Killer Stories with Harvey Guillén - “Jazzi Jet” Joseph Edward Duncan Pt. 2

Episode Date: March 17, 2022

Thanks to an unsuspecting benefactor, Duncan gets a fresh start in North Dakota. But his blog entries begin leaving chilling clues as to what lies ahead. In 2005, his violent impulses lead him to Coeur d’Alene, Idaho and his worst crime yet. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Due to the graphic nature of this killer's crimes, listener discretion is advised. This episode includes discussions of murder, child sexual abuse, and assault. We advise extreme caution for children under 13. In the eerie pre-dawn hours of July 2, 2005, waitress Amber Dion was savoring the last moments of her break. She was on the graveyard shift at Denny's this week, again. At least the job came with free coffee. Amber drained the last mouthful from her cup, steeled herself for another round of customers,

and headed back inside the restaurant. It was unusually quiet for a Saturday morning. Looking around at her table, she saw just one new party, like man and his daughter. As Amber walked towards them menus in hand, she froze in her tracks. The little girl looked familiar in a way that made her feel somehow uneasy. However, she didn't recognize the father at all.

She racked her brain. Had she served them before maybe? Then it hit her. For nearly two months now, the resort town of Cordelaine, Idaho had been gripped by the story of two missing children. Eight-year-old Shasta and nine-year-old Dylan were abducted from their nearby home after the rest of their family at the house was massacred. It was a horrifying story, the kind of news Amber avoided reading if she could.

She tried to put it out of her mind, but that little girl's face had burned itself into her memory. Now Amber was certain that Shasta was right in front of her, and that could only mean one thing. There was a mass murderer sitting in her section, and no one else had even noticed. Hi, I'm Greg Paulson. This is serial killer. a Spotify original from Parcast. Every episode, we dive into the minds and madness of serial killers. Today, we're continuing our discussion of Joseph Edward Duncan. I'm here with my co-host, Vanessa Richardson.

Hi, everyone. You can find episodes of serial killers and all other Spotify originals from Parcast for free on Spotify. Last time, we explored Duncan's childhood, and how alleged childhood abuse may have shaped his descent into predatory violence. We also described the assault that landed him in prison at 19, and the string of murders he committed after his release. Today, we'll pick back up with Duncan as he attempts to start anew in North Dakota. We'll follow his twisted slide back into violence and delve into the horrific massacre that scarred a quiet Idaho town. Later, we'll detail the dramatic rescue that brought him to justice.

We've got all that and more coming up. Stay with us. This episode is brought to you by Shopify. Bonnie and Clyde, the lonely hearts killers, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. These are infamous criminal duels. But you don't need to break any laws to find your perfect business partner because you have Shopify.

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Steamy romances, irresistible love stories, and the book to screen favorites you've already read twice. Off campus, L, every year after, the love hypothesis, Sterling Point, and more. Slow burns, second chances, chemistry you can feel through the screen. Your next obsession is waiting. Watch only on Prime. In the summer of 2000, 37-year-old Joseph Edward Duncan was, was finally a free man. Although he'd been arrested for sexually assaulting a young boy, no one knew that he also killed three kids in the last four years.

Most recently, he'd landed in jail for fleeing parole, but thanks to his new friend, a pediatrician named Richard, he was getting out. Like we discussed last time, the doctor had become an important source of emotional and financial support for Duncan. That meant when Duncan finally walked out of prison that July, Richard was the first person he wanted to see.

As promised, the doctor reportedly booked his friend of flight to Fargo, North Dakota, where Richard lived with his family. There, he would help Duncan start fresh. When he got to Fargo, Duncan found an apartment and registered as a sex offender at the local police station. He was classified as a level three, which meant he was at high risk for re-offending. Of course, this was only the tip of the iceberg. There was a lot more the community should have been a friend. Even so, they were plenty concerned as it was.

