Murder In America - EP. 5 IDAHO - The Shasta Groene Story

Episode Date: February 5, 2021

 This story contains descriptions of physical and sexual abuse against children. listener discretion is heavily advised. In 2005, a family was found brutally murdered after a random home invasion ...in Idaho, and the two youngest children from the clan went missing. What happened to Shasta Groene during her time in captivity is shocking and will truly have you looking over your shoulder, even when you're playing with you children in your front yard. Join hosts Colin Browen and Courtney Shannon as they explore the sordid tale of Joseph Duncan III. You’re listening TO MURDER IN AMERICA. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Starting point is 00:00:00 This week's episode is sponsored by Hocum, the new film that critics are calling Damian McCarthy's most unnerving horror yet. From the director of Audity, Hocom stars Adam Scott, in a deeply monstrous horror that bloody disgusting called pure nightmare fuel that holds you firmly in its grip. Don't miss Hocom, the groundbreaking new horror from Damian McCarthy, now playing in theaters. I really love to get dressed up every once in a while when I'm going out with my girlfriends or on a date night with Colin. But lately I've been trying to be more intentional with my everyday wear. And I've found that the best options that work for me are good quality, effortless pieces that will last me forever and they still look cute. Which is why Quince has always been my go-to. The thing I love about Quince is that all of their fabrics feel elevated.
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Starting point is 00:03:52 better help.com slash m i'm going to immediately start today's episode out with a warning this story contains descriptions of physical and sexual abuse against children and even the murder of innocent kids this is one of the craziest stories that i've ever heard it's demented it's heartbreaking and above all it's terrifying so once again to reiterate for this episode listener discretion is heavily advised You're listening to Murder in America. Our story starts in Cordelline, Idaho, in May of 2005, where the Groney family lived. There was Brenda Groney, her three children, Slade who was 13, Dylan, who was nine, and the youngest Shasta, who was eight, and then their stepfather, Mark McKenzie.
Starting point is 00:05:29 The family lived on an area by late Cordelline. Their home was isolated and quiet, and the closest neighbors lived over a mile away. A lot of people prefer this isolated sort of home, away from any sense. city noise or bothersome neighbors. The area was also considered to be very safe. The crime rates in this small town are around 30% below the national average, and the town is considered safer than 48% of other U.S. cities. This was a place where people started families and didn't feel the need to lock their doors at night. That is, until a monstrous predator came to taint the good reputation this city once had. Everyone in the Groney family was very close to one another.
Starting point is 00:06:09 The children all lived happy lives, always had food on the table, and were always provided for. They weren't the perfect family. Brenda had struggled with addictions of her own, and they occasionally ran low on money, but they were happy nonetheless. May 13, 2005 was a normal day for the Groney family. It was a Friday afternoon. Brenda was mowing the front lawn, and Shasta and Dylan were starting their weekend by swimming in the front yard. It was the type of day that every eight- and nine-year-old look forward to. Nothing to do, nowhere to go, just having fun. But the children were blissfully unaware that while they were laughing and splashing each other and enjoying their weekend,
Starting point is 00:06:45 evil was watching them from a car in the distance. The man in the car was a sex offender from Fargo, North Dakota. He had previously been driving through Montana, praying on children, observing from a distance, desperately searching to find his next victim. Somehow, this man ended up in Idaho. He already had his eye on another adolescent in the community, but when he drove by the Groney House that day, and saw Shasta and Dylan playing in their bathing suits, he knew that he had found his next targets. Over the next few days, this mysterious man decided to stalk the Groney home.
Starting point is 00:07:19 He bought special night vision goggles so he could watch the family's every move, even at night. He wanted to know everything about this house and the family that lived inside, so for days he watched from a distance, sneaking around outside, peeking through their windows. And while he was stalking, he noticed that the family didn't have a working toilet, and During the night, they would leave their back door unlocked so they could go out to the woods and use the restroom. Knowing their back door was always unlocked, he decided one night to go inside the house while the family was sleeping. He went room to room, watching every family member's sleep, and in doing so, he familiarized himself with the layout of the house.
