Joseph Edward Duncan III – white, age 42
Sentenced to death in the District of Idaho
By: a jury
Date of crime: May 16, 2005
Prosecution’s case/defense response: Duncan kidnapped Dylan Groene (age 9) and his sister Shasta Groene (age 8) and held them for several weeks. He tortured and sexually abused both children while moving from campsite to campsite, in Idaho. Duncan shot Dylan to death but Shasta was rescued. In order to take the young children, he watched their home and killed their brother, Slade Groene (age 13), their mother, Brenda Groene and her fiancé, Mark McKenzie, by tying them up and bludgeoning them with hammer. Duncan received three death sentences: one for the kidnapping, sexual exploitation and murder of Dylan, respectively. California officials are in the process of extraditing Duncan to California to face another possible death penalty for the 1997 kidnapping and murder of Anthony Martinez (age 10).
Prosecutor(s): Tom Moss
Defense lawyer(s): Tom Monaghan, Mark Larranaga, Judy Clarke
Sources: The Spokesman – Review 11/4/08 (2008 WLNR 21300888); AP DataStream 11/4/08 04:08:40; The Spokesman – Review 11/18/08 (2008 WLNR 22249540); The Spokesman – Review 11/20/08 (2008 WLNR 22249823); www.kimatv.com/news/local/14025387.html
By: a jury
Date of crime: May 16, 2005
Prosecution’s case/defense response: Duncan kidnapped Dylan Groene (age 9) and his sister Shasta Groene (age 8) and held them for several weeks. He tortured and sexually abused both children while moving from campsite to campsite, in Idaho. Duncan shot Dylan to death but Shasta was rescued. In order to take the young children, he watched their home and killed their brother, Slade Groene (age 13), their mother, Brenda Groene and her fiancé, Mark McKenzie, by tying them up and bludgeoning them with hammer. Duncan received three death sentences: one for the kidnapping, sexual exploitation and murder of Dylan, respectively. California officials are in the process of extraditing Duncan to California to face another possible death penalty for the 1997 kidnapping and murder of Anthony Martinez (age 10).
Prosecutor(s): Tom Moss
Defense lawyer(s): Tom Monaghan, Mark Larranaga, Judy Clarke
Sources: The Spokesman – Review 11/4/08 (2008 WLNR 21300888); AP DataStream 11/4/08 04:08:40; The Spokesman – Review 11/18/08 (2008 WLNR 22249540); The Spokesman – Review 11/20/08 (2008 WLNR 22249823); www.kimatv.com/news/local/14025387.html
Thomas Morocco Hager – black, age 20
Sentenced in the Eastern District of Virginia
By: a jury
Date of crime: November 29, 1993
Prosecution’s case/defense response: Hager and two accomplices gagged and bound Barbara E. White (age 19) and then stabbed her to death in her bathtub. Hager wanted White dead because she had learned the location of a safe house where Hager, a drug dealer, was staying. Hager and his accomplices tried to electrocute and drown White before stabbing her 82 times with kitchen knives; returning to the kitchen for more knives when they broke or bent.
Prosecutor(s): James L. Trump, Steven D. Mellin
Defense lawyer(s): Joseph J. McCarthy, John Kiyonaga
Sources: Richmond Times Dispatch 10/25/07 (2007 WLNR 21335046), 11/2/07 (2007 WLNR 21871770); US Federal News 11/1/07 (2007 WLNR 23649053); www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/30/AR2006053001424.html; www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/15/AR2007101501084.html
By: a jury
Date of crime: November 29, 1993
Prosecution’s case/defense response: Hager and two accomplices gagged and bound Barbara E. White (age 19) and then stabbed her to death in her bathtub. Hager wanted White dead because she had learned the location of a safe house where Hager, a drug dealer, was staying. Hager and his accomplices tried to electrocute and drown White before stabbing her 82 times with kitchen knives; returning to the kitchen for more knives when they broke or bent.
Prosecutor(s): James L. Trump, Steven D. Mellin
Defense lawyer(s): Joseph J. McCarthy, John Kiyonaga
Sources: Richmond Times Dispatch 10/25/07 (2007 WLNR 21335046), 11/2/07 (2007 WLNR 21871770); US Federal News 11/1/07 (2007 WLNR 23649053); www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/30/AR2006053001424.html; www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/15/AR2007101501084.html
Lisa Montgomery – white, age 36
Sentenced in the District of Kansas
By: a jury
Date of crime: December 16, 2004
Prosecution’s case/defense response: Montgomery kidnapped and killed pregnant Bobbie Jo Stinnett (age 23). Montgomery strangled Stinnett with a rope and then removed her unborn child with a kitchen knife. Then, Montgomery kidnapped the child and claimed it as her own. The defense argued Montgomery suffered from severe post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and pseudocyesis which left her incapable of understanding that what she had done was wrong.