To properly prepare for their newest resident, the Fargo PD held what's believed to be the city's first ever sex offender notification meeting two months after Duncan's arrival. The next day, Richard called a meeting of his own. His neighbors had noticed Duncan visiting the doctor's house, and given what they knew about the 37-year-old, they were deeply upset. But Richard didn't seem concerned. He calmly reassured them that Duncan was a reformed character. The crime he'd served time for had taken place over two decades ago when Duncan was just a teenager. He promised his neighbors that his friend had become a better person since then. Vanessa is going to take over on the psychology here and throughout the episode.

Please note, Vanessa is not a licensed psychologist or psychiatrist, but we have done a lot of research for this show. Thanks, Greg. It's striking that Duncan was able to charm Richard so completely, especially because he worked with children on a daily basis. As we discussed last week, much of Duncan's behavior fits the criteria for antisocial personality disorder, or ASPD, as recognized by the DSM-5. One of the main symptoms of ASPD is manipulation, specifically the use of subterfuge, seduction, and glib charm. It's very possible that Duncan used these same tactics to ingratiate himself to Richard. In response, the doctor more or less wrote him a blank check to jumpstart his new life. Richard paid for Duncan's expenses while he gained his footing and even bought him a car. And when Duncan expressed an interest in attending college,

his wealthy benefactor was happy to pay his tuition. With Richard's blessing and his cash, Duncan enrolled at North Dakota State University in the fall of 2000. He decided to major in computer science and hope to find work in IT after graduation. Over the course of his first year at North Dakota State, Duncan was reportedly an excellent student. He studied hard and earned a spot on the Dean's List, even being invited into the Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society. Duncan's newly squeaky clean image extended beyond his life at college. His landlord considered him a model tenant, and neighbors described him as quiet and polite.

quiet and polite. With school and housing squared away, the only thing missing was a job, but this presented a slight issue. Because Duncan had spent the majority of his life in jail, he'd only held down one job before now. And even that had lasted less than two years before he'd taken off to Mexico. Needless to say, he didn't have much to put on a resume. So he got creative.

Considering the horror he was capable of inflicting on others, lying about his work experience didn't present a serious moral dilemma for Duncan. In his fictitious CV, he falsely claimed to have held several long-term positions in Washington State, as well as a stint in Colorado. After creating a past for himself, Duncan turned his attention to the future. He wrote that after graduating college, he hoped to relocate to the South and find a job worthy of his, quote, considerable repertoire. In the meantime, he sent off his resume

Soon he heard back from employers and decided on a position at a nearby market research company. At this new job, he again demonstrated his ability to easily charm. He also established himself as a hard worker, and before long, he'd befriended a few colleagues, too. Outwardly, everything seemed to be going well for Duncan, but deep down, he was tormented by the possibility that his new friends would shun him if they discovered his true nature. Soon, his anxiety became too much to bear. He had to confide in someone. So he turned to Joe McClary, a receptionist at his company. He told her about his abuse as a child and even touched on his past crimes.

Of course, he didn't mention the three children he'd murdered, but he came pretty close. At one point he told Joe there was another person inside of him, an evil person. And although she was unnerved by his admissions, Joe wanted to be a man. Joe wanted to give her colleague the benefit of the doubt. So she let the comment go. In contrast, Duncan was a wreck. He wondered if he'd made a mistake in trusting Joe. He knew he had to be more careful moving forward.

He couldn't just go around telling people about his evil alter ego. But he knew that he needed some kind of outlet for his feelings. Duncan thought back to his days on the road during his murder spree in the late 90s. He remembered the satisfaction he was. felt while writing about his crimes. Maybe he'd been on to something. So in 2004, one year before graduation, he tried his hand at keeping a blog, and soon he discovered that he loved it. In his blog, which he called The Fifth Nail, Duncan opened up about the darkness within him. In one chilling entry, he candidly described an incident at a local ski lodge restroom.