Starting point is 00:07:55 This man even befriended the family's pit bull by giving her treats, so that when he would eventually carry out his master plan, he wouldn't be attacked. He was methodical, he was determined, and there was nothing that could stop him from what he was about. to do. On May 16th at 6 a.m., Shasta was abruptly woken up by her crying mother who told her that there was a man in their house that didn't want them there. Shasta was sharing a room with her brother Dylan at the time, so the two got out of bed and they followed their mom into the living room. Tired and confused, Shasta noticed a strange man in all black standing amongst her family members, and in his hand was a sod-off shotgun. Shasta said that she first thought this man was a caught because of his clothing and the weapon that he was holding. But the events of that night
Starting point is 00:08:40 quickly took a dark turn as he ordered the family to lay down and proceeded to pull out zip ties. The man started tying family members' hands behind their backs, and it was at this moment that Shasta realized that this wasn't a cop. It was an evil man that had come to harm her family. The intruder then walks over to Mark the stepdad and starts demanding money. We don't have any money, says Mark. They exchange a few more words before the intruder realizes that he won't be able to gain anything financially from the family. But that's not a huge issue for him, because this home invasion wasn't motivated by wealth. He slowly walks over to Shasta as she's lying on the ground. When she looks up at him, he puts his index finger up to his lips, telling her to stay
Starting point is 00:09:18 quiet. Then he mouths for her to keep her head down. Shasta places her head back on the floor just before hearing a loud thud followed by her stepdad grunting. She heard these sounds about five times before she had to look over. And it was at this point she was, she realized that the intruder was hitting her dad in the head with a hammer. The intruder then walks over to Shasta's mother, Brenda, and does the same thing. Five hard hits to the head. And lastly, he walks over to Slade, the 13-year-old child, and kills him in the same way. Terrifyingly, Shasta and Dylan are sitting there while all of this is happening and they're
Starting point is 00:09:55 wondering if they're going to be next. Shasta said that she wasn't even able to close her eyes or look away. She just sat and watched in terror as this man slaughtered her entire family right in front of her eyes. After this, the only family members left were Shasta and Dillon, who still had his head down. The intruder walked over to Dylan, tapped him on the head just like he did Shasta. And then he picked him up and brought him outside, leaving Shasta in the room with her other family members. They were bloody, and she wasn't sure if they were alive. The intruder came back in the room, empty-handed, and picked Shasta up, brought her outside,
Starting point is 00:10:32 and laid her under a tree next to her brother Dylan. They were both terrified and confused. The intruder was about to put the two into a car when they heard the back door to the house open. It was their brother, Slade. He had blood running down his face, but he was alive and fighting for his life. He was staggering around using the walls of the house for support
Starting point is 00:10:50 and leaving a blood trail behind him. Shasta said that the man ran up to Slate and started hitting him in the head over and over again with the hammer. Slade is still standing at this point, and he staggers over to a chair where he makes eye contact with Shasta, and as they are both looking at each other, he slumps over. Shasta would later say that she watched the life leave her brother's eyes,
Starting point is 00:11:09 and in that moment, she knew he was dead. The intruder then runs back into the house, and Shasta hears more thuds. The intruder was making sure that her parents were dead, too. A few moments later, he comes back outside with the family's car keys. He puts Shasta and Dylan in the truck, and then drives to their neighbor's house where he steals their vehicle. And it's crazy to think about the amount of planning that this man did.
Starting point is 00:11:30 I mean, he stalked their home, killed their family, but he knew he couldn't drive around in their car because once the bodies were found, their vehicle would be plastered all over the news, so he stole the neighbor's car. This man was very methodical, and after moving Dylan and Shasta into the stolen car, he made them sit down on the floor and covered them up with blankets, so they couldn't be seen by people driving by. Shasta said that she remembered being unbelievably scared before she eventually drifted off to sleep on the floor of the vehicle. Later on, as she begins to wake up, the memories of what happened the night before are starting to fill her mind, and she praised that it was all a dream. But as she opens her eyes, she sees her captor in the driver's seat, and she knows that this is now her reality. She and Dylan had woken up in a completely different state with a complete stranger who had just murdered their entire family. After the abduction on May 16, 2005, a neighbor came by the Groney House to give Slade money for mowing his lawn.
