Joseph Edward Duncan III is as cold-blooded as any killer comes. Having spent most of his adult years in prison, Duncan began his serial-rapist career at the tender age of 15, when he forced a 9-year-old to perform oral sex on him at gunpoint. A year after the incident, Duncan was picked up for driving a stolen car. While he was in police custody, Duncan admitted to having raped at least 13 young boys. In 1980, Duncan was in trouble with the law again for raping another boy at gunpoint. This time Duncan was sentenced to 20 years in prison. He was released in 1997, but was sent back for parole violations during this period. He was officially released in 2000, after serving out the rest of his initial sentence.
Shortly after his release, Duncan moved to Fargo, ND and fell off police radar. While he still had to register as a sex offender, police had no other incident with Duncan during this time. In 2005, Duncan began blogging. On his blog titled The Fifth Nail Duncan talked about everything from his thoughts on inmate reform to his struggles as a convicted sex offender, as well as his inner turmoil.
On February 17, 2005 Duncan writes:
As long as we keep attacking the symptoms of social disease–the so called offenders–then our problems will keep getting worse. Some day (soon I hope) society will be forced to “wake up” and recognize how it propagates its own misery by denying the truth that criminals are victims too.
Playing the victim is something Duncan was good at and prison is known to be particularly tough on inmates convicted of sex crimes against children. His posts suggest that it’s his opinion that certain inmates should instead be coddled and slapped on the hand for their heinous acts, rather than being forced to pay for their crimes by being sent to prison. In another post Duncan states:
“The only cure for crime is Love. Everything else is just more crime.”
Coming from a man who admitted to the rape of 13 children before he had reached the age of 18, the belief that love alone would have cured him of his sadistic fantasies is his own wishful thinking, at best. At its worst, it’s a narcissistic plea for love and acceptance, in spite of his heinous crimes.
He continues to blog about his growing relationship with God and his desire to adopt a more positive attitude by leaving his checkered past behind. Little did Duncan know that the past was about to come rearing its ugly head. In the summer of 2004, prior to starting his blog, Duncan had been accused of molesting a 6-year-old boy at a park in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota. In March of 2005, authorities caught up with Duncan and by April of 2005, Duncan was being held on a $15,000 bond. A wealthy associate was able to bond him out and Duncan skipped bail.
In his April 15, 2005 entry titled “The Boogieman Will Get You,” Duncan begins talking about his pending charges.
“So, I’ve been accused of molesting a little boy. Those close to me know I didn’t do it of course, how could I, I’m not even a pedophile. Well, I’m not a psychopath either, I feel the full force and pain of everyone I have ever hurt, but that doesn’t stop me from doing what I need to do. Ultimately my feelings don’t matter, I learned that in prison. I have to carry out my orders or a lot worse than just me dying could happen.”
For nearly two weeks, Duncan takes a hiatus from maintaining his blog. When he finally returns his post become more erratic, discussing his inner struggles. The second entry after his arrest is titled “Wrestling with Demons,” and is dated April 24, 2005. In this post Duncan writes:
Yes, I am still alive. I honestly wish not, I just don’t know how to kill myself so it makes sense. Nothing makes sense to me right now. Last night I realized I was “scared and alone.” Being scared doesn’t bother me as much as being alone, but it is a fate that I probably chose sometime before I was ever born because I’ve been making the decision to fight my battles alone since I was a small child. The current battle is of epic proportions (I do not make this claim idly either). It is a battle between me and my demons. Only two people in the world have a clue as to the power and nature of my demons (besides me) and they will probably never read this. But just the same, these demons are stronger than even I gave them credit for, and now they are taking my best blows and not even staggering. I’m afraid, very afraid. If they win then a lot of people will be badly hurt, and they’ve had their way before, so I know what they can do. I’ve been praying a lot and asking God for help. I’ve asked him to step in and intercede directly, because I see no other way at this point that I can win. If you are reading this, and you believe in God, please pray for God to help me defeat my demons. God has shown me the right choice, but my demons have me tied to a spit and the fire has already been lit. I don’t know if the right choice is even an option any more!”
By May 11, 2005, Duncan says that he has given into his “demons” and describes how he “got even” and was never got caught, as well as his natural inclination to want to cause as much harm to society as possible. This post reads:
Thanks for the comments. As far as letting God take care of the Demons, too late. They’ve locked up the “Happy Joe” person in the same dungeon that “Happy Joe” kept them in for so many years. Now they are loose and I am very afraid. From now on I may refer to “Happy Joe” as “Jet” (me) and the demons as “The Bogeyman.” If you are familiar with me or even my fifthnail website then you will understand the names (see www.fifthnail.com).