Duncan wrote that he happened to be inside the bathroom with just one other person, a young boy. When the child looked at him, Duncan could see fear in his eyes. In that moment, the predator within him stirred. But Duncan apparently resisted the urge to act. As he washed his hands, he thought to himself, not yet. Not yet. Those two words were crucial. Clearly, Duncan knew he would strike again.

It had been almost seven years since his last crime, and he accepted that he couldn't control himself for much longer. It wasn't a question of if, but when. That moment came on July 3, 2004. For unknown reasons, Duncan traveled to the city of Detroit Lakes in Minnesota that day. There, he made his way to a playground and approached two young boys. The details of what happened next are the first. are sparse, but we know that Duncan sexually assaulted one of the kids. Sometime afterwards, he was

arrested and charged with child molestation. Just like that, his hopes of graduating college and launching a career were a thing of the past. We don't know where Duncan was held, but by April of the following year, he made bail with the help of a local businessman. Surprisingly, this person wasn't Richard. It seems that during his time in North Dakota, Duncan had endeared himself to yet another benefactor. 51-year-old Joe Crary was a real estate developer and investor who'd met Duncan while biking in Fargo. According to Crary, Duncan was polite, soft-spoken, and appeared to have a sincere interest in turning his life around. So when Duncan contacted him from jail to ask for financial help,

Crary agreed to help out. Thanks to his new friend's generosity, Duncan was out. But that didn't mean he was in the clear. He was due back in court soon to face the molestation charge. As he contemplated the forthcoming trial, Duncan's blog entries became increasingly discordant. He wrote about being locked in a battle between himself and his demons. By the following month, though, his tone had shifted. With his court date approaching, it's clear that Duncan made a decision. He'd slipped up and there was no going back.

His fresh start had gone up in flames. All he could do now was wreak havoc on a world that he still believed had wronged him. In one of his final blog entries in 2005, he wrote, My intent is to harm society as much as I can, then die. And that's just what he set out to do. In a moment, Joseph Duncan unleashes his demons. The world is full of conmen, fantasists, and corrupt authority. figures. There are respected spiritual leaders who ask way too much of their followers,

global companies with unexpected motives, and governments that value profit over all else. Luckily for us, the world is also full of people who stand up for what they believe in, even if it turns their lives upside down. I'm Pat Rodriguez, host of whistleblowers, the new podcast series that explores the biggest, most bizarre, bizarre lies in history, through the eyes of those who risked absolutely everything to expose them. This season in Whistleblowers, join us as we uncover the story of the women who brought down Hollywood's most controversial yoga guru. The doctors who believe one of the world's top surgeons used humans as his guinea pigs, and the woman who revealed Facebook's darkest secrets.

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Now back to the story. On May 13, 2005, 42-year-old Joseph Edward Duncan wrote his final blog post. Over the previous year, the online journal had become a vital outlet for him. It had helped him to retain a facade of normalcy as he attended college, went to work, and tried to make a fresh start in North Dakota. However, it hadn't been enough to dampen his lust for violence. In 2004, Duncan had sexually assaulted a young boy in Minnesota, and he was due back in court soon to face charges.

But he had no intention of showing up. Richard, the pediatrician who had been supporting Duncan for so many years, loaned him $6,500 to hire a lawyer. But instead of finding an attorney, Duncan took the money and ran. After everything Richard had done for him, he left his friend behind without a second thought. Clearly, Duncan wanted to leave his new life the one he thought he'd wanted, far behind him. After skipping town, his landlord found his apartment in a state of disarray, with strange writings on the mirror and duskwater. But these mysterious messages didn't offer any hints about where Duncan had

gone. In fact, Duncan himself wasn't sure where he was headed. All he knew was that he was ready to find his next victim, or victims. When he left North Dakota, he drove through several nearby states before finally ending up in Montana. There, he made stops at a daycare center in the rural town of St. Ignatius and a school bus stop in Missoula. He also cased several houses, spying on families from the safety of his car. It's not clear exactly what he was looking for, but it seems he wanted to ensure he chose the perfect targets. He could have to be able to. afford to make any more mistakes.

