Suspected killer of Beaumont boy nearing DP hearing in Idaho

Convicted child-killer Joseph Edward Duncan III is back in the news again.
Duncan is nearing a death-penalty hearing in Boise, after he pleaded guilty in December in the kidnapping and torture of two Idaho kids in 2005, one of whom died.
But most locals are going to remember Duncan as the suspect in the kidnapping and death of 10-year-old Anthony Ramirez, of Beaumont. Riverside County prosecutors are patiently waiting for Duncan's return, so they proceed in their own capital case.
Here's the latest update, with some help from the Associated Press, that ran on The Sun's web site:

By Mike Cruz Article Launched: 07/24/2008 03:25:39 PM PDT

A federal judge in Boise says convicted child-killer Joseph Edward Duncan III is mentally competent to face a death penalty hearing for the 2005 torture of two Idaho children, one of whom died.
Duncan also still faces charges in Riverside County, in a separate case, in the death of 10-year-old Anthony Martinez, who was snatched from outside his Beaumont home in 1997.
Anthony's nude and battered body was found nearly a decade later in rural Indio.
In Boise, Duncan faces the death penalty on three of 10 federal charges related to the 2005 kidnappings of young Dylan and Shasta Groene of Coeur d'Alene and the slaying of Dylan.
The defendant has asked U.S. District Judge Edward Lodge to allow him to represent himself. A hearing on whether that should be allowed is set for Monday.
Duncan pleaded guilty in that case in December and in state court to murdering three other members of the children's family.
The children were kidnapped, sexually abused and tortured for weeks in the remote Montana wilderness. Dylan was killed; Shasta was found with Duncan when he was captured.
Riverside County District Attorney Rod Pacheco has called his office's case against Duncan "very compelling and overwhelming." He also plans to seek the death penalty.
Authorities say Anthony was taken on April 4, 1997, while he played outside his Beaumont apartment. A ranger found his body two weeks later beneath a pile of rocks in a remote area north of Indio.
Duncan did not become a suspect in Anthony's death until his 2005 arrest in Idaho, when he mentioned the boy's name.
A partial thumbprint found on duct tape used on Anthony matched Duncan, a 44-year-old drifter with a history of sex offenses dating back to when he was 17-years-old.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.