Starting point is 00:12:30 earlier that week. As this neighbor drove up the long driveway, he noticed that the family's car doors were wide open and there was a dog barking inside of the home. As he walked up to the house, he heard nothing but silence and before long he noticed blood all over the door and the doorframe. He wasn't sure exactly what had happened, but he knew that it was something bad, so he rushed back home and called 911. When investigators arrived, they found the beaten bodies of Brenda, Mark, and Slade, but Shasta and Dylan were nowhere to be found. At this point, the police and the community were looking everywhere for Shasta and Dylan, and at first they suspected the killer to be the real dad. Apparently, he and Brenda didn't have the best relationship, and there were rumors circulating that maybe he had the idea to take his ex-wife out of the picture and take his children back.
Starting point is 00:13:18 But, their father had a good alibi, and cell phone records ended up proving him innocent. After doing an autopsy on Brenda and Mark, investigators found drugs in their system. so even police started to question if the murders had something to do with drug dealers. But eventually that lead ran dry too. After weeks and weeks spent trying to figure out what happened, the case started to go cold. Investigators worried that they would never find Shasta and Dylan. Most of the time when someone's murdered, it's usually committed by someone close to you. Somebody that the victim knew or was related to.
Starting point is 00:13:52 It's rarely ever a stranger. And figuring out who the stranger was and who who, had killed their entire family made it incredibly difficult for investigators to get leads in the case. And it was at this point officials weren't even looking for Shasta and Dylan alive. They were looking for their bodies. We all know that captors don't usually keep their victims alive for longer than a few days. And no one had any idea that this monster would keep them in hiding in western Montana's national forest for weeks.
Starting point is 00:14:24 During their time in hiding in the remote campsite, living conditions were filthous. Shasta and Dylan were forced to use the restroom in the forest. They couldn't brush their hair or shower or even brush their teeth. They clearly weren't eating very much. And on top of all of that, they were terrified. Their captor revealed a lot about himself to the children over the next few weeks. For starters, he told them that his name was Joseph Duncan III. He would often put the bloody hammer in front of their faces and explain in detail how he
Starting point is 00:14:51 used it to kill their family. In one instance, Duncan shot a tree with his shotgun, made the children look at the big hole he made in the stump. and proceeded to tell them, if you ever try to leave me, this is what I'm going to do to you. He also told him that this wasn't his first child abduction. He had abducted and killed two sisters in Seattle
Starting point is 00:15:08 named Sammy Joe White and Carmen K. Bias back in 1996. He went into great detail about how he had previously abducted and murdered the two girls. These were all scare tactics that Duncan used on Shasta and Dylan because by telling them these things, they would never want to disobey him or try to escape because they knew what their fate would be. Over the next few weeks, both Dylan and Shasta experienced brutal abuse by Duncan, physically, emotionally, and sexually.
Starting point is 00:15:34 Not only was he sexually abusing them, but he would also make them perform sex acts on each other while he videotaped them. In one video that Duncan recorded, he made Dylan stand on a bucket with a rope around his neck. He kicked the bucket out from under him and began masturbating, pledging himself while Dylan struggled to breathe. And right when Dylan was about to die, Duncan cut the rope from around his neck. And when Dylan awoke, he started crying. because he thought that he had finally died, and he was disappointed to find out that he was still alive. Shasta said in an interview with a podcast survivor's perspective
Starting point is 00:16:06 that Dylan was the more emotional of the two, especially over the next few weeks. He was very sensitive, and even though he was a year older than Shasta, he would constantly break down crying during the time that they were being held by Duncan. Shasta was the one who would constantly tell her brother that everything was going to be okay
Starting point is 00:16:24 and that they would make it out alive. Shasta also said that Duncan preferred to physically abuse Dylan more, probably because he was the weaker of the two. She remembered Duncan tying him to a tree and beating him over and over again until he was covered in blood. And if Shasta cried during his beatings, he would beat him even harder. Duncan would also make them drink alcohol, smoke cigarettes, and huff different types of cleaner, so that when he would assault them, they wouldn't remember or be able to fight back. And an interesting part of this story is that although Duncan all of the, enjoyed abusing these children, he would often break down crying afterwards, and he would
Starting point is 00:17:01 frequently talk about God and make it seem like sometimes he hated what he was doing. But those moments would soon pass, and Duncan would instantly fall back into the same cycles of abuse over and over again. Shastas said that at some points in her captivity, she even felt bad for Duncan, calling him nicknames like Jet. She felt like he was doing what he did because somebody did that to him at some point in his life. She almost before friended him because she knew that he needed someone, and she also knew deep down that by doing so she could possibly make it out of this situation alive. She saw the way that Duncan reacted to her brother's weakness, so she decided to be strong. She decided to show her captor kindness.