In the past, he'd been sloppy and spontaneous, targeting children seemingly at random. He'd also attacked his victims without a clear plan of where he would take them. This time, he wanted to be prepared. So Duncan drove out to a remote stretch of the Flathead National Forest in northwestern Montana. Amidst the towering furs and verdant pine trees, he started setting up a campsite. He gathered firewood and pitched a tent. Inside, he laid out an array of children's toys. Satisfied with his handiwork, Duncan got back into his car, navigated his GPS to drive west to Idaho.

There, he spent a day or two staking out houses and looking for children to target. No one seemed to catch his eye at first. But then, he ran across a rural property on the outskirts of Cordillane, a picturesque resort town known for its water sports and golf courses. There he saw eight-year-old Shasta Groney playing in the yard. Duncan watched Shasta for a little while before driving off. Later, he returned to the house and noticed that a young boy had joined her. It was her nine-year-old brother, Dylan. Their mother, Brenda, was inside.

It's not clear what about the family caught Duncan's eye. But for whatever reason, he decided that Shasta and Dylan were the victims he'd been waiting for. and it was now or never. Duncan parked his car down the street and stretched a pair of dark gloves over his hands. Then he grabbed a gun and a pack of nylon zip ties, then walked towards the front door. Somehow he got inside the house.

He may have broken in, or it's possible that he simply knocked on the door and waited for someone to answer. In the past, he'd told his young victims that he was looking for his lost cat, so he might have used this same lie to endear himself. to the Groney family. Either way, Duncan made it in and confronted Brenda at gunpoint. Then he led her to the living room and bound her hands with zip ties.

He did the same to her boyfriend, Mark McKenzie. Once the adults were tied up, Duncan instructed Brenda to call her children into the room. Terrified, she did as she was told. Shasta and Dylan came running, along with their 13-year-old brother Slade. When they saw the scene in front of them, they stopped in their tracks. Before they could dart away, though, Duncan grabbed the three children. He bounced Slade alongside Brenda and Mark and led the younger kids outside. There, he restrained Shaston Dillon's hands and feet with zip ties and told them not to move.

That done, he went back inside. In his previous crimes, Duncan had focused solely on abducting his victims, but with so many witnesses, he figured that he'd couldn't afford to leave any loose ends. He knew what he had to do and didn't hesitate. In quick succession, Duncan bludgeoned Brenda, Mark, and Slade with a hammer. The two adults died from the blows, but Slade was somehow able to escape. Bleeding profusely, he made a break for his siblings in the yard. Shasta and Dylan yelled to their brother when they saw him stagger out of the house and begged him to untie them. But he was so badly injured that he could.

couldn't understand them. Eventually, the 13-year-old collapsed to the ground, succumbing to his injuries. With three members of the family dead, Duncan knew he had to move quickly. Although the Gronies lived in a more remote part of town, it was still possible that a neighbor had heard their screams. With this in mind, Duncan shoved Shasta and Dylan onto the floor of his car, and told them that if they wanted to live, they had to follow his rules. He warned them, that if they tried to run away or get help, he'd shoot them. He also ordered them to call him, Daddy. When he was certain that the message was received loud and clear,

he revved the car and sped away from the house. Likely fueled by adrenaline and paranoia, Duncan drove almost 300 miles without stopping, all the way back to the campsite at Flathead National Forest. That meant that Duncan and the Groney children were likely Already in Montana, at the time authorities discovered the grim scene in Cordillane. Given the brutality of the murders and the likelihood that Shasta and Dylan had been kidnapped, the case soon made headlines. Before long, it was national news.

