True Crime
The Wolf Lodge Murders — Groene Family Massacre and Child Abductions
Shasta Groene’s family was executed, but she survived
In May of 2005, evil fell upon the Groene Family. They were going about their lives as usual in the Wolf Lodge Bay area of Kootenai County, Idaho, completely unaware that they were being stalked by a serial killer who would eventually attack, torture, and murder all but one of them.
Their attacker was a registered sex offender named Joseph E. Duncan, a native of Tacoma, Washington. Duncan’s criminal history began at only 15 years old when he was sent to a juvenile facility for sexually assaulting a 9-year-old boy and stealing a car. During his stay, he told his therapist that he’d raped 13 younger boys by the time he was 16.
In 1980, Duncan stole his neighbor’s guns and then kidnapped a 14-year-old boy, raping him at gunpoint. He was sentenced to 20 years for the crime but was paroled in 1994 after serving only 14 years. He began living in the Seattle area, where he was arrested two years later for possession of marijuana, a violation of his parole. Rather than returning him to prison, the court ordered him to spend a few weeks in jail for the violation before he was released with new restrictions.