Starting point is 00:17:43 This empathy towards Duncan would soon change. One day, while the three were up on the mountain, Shasta and Dillon were holding hands standing right next to each other, and Shasta suddenly heard a shotgun blast. When she looked over at her brother, he had a gaping, bloody hole in his stomach, and Shasta could literally see his inner organs hanging out of his body. Duncan had shot him. Duncan then walked over to Dylan and shot him right in the head. At this point, Shasta is in complete shock. She's trying to find words to say, but the only thing she can utter is why. Duncan runs over to her side and adamantly claims that it was an accident. He said that while he was getting a drink out of the cooler, his gun just went off.
Starting point is 00:18:22 When Shasta asked why he shot him a second time, he responded that he was putting him out of his misery. At this point, I'm sure that there were a million thoughts running through Shasta's mind. Her brother was just killed right in front of her. Pieces of skull and brain matter were covering her face and had landed in her hair, and Duncan wouldn't let her wash these materials out of her hair for almost two weeks. As if that wasn't enough, Duncan also forced Shasta to help him drag Dylan's body and place it onto the campfire where it burned for three days. Medical experts later discovered that the initial shot to his stomach probably wouldn't have killed Dylan. He likely would have lived if Duncan would have gotten him help. But he didn't want to help him.
Starting point is 00:19:01 Duncan wanted Dylan dead. When Shasta was asked why she thought Duncan killed her brother, she said that she felt like her brother's soul had given up, like the abuse had finally gotten the best of him and he didn't want to live anymore. And I think Duncan recognized this and thought of Dylan as baggage at this point. So he killed him because he no longer needed him. Shaston knew deep down that her brother's death was no accident. Experts later to turn to him, he knew. that it would have been nearly impossible for Duncan to accidentally shoot the gun in the way that he said he did. When Duncan's shotgun used to kill Dylan was recovered, it went through a series of tests at an FBI lab back east. One expert he testified today says he tried a number of times using various methods trying to get that gun to fire accidentally.
Starting point is 00:19:46 He never could do it. In fact, he says it took five pounds of pressure applied to the trigger to get that gun to fire. The testimony puts into doubt a story Duncan told Shasta. after he shot Dylan. In a taped interview with Shasta, she told investigators Duncan was searching for a beer in a box when the shotgun accidentally went off, striking Dylan in the abdomen. Shasta says Duncan told her he had to then shoot Dylan in the head because there was nothing more they could do for him.
Starting point is 00:20:13 A forensic pediatrician who also testified today says that isn't true. Based on Shasta's description of Dylan's first shotgun injury, it's likely Dylan could have survived had Duncan taken him to a hospital. The doctor called it a, quote, potentially salvageable injury. Duncan that attempted to cross-examine the doctor, asking if it was possible, Shasta exaggerated her story. During his fourth question, the most he's ever asked at once during this trial, Duncan fumbled saying, quote, I'm not good at this. I appreciate your testimony. Federal prosecutors also showed jurors a piece of Dylan's skull found near the campsite.
Starting point is 00:20:53 jurors showed no visible reaction. Duncan strongly objected twice. Judge Edward Lodge allowed it anyway. A log used to block a road leading to the first campsite was also presented. A note inscribed on the log read, quote, please do not disturb. Jurz also heard from the doctor who examined Dylan's remains. Investigators were only able to recover just 1,700 tiny bone fragments from a fire pit and a culvert nearby. After Dylan was out of the picture, Duncan took Shasta down the mountain to another campsite. He set up the tent and kept Shasta tied up 24-7 so that she couldn't escape. Through the openings of the tent, Shasta could see campers enjoying their day, walking around, completely unaware that she was inside, bound, alone, and afraid. Shasta knew that she couldn't yell out to the strangers for help because she knew that no matter who intervened, Duncan would instantly confront and kill her. At this point, Shasta herself didn't want to live anymore.