I have been asking God to help defeat the demons. In fact, last night I was on my knees begging him, crying out loud to him, to help me. He didn’t answer, again. The problem is I am loosing my religion. I don’t accept anything at face value, not even my own thoughts. So when I start having religious convictions I question the source. And in my current situation I figure I am under a lot of stress, and there are perfectly natural human mechanisms that account for all religious experiences. The demons (if that’s what they/it are/is–I use the term for mere convenience) have convinced me that I should at least question my religious beliefs, (this makes sense, otherwise I would believe anything) and that is how they got the key to the dungeon, and trapped me inside.
To be more specific, I am scared, alone, and confused, and my reaction is to strike out toward the perceived source of my misery, society. My intent is to harm society as much as I can, then die. As for the “Happy Joe” (Jet), well he was just a dream. The bogeyman was alive and happy long before Happy Joe.
I was in prison for over 18 years, since the age of 17. As an adult all I knew was the oppression of incarceration. All those years I dreamed of getting out…And getting even. Instead, I got out and I got even, but did not get caught. So, I got even again, and again did not get caught. So, I figured, well, I got even twice (actually more, but that’s here nor there), even if I’m the only one who knows, so now what? Well that was when the “Happy Joe” dream started. I met a bunch of really great people, the kind of people I didn’t even know existed, but here they were, bunches of them, my neighbors, my landlords, my professors, my coworkers, and they were all good people, who were willing to give me a chance despite my past. They were willing to accept me and be my friend, something that was new for me, having been betrayed by many “friends” and even my own family.
So, I tried to make it work. But the problem was those demons. The ones who “got even” for me. They kept reminding me that if my new “friends” knew about them (and what they, I, had done to even), then so much for their friendship. So, “Happy Joe” was just dreaming, or pretending to be happy.
On May 13, 2005 Duncan types his final post:
“My blog entries lately are erratic and full of a lot of B.S., for that I apologize. I am just trying to put down what is in my head, regardless. As far as “taking people with me” well, I don’t know if that is right or wrong. In fact, I don’t know much any more what right and wrong even is. My view is either everything is right (in some regard) or everything is wrong (in some other regard). The question (one I am struggling with at this point) is, “Does it matter?”
Does anything matter? My mother is crying right now, because her son is in trouble again. She tried to raise a good son, and she knows her son has a good heart, so why does he do these things? She is probably more hurt and confused than me. Does it matter? It hurts me to know these things, but DOES IT MATTER???
A hundred years from now, all my mothers pain will be forgotten, and other mothers will cry for there sons. A million years from now there probably won’t be any mothers (at least not like we know).
I have feelings, in fact I think I must be more sensitive than most people because I seem to feel more than they do, at least more than what they openly express. I feel for the starving children and families in the world, others say, “Oh, that’s too bad, but I can’t do anything so…”
I wish I could be more honest about my feelings, but those demons made sure I’d never be able to do that. I might not know if it matters, but just in case, I am working on an encrypted journal that is hundreds of times more frank than this blog could ever be (that’s why I keep it encrypted). I figure in 30 years or more we will have the technology to easily crack the encryption (currently very un-crackable, PGP) and then the world will know who I really was, and what I really did, and what I really thought. Also, maybe then they will understand that despite my actions, I’m not a bad person, I just have a disease contracted from society, and it hurts a lot.
I hope to complete this journal before I die (soon) or turn myself in (I still might do that, I think it is the right thing, but of course, I’m not sure).
Speak of being sure; I wish I could be sure about my thoughts. But right now the only thing I’m sure about is that I’m sure about nothing. It is not a good position to be in considering my circumstances (being a felony fugitive and all).”
Just days later, Duncan would get his “revenge.” On May 16, 2005, the bodies of Brenda Groene, her boyfriend Mark McKenzie, and her 13-year-old son Slade were found bound and bludgeoned to death in their Lake Coeur d’Alene home. Additionally, two other Groene children – Shasta;8 and Dylan;9 – had been reported missing from the scene. Duncan would be found nearly two months later, sharing a meal with Shasta at a Coeur d’Alene Denny’s. The restaurant workers, having recognized the little girl from the Amber Alerts for the missing Groene children, immediately phoned the police and refused to let Duncan nor the girl leave the restaurant.