With practically everyone in the state of Idaho on high alert, the FBI launched an investigation into the murder kidnapping. Their progress was largely kept secret, but the public was coming to their own conclusions, and popular suspicion fell on 48-year-old Steve Groney, Shasta and Dylan's father. Stephen Brenda had been divorced for some time, and he didn't have an alibi for the day of the attack. According to reports, he also failed a lie detector test when asked about the whereabouts of his children. Officials stressed that Steve was not a suspect, but it's possible that the investigation into him distracted them from following other leads. While the investigation moved ahead with little progress, Shasta and Dylan's nightmare continued.

Over the next several weeks, Duncan repeatedly tortured and sexually assaulted the siblings. According to later testimony from Shasta, he was alternately cruel and kind to them, his demeanor turning on a dime. One moment he'd brag about viciously beating their family to death with a hammer and threatened to do the same to them, then the next he'd become apologetic, tearfully begging the children for forgiveness and promising to take them home. Eventually, he attempted to explain away his actions. He said that initially God had told him to kill their family.

But now, in the forest with Shasta and Dillon, he realized that he'd been mistaken. It wasn't really God that was talking to him. He had a sickness. If we take Shasta's recollection of Duncan's words at face value, they suggest he might have been psychotic, Psychosis is a mental state in which a person's thoughts are so impaired that they become detached from reality. Some of the most common symptoms include hallucinations and delusions, especially those that involve religious themes. Some people experiencing psychosis may hear the voice of God speaking directly to them.

In rare cases, these individuals may come to believe that God or the devil is compelling them to commit acts of violence. Whether or not Duncan was actually detached from reality is up for debate. What's certain is that he was making Shasta and Dylan's life a living hell. And after several weeks at the campsite, things took an even more brutal turn. One afternoon, Shasta heard a shotgun blast near the car. She ran over to the vehicle where Duncan had been rummaging through some boxes. There she saw Dylan lying on the ground, screaming in pain. He'd been hit in the stomach.

Duncan flew into a panic. He insisted that it had been an accident that the gun had somehow gone off while he was moving the boxes. Since Shasta hadn't seen the event, she couldn't tell if he was lying or not. But there's no doubt about what happened next. Duncan picked up the shotgun,

put it to Dylan's head, and pulled the trigger, killing the boy instantly. Then he wrapped Dylan's body in a tarp Ben set it on fire. He burned several other items at the same time, including a pair of Shasta's bloodied shoes. After he got rid of the evidence, Duncan told Shasta that they had to leave the area immediately. He said there was too much evil there. Of course, Duncan was the source of the evil, so when he and Shasta moved to another campsite nearby, his darkness came with them.

Over the next few days, Shasta incessantly begged Duncan to take her home. And finally, on July 1st, something shifted. That was the day that Duncan told Shasta she'd changed him for the better. She'd taught him how to love, he said, and because of his adoration for her, he was going to set her free. But first, he wanted them to share one last day together. That night, he announced that they were going back to Cordillian. On route, he shared his plan with Shasta. The next morning they would get breakfast, then go and see the new Star Wars film.

His reasoning for this was twofold. He wanted to make Shasta happy, but he also wanted to see one last movie before he went to prison. Afterwards, he'd take her to the police station and surrender. It seems that by this point, Duncan was resigned to his fate. Then again, who knows if he actually would have gone through with it. She'd already broken many of the promises he'd made to Shasta. She had no reason to believe that this time would be any different.

But it didn't matter. He wouldn't get the chance to prove her otherwise, because he had even less time left than he thought. Up next, one observant waitress becomes a hometown hero. Want to support your gut health? Take Activia's gut health challenge by enjoying two Activia yogurt today for two weeks and see if you feel a difference. billions of probiotics and 20 years of scientific expertise,

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only at Sephora. Now back to the story. On July 2nd, 2005, 42-year-old Joseph Edward Duncan had resolved to turn himself in. Two months or Earlier, he'd massacred an entire family in Idaho and kidnapped the youngest children. Eight-year-old Shasta Groney was the only one who was still alive.

