stand as she testified about the day her daughters disappeared.
Delaney said she left the two girls with their 15-year-old brother and another younger sibling with instructions to remain inside a motel where they were staying. Then Delaney went to pick up a change of clothing for the children and to a friend's house where she could get money to buy some groceries.
While she was gone, the two girls decided to walk to Taco Time to see whether they could get some food, Delaney said.
Their bodies were found months later in the suburban subdivision in Bothell, Wash.

Here's the latest news from the Associated Press about the federal trial in Idaho for convicted pedophile Joseph Edward Duncan III. Riverside County prosecutors are awaiting their chance to prosecute Duncan in the 1997 abduction and slaying of 10-year-old Anthony Martinez, who was snatched from his Beaumont home.

Aug. 22, 2008
Jury: Confessed killer of Idaho boy can get death

By REBECCA BOONE
Associated Press Writer
BOISE, Idaho (AP)-- A man who kidnapped, raped, tortured and murdered a 9-year-old Idaho boy was deemed eligible for the death penalty by a jury on Friday, soon after the killer himself came close to thanking prosecutors for showing the panel sickening videos of him abusing the child.
The jury deliberated for two hours before issuing its unanimous ruling. When the hearing resumes next week, jurors must decide whether Joseph Edward Duncan III should be put to death for killing Dylan Groene in 2005.
Friday's verdict was not surprising after Duncan's closing argument, in which he told the jurors they didn't yet "have a clue" about the depths of his "heinousness."
Duncan, 45, didn't react to the verdict. The slain boy's father, Steven Groene, and other family supporters embraced after the verdict but seemed to keep their emotions in check.
Duncan, acting as his own attorney, will have the chance next week to convince jurors to give him life in prison without the possibility of parole instead of a death sentence. The jury's sentencing recommendation is binding on U.S. District Judge Edward Lodge.
Duncan pleaded guilty to 10 federal felonies for the trauma he inflicted on Dylan Groene and his then-8-year-old sister, Shasta, in May 2005 after murdering their older brother, their mother and her fiance in the Coeur d'Alene area.
Duncan pleaded guilty to those three murders in state court, where he also could be sentenced to death. He kidnapped the two young children and took them deep into the Lolo National Forest, where he sexually abused and tortured them for weeks.
He ultimately shot the boy point-blank in the head while his sister watched. He was arrested after returning with Shasta to Coeur d'Alene, where a waitress recognized the girl as the two ate at a Denny's restaurant.
Jurors cringed and cried when they viewed videos Duncan made in which he molested, tortured and hanged Dylan Groene until the boy was unconscious and nearly dead.
Duncan told the panel that government lawyers helped him victimize the jurors by making them watch and listen to the evidence.
"I should actually thank the government for helping me get my eye for an eye by showing you the evidence that you've seen, the videos," Duncan said during his closing argument Friday.
Duncan, a convicted pedophile originally from Tacoma, Wash., told jurors that by presenting the evidence, the government was "helping me to take away your heart and your innocence."
"That's what they have done, and I should thank them but I won't," he said.
Steven Groene declined to discuss the case much, saying a gag order remained in effect, but said he was pleased with the ruling.
Groene said he would lobby for stronger victims' rights in the future. He objected to spectators at the hearing being permitted to view the videos of his son being abused, and said the spectators should have been screened to make sure they weren't sex offenders looking to take pleasure from the highly publicized case.
"My murdered, molested son should have had the same rights as a living victim," Groene said. "I've had too much focus on keeping my family together and protecting my daughter, fighting cancer for the last few years but now that this appears to be close to over, I'm going to work on changing that."
Duncan said he wasn't in court because he was caught, but because Shasta Groene -- the sole survivor of the kidnapping and attack -- didn't judge him for his actions, prompting him to take her home.
It's not yet clear if Shasta will testify -- and face the prospect of being cross-examined by her attacker -- in the next phase of the trial. She did not testify in the phase just completed.
The court has ruled that if the girl does testify, it will be by closed-circuit camera and that the courtroom will be closed to the public, with a transcript of her testimony given to reporters afterward.
Duncan, originally from Tacoma, Wash., was a convicted pedophile before the killings. The rampage was the culmination of years of planning, he said, and he originally intended to rape and kill until he was killed.
Duncan has a long string of arrests and convictions for crimes ranging from car theft to rape and molestation. He is suspected in the slayings of two half-sisters from Seattle in 1996 and is charged with killing 10-year-old Anthony Martinez, of Beaumont, in Riverside County in 1997.
The Associated Press 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.