On July 4, 2005, Dylan’s remains were discovered at a campsite near St. Regis, Montana. According to reports taken directly from Shasta, the boy was severely sexually assaulted and strangled, before being shot point blank in the head. Duncan also filmed Dylan’s final hours, where Duncan can be audibly heard shouting how “the devil likes to watch children suffer and cry” as he tortures and sexually abuses the boy. Shasta was also repeatedly tortured and sexually assaulted, but for unknown reasons she was allowed to survive the ordeal.
Duncan was sentenced to serve three life sentences without possibility of parole. After his sentencing, FBI officials launched a nation-wide search in order to determine if Duncan could possibly be connected to a number of unsolved murders involving children. Authorities were able to link Duncan to the disappearance of Anthony Michael Martinez who was only 10-years-old when he went missing from the front yard of his Beaumont, California home in April of 1997. Duncan also confessed to two additional murders, Sammiejo White; 11 and Carmen Cubias; 9, who were last seen leaving a Seattle, Washington hotel in order to panhandle on July 6, 1996. All three murders occurred while Duncan was paroled.
In 2010, Duncan began blogging again. Though prisoners cannot maintain their blogs directly, speaking through contacts Duncan has made on the outside, he writes letters, which are then transcribed by people he has appointed to maintain the blog.
In a post dated April of 2014, a poster known only as “Silence” addresses the purpose of the blog. The user writes:
This section is a virtual “look” into the mind and madness of an insane man. Joseph E. Duncan III kidnapped, sexually assaulted and then murdered several children over a period of eight years and in four different states. He has been convicted and sentenced to life in prison without parole in two states (Idaho and California) and has three Federal death sentences. He currently resides on Federal death row in Terre Haute, Indiana while his court appointed attorneys appeal on his behalf and against his wishes (Duncan himself has expressly rejected all appeals).
On July 2nd, 2005, in the early morning hours, Duncan was spotted at a Denny’s restaurant in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, with eight year old Shasta. Shasta and her nine year old brother, Dylan, were the subject of an “Amber Alert” after three other members of their family were found bludgeoned to death in their home six weeks earlier. Duncan later confessed that he had entered the home while the family slept with the express intent of murdering the parents and kidnapping the children. He claims he wanted “revenge against society” for sending him to prison for twenty years for sexually assaulting a younger boy (fourteen year old) when he himself was only sixteen years old.
Duncan says he had an “epiphany” as he was seconds away from murdering Shasta, that caused him to stop what he was doing and drive the child back to Coeur d’Alene (over 100 miles from the Montana wilderness where he’d camped out with both children, and murdered Dylan just days before). Shasta later told police, after Duncan was arrested at the Denny’s, that “Jet”, as she called Duncan, was taking her home and turning himself in.
The “Reflections”-section of The Fifth Nail is a collection of Duncan’s most intimate thoughts and reflections as he tries to sort out the madness, or sickness, that lead him to believe he had a “right to justice”. Duncan makes no claim of understanding or justification for what he has done, and repeatedly insists on his profound ignorance and responsibility. He has said in court many times (while representing himself in order to prevent his attorneys from “distorting the truth” about what happened and why) that there is “no excuse” for what he did, and that he accepts responsibility for it, “to the death if necessary”.
Duncan plead guilty unconditionally in Federal court (i.e. there was no “plea deal”) against his attorney’s advice. He also expressly refused to appeal his death sentences, not because he wants to die, but because “society must learn on its own what I have learned”. (Duncan believes that an appeal would only serve to distract society from the truth of what it is doing, which he says is no different than what he was doing; seeking “false justice”).
Duncan’s current blog, The Fifth Nail Exposed, is updated in infrequent intervals, with his latest post dated March 3, 2016. Duncan uses the blog as a space to talk about his day-to-day prison life and to pretend he is walking the path of the righteous, while simultaneously being reprimanded for possessing child pornography and other infractions he committed while serving out a handful of life sentences for his murders and a death sentence for another.
Duncan’s blogs can be seen as an interesting glimpse into the delusions of a narcissist, serial rapist and murderer. Duncan has eluded to having a third blog that is encrypted and had even offered to give FBI officials the encryption keys if they wished. His offer was declined.