After being held captive for weeks at a remote campsite in Montana, she finally persuaded Duncan to let her go. But first, he insisted on taking her to breakfast. So after several hours on the road, Duncan pulled into a Denny's parking lot in Cora Lane and led Shasta inside. Waitress Amber Dianne was just coming back from her break when she noticed the pair sitting in her section. At first glance, nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

They looked like a father and daughter, but then she looked again. That little girl, she recognized her. The local news stations have been covering the Groney Children's disappearance non-stop since late May. Chesta and Dillon's photographs are also circulating on flyers all over town. Thinking back to those images on the flyers,

Amber was almost certain that the girl in front of her was Shasta. Trying not to attract the attention of the strange man, Amber quietly flagged on her manager, Linda. In a hushed voice, she relayed her suspicions. Hearing what Amber had to say, Linda was shocked. After quickly talking it over, the two women agreed to call the police. They couldn't say for sure if the girl at their

restaurant was actually Shasta, but the cops would be able to find out. If they were wrong, they could breathe aside relief. But if they were right, Amber and Linda could save Shasta from God knows what kind of terrors. There was no way this creep was going to get away with what he'd done to her and her family. Not on their watch. So as Linda slipped away to call 911, Amber approached Duncan and Shasta. With a smile plastered onto her face, she greeted them and took their order. She had to act like everything was normal. Shasta's life depended on it. Keeping an eye on Shasta, Amber retrieved some drinks and plates full of food for the table. She also offered the little girl some crayons on a menu to

draw on. As she handed over the seemingly innocuous items, Amber noticed that Shasta seemed withdrawn. She barely spoke and looked to Duncan for permission before responding to Amber. seemed tense too. When Amber tried to chat with him, his answers were terse and to the point. Worried that they might bolt before the cops arrived, she made a split-second decision and asked Shasta if she was interested in dessert. After looking to Duncan for approval, the girl timidly requested a vanilla milkshake. Inwardly, Amber let out a sigh of relief. She knew this would buy them enough time for help to arrive. Sure enough, just after she delivered the shake to their table, her manager Linda discreetly pulled her aside. The police were here and they wanted

to speak with her before they came inside. Doing her best to remain calm, Amber walked outside and greeted the officers. She told them exactly where Shasta and Duncan were sitting and asked for further directions. The cops told her to go back in ahead of them and act nonchalant. Then they would follow her in and make their move. Amber nodded in understanding and open. the door. But as she walked inside, she saw Duncan and Shasta getting up to leave. Amber rushed forward, and Duncan curtly demanded the check for her. She panicked. Had he seen the police? She couldn't let them get away now. But Duncan didn't get far. Before he could take another step towards the door,

officers swarmed the restaurant. Finally, he was cornered. The officers said they needed to speak with him alone and led Duncan. outside. Meanwhile, Amber stayed at the table with Shasta. Now that they were finally alone, Amber asked if the little girl was okay. She didn't respond. Amber tried again, asking what her name was. This time, she replied, she was Shasta Growny. At that moment, she broke down in tears and leaned into Amber. After almost two months of unthinkable horror, her nightman.

Her nightmare was over. Following the rescue mission, Shasta was swiftly reunited with her father, Steve, whose name had been cleared by now. But the young girl still had a role to play. Despite the trauma she'd experienced, Shasta was incredibly helpful to the authorities. She gave them a detailed description of the day that Duncan invaded her family's house and told them about what happened at the campsite. While Shasta went out to relive, the worst moments of her youths, young life to investigators. Duncan was arrested and taken into custody. He reportedly confessed

without much prodding from detectives and told the authorities that he intended to plead guilty. Shortly after being detained, Duncan was charged with three counts of murder for the deaths of Mark McKenzie and Brenda and Slade Groney. He pleaded guilty to the charges on October 16, 2006. A year later, he also admitted to kidnapping Shasta, as a as well as kidnapping and murdering Dylan. In 2008, Duncan was sentenced to death for his crimes. But the scales of justice weren't through with him just yet. Although he was being held in Idaho,