Starting point is 00:21:55 Her whole family was dead. Every single member killed right in front of her. And so she started to give up. She said on the Survivor's Perspective podcast that she didn't even cry anymore when Duncan would rape her. She just felt numb. And I believe that Duncan saw this within Shasta because it was soon after that he told her he had to kill her. But, interestingly enough, he offered her the option. Would you rather die slowly of strangulation or quickly by a gunshot?
Starting point is 00:22:25 And the fact that an 8-year-old even has to weigh out these options is heartbreaking to hear. But Shasta was smart, and she knew that Duncan wanted her around, so she tells him that she wants to be strangled, a much slower death. And her reasoning behind this was that she believed if he started to strangle her, that she would have the time to change his mind. If he shot her, he would pull the trigger and it would be over with. But with strangulation, he would have to. look at her in the eyes and maybe, just maybe, he would have a change of heart.
Starting point is 00:22:55 So one day, Duncan goes to follow through with her request. He puts a rope around Shasta's neck and starts to squeeze. And contrary to how you would think an eight-year-old would react, Shasta said that she felt a sense of peace. She wasn't worried or fighting him. She seemed to feel absolutely nothing at all. After a few seconds of Duncan strangling her, Shasta's vision starts to fade and she begins to hear her mother's voice.
Starting point is 00:23:18 Before long, Shasta comes too, and she's looking right at Duncan, who is standing over her, and he says, what did you just say? Then Shasta replies, please don't, Jet. And before long, he begins taking the rope off from around her neck. The next day, Shasta was still worried that Duncan would try and kill her. This worry only intensified when Duncan started to pack up their tent and told her that they were going to go meet his mom. And I don't think that Duncan actually wanted to take Shasta to meet his mom, because
Starting point is 00:23:47 obviously she would question why he has an eight-year-old girl and she would most likely have called the authorities. So I truly do believe that Duncan was planning on killing Shasta that night. And maybe Shasta knew this deep down because the next request she makes saves her life. She asked Duncan if he can take her back to her hometown. She wanted to show him where she was from, where she went to school, where her best friends lived, and she did this so that he would feel close to her, like Shasta actually liked him and trusted him. So, Duncan agrees. As he made the drive back to Cordillene,
Starting point is 00:24:21 they ended up pulling into a gas station where someone in the store recognized Shasta. But Duncan and Shasta are only inside for a brief moment, so by the time the person that noticed them called the police, the two had already left. Duncan also pulled into another gas station along the way, and a cop was parked literally right out front, but they never noticed Shasta inside of the vehicle.
Starting point is 00:24:40 Shasta had almost given up at this point, like her brother had before his death. Hopefully, someone would notice her when they got back. back to her hometown. It was her last and only hope. Once they get to Cortaline, Duncan passes a random school and Shasta tells him that that's the school she went to, even though it wasn't. Then they pass a random house and she tells them that that's where her friend lives. But none of this information was true. Shasta was smart and she wanted Duncan to know that she cared for him. She wanted to stay in the city for as long as possible
Starting point is 00:25:10 because she knew that this was her only hope to make it out alive. It was around 2 a.m. and they'd been driving around for a while when Duncan asks her if she's hungry, she tells him yes, and he pulls into a nearby Denny's. On the way inside, there was a man standing outside smoking a cigarette who makes eye contact with Shasta. Without Duncan noticing, this man gives her a nod, assuring her that he will get her help. And as they walk into the restaurant, Shasta sees her missing person's poster hanging on the wall. A waitress sits them down in a booth where Shasta is facing everyone in the restaurant, and Duncan has his back to them. Shasta sees the man that gave her a nod, walked back inside the Denny's, and he quickly starts talking to one of the waitresses.
Starting point is 00:25:54 The waitress looks over at Shasta and picks up the phone. I've got a little girl here with a tall gentleman, and she looks so much like this. Shasta. Okay. Are they still in the building? And we're not sure. You know, I just, she looks so much like her, and I just, all right, we'll have someone said that way. A lot of people give the waitress credit for noticing Shasta, but the man outside was the true hero of this story. Shasta said that it seemed like an eternity waiting on the police to come. But about 15 minutes after they got seated inside of the Denny's, she notices a police officer walk inside, come over to their table, and order Duncan to stand up.