Prosecutor(s): Matt Whitworth
Defense lawyer(s): Frederick Duchardt, Jr.
Sources: St. Joseph New-Press 4/5/08 (2008 WLNR 8522655); Kansas City Star 4/5/08 (2008 WLNR 6393574); AP Alert 4/5/08 – OK 01:30:00
By: a jury
Date of crime: December 16, 2004
Prosecution’s case/defense response: Montgomery kidnapped and killed pregnant Bobbie Jo Stinnett (age 23). Montgomery strangled Stinnett with a rope and then removed her unborn child with a kitchen knife. Then, Montgomery kidnapped the child and claimed it as her own. The defense argued Montgomery suffered from severe post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and pseudocyesis which left her incapable of understanding that what she had done was wrong.
Prosecutor(s): Matt Whitworth
Defense lawyer(s): Frederick Duchardt, Jr.
Sources: St. Joseph New-Press 4/5/08 (2008 WLNR 8522655); Kansas City Star 4/5/08 (2008 WLNR 6393574); AP Alert 4/5/08 – OK 01:30:00
Rejon Taylor – black, age 19
Sentenced in the Eastern District of Tennessee
By: a jury
Date of crime: August 6, 2003
Prosecution’s case/defense response: Taylor, Sir Jack Matthews and Joey Marshall kidnapped and murdered Guy Luck (age 51). Taylor had committed a number of burglaries and identity thefts in the neighborhood where Luck lived. Prosecutors argued Taylor knew Luck was a witness in one of those cases and wanted to kill him. Taylor and his accomplices abducted Luck from his driveway as he exited his home. Taylor drove Luck’s van while Matthews held Luck at gunpoint and Marshall followed in a car as they drove from Atlanta to Tennessee. When Luck tried to over power his abductors, Taylor fired several shots, one of which fatally wounded Luck.
Prosecutor(s): Steve Neff, Chris Poole
Defense lawyer(s): Bill Ortwein, Leslie Cory, Howard Clements
Sources: Chattanooga Times 10/24/08 (2008 WLNR 20289133); The Augusta Chronicle 12/4/08 (2008 WLNR 25164393); Chattanooga Times 12/13/08 (2008 WLNR 23925925); www.wdef.com/news/rejon_taylor_found_guilty_on_four_federal_counts/09/2008; www.wdef.com/news/breaking_news_chattanooga_jury_sentences_rejon_taylor_to_death/10/2008; www.wrcbtv.com/Global/story.asp?s=8972926; www.wrcbtv.com/Global/story.asp?s=9121892; northgeorgia.timesfreepress.com/news/2009/apr/18/rejon-taylor-denied-new-trial/
By: a jury
Date of crime: August 6, 2003
Prosecution’s case/defense response: Taylor, Sir Jack Matthews and Joey Marshall kidnapped and murdered Guy Luck (age 51). Taylor had committed a number of burglaries and identity thefts in the neighborhood where Luck lived. Prosecutors argued Taylor knew Luck was a witness in one of those cases and wanted to kill him. Taylor and his accomplices abducted Luck from his driveway as he exited his home. Taylor drove Luck’s van while Matthews held Luck at gunpoint and Marshall followed in a car as they drove from Atlanta to Tennessee. When Luck tried to over power his abductors, Taylor fired several shots, one of which fatally wounded Luck.
Prosecutor(s): Steve Neff, Chris Poole
Defense lawyer(s): Bill Ortwein, Leslie Cory, Howard Clements
Sources: Chattanooga Times 10/24/08 (2008 WLNR 20289133); The Augusta Chronicle 12/4/08 (2008 WLNR 25164393); Chattanooga Times 12/13/08 (2008 WLNR 23925925); www.wdef.com/news/rejon_taylor_found_guilty_on_four_federal_counts/09/2008; www.wdef.com/news/breaking_news_chattanooga_jury_sentences_rejon_taylor_to_death/10/2008; www.wrcbtv.com/Global/story.asp?s=8972926; www.wrcbtv.com/Global/story.asp?s=9121892; northgeorgia.timesfreepress.com/news/2009/apr/18/rejon-taylor-denied-new-trial/