authorities in Riverside County, California had been working to connect him to the death of 10-year-old Anthony Martinez back in 1997, and they'd finally managed to make the link using DNA evidence. By that stage, Duncan was done hiding. He confessed to killing Anthony, as well as to murdering Sammy Joe White in Carmen Joy Kobias in Seattle in 1996. In 2011, he stood trial in California for Anthony's murder. Judge David B. Downing gave him two life terms. While he announced the sentence, Judge Downing told the court,

I've never met a more evil person than Joseph Duncan. Indeed, despite his will. his willingness to confess to his crimes, Duncan never showed a flicker of remorse for what he'd done. And even once he was behind bars, he was determined to make sure his side of the story was heard. Ego driven to his core, Duncan decided to revive the online journal that he'd kept back in North Dakota. He just needed to find a way to do so from inside a prison cell. As you might imagine, prisoners on death road don't typically have blogging privileges. But Duncan regularly communicated via mail with a handful of people on the outside,

including several friends and a reported girlfriend. It seems that one of these confidants maintained the blog on his behalf. Although the original purpose of his writing was to reflect on his dark impulses in the hopes of keeping them at bay, Duncan was done dissembling. In his new entries, he went into detail about his entire criminal history. He described his horrific crimes with sickening indifference to the suffering he inflicted. Sometimes his entries were self-pitying. But more often, they involved endless rationalization at excuses, as Duncan continued to avoid taking responsibility for his actions.

Though Duncan was never diagnosed with narcissistic personality disorder, a number of experts have indicated that his behavior fits the mold. One of these experts is Kevin Thompson, a criminal justice professor. at North Dakota State University, where Duncan was a student for many years. After Duncan's arrest, Thompson began referencing him as a case study in his classes. It probably never crossed Duncan's mind that it was unusual or unseemly for a convicted killer to have this kind of platform. He likely couldn't conceive of himself as anything other than fascinating and worthy of attention. This type of thinking can be indicative of narcissistic personality disorder as outlined in the DSM-4.

Although Duncan managed to retain his twisted sense of superiority from behind bars, his time was running out. In 2020, he was diagnosed with stage 4 brain cancer. He underwent surgery to remove the tumor, but declined further treatment, according to court records. Duncan's illness made it impossible for him to keep up with his blog posts. Suddenly, the spotlight was gone, and the killer found himself all alone. He died in March of 2021. He was 58 years old. Following his death, Shasta Groney, now in her 20s, released a statement. She said,

Today I woke up feeling like my soul was finally free. I hope other people affected by Joseph Duncan were able to wake up feeling the same way. Thanks again for tuning into serial killers. We'll be back soon with another episode. For more information on Joseph Edward Duncan, amongst the many sources we used, we found the Spokesman Review and the Seattle Times extensive coverage of him and his crimes, extremely helpful in our research. You can find all episodes of serial killers and all other Spotify originals from Parcast for free on Spotify.

We'll see you next time. Have a killer week. Serial Killers is a Spotify original from Parcast. Executive producers include Max and Ron Cutler, sound design by Michael Motion, with production assistance by Ron Shapiro, Trent Williamson, Carly Madden, and Joshua Kern. This episode of Serial Killers was written by Emma Dibdin,

with writing assistance by Natalie Pritzowski and Joel Callan, fact-checking by Lori Siegel, and research by Brian Petrus and Chelsea Wood. Serial Killers stars Greg Paulson and Vanessa Richardson. Yama Vah Resort and Casino at San Manuel is California's number one entertainment destination for today's superstars. Catch the Jonas Brothers return to the Yamava Theater stage on April 30th, the powerful vocals of Demi Lovato on May 17th, and the signature Southern Country Rock of Eric Church on July 19th.

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