Starting point is 00:26:35 They then put the handcuffs on him and arrest him. Everyone inside the Denny's instantly started clapping. They all recognized Shasta and they were excited to see her captured, take her. After seven weeks of captivity, Shasta finally felt like she could breathe again. When investigators brought Shasta in for a statement, they asked her where her brother was, and she said, he's in heaven. She then goes on to tell them everything. She even tells investigators about the other children Duncan confessed to killing,
Starting point is 00:27:04 and after his arrest, Joseph Duncan III was formally convicted of the murder of the two sisters in Seattle, along with Brenda, Mark, Slade, and Dylan. had finally been served. It appears Joseph Duncan was on the prow for victims for several weeks before he brutally attacked Brenda and Slade Groney and Mark McKenzie. Duncan used a GPS system to mark points of interest as he traveled from his home in Fargo, North Dakota, through Missouri, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, and into Spokane. FBI agents found that GPS in Duncan's Jeep then used that information to visit those marks.
Starting point is 00:27:41 One mark put Duncan 25 miles north of Casper, Wyoming, at a rock outcropping. A message handwritten on a rock reads, quote, deep in my dungeon, I welcome you here, signed with the numbers 36623, Duncan's inmate number while serving a prison sentence in Washington. Between Fargo and Montana, seven homes, including a daycare, were all within several feet of marks in Duncan's GPS system. The homes were all rural, visible from a major highway with play equipment in the yards. One of those homeowners testified today. Other marks in the GPS system put Duncan at three different locations in the Lolo National Forest, where we now know he held Dylan and Shasta captive for several weeks. Duncan's landlord and neighbor in Fargo also took the stand and testified about Duncan leaving his apartment trashed,
Starting point is 00:28:35 and messages scrawled on the wall. And a maintenance employee with Big Horn National Forest told jurors he found a trash can damaged by a 12-gauge shotgun, a gas station receipt with Duncan's name on it and a receipt from the lion's den, an adult superstore. One juror covered her mouth with her hand. Others looked on in disbelief as they watched Shasta described in great detail what happened while she was held captive by Joseph Duncan for seven weeks in the Lolo National Forest. As federal prosecutors played a series of interviews with Shasta, just described. describing the most horrific weeks of her young life, Joseph Duncan looked away, closing his eyes four minutes at a time. In the taped interview conducted at Cootney Medical Center just hours after she was found, Shasta wrapped in a blanket and holding a teddy bear appears tired and restless, often resting her head on the side of a chair.
Starting point is 00:29:26 Shasta tells Captain Dan Maddose when Duncan, who she calls Jett, kidnapped her in Dillon, Jet told the pair, quote, there are rules and he wanted us to call him Daddy. Shasta says Duncan first took the pair to remote campsite in the Lolo National Forest. A week into their stay, Shasta says Duncan accidentally shot and killed Dylan. Shasta told the captain Duncan cried when Dylan died. Shasta says she helped Duncan dispose of his body. Shasta and Duncan spent a few weeks at that camp, then moved to another site because Duncan felt there was too much evil in the first site. At that second site, Shasta says Duncan took her into St. Regis on two separate.
Starting point is 00:30:06 occasions to eat. She named Frosties as one of those restaurants. When Duncan went into town without her, Shasta says she was chained to a tent. In the interview, Shasta says Duncan told her he felt bad for killing her parents, adding he was sorry and it was wrong. It appears Duncan also told Shaston detail how he attacked her family and why he chose to kidnap her and her brother. Shasta says, quote, he thought God was telling him to do it, adding he was looking for children. to kidnap. When Shasta was found at the Denny's in Cortal Lane, she says Duncan told her good luck. She also says that Duncan told her some point during the seven weeks she was held captive that her life was more important than his. He is now on death row where he can never hurt
Starting point is 00:30:53 another human again, where he can't give in to his sick urges, where he will rot away until his day of execution comes. And when it does, the world will be a better place. At the end of the day, No matter who's on death row, no matter who's executed, and no matter what justice is found, that can never heal and fix what happened to the Groney family. This is a crime that almost eliminated an entire family in one night. And the details of the case are so depraved that they've stuck with Courtney and I since the first time we heard about this story. And I'm not going to go on to this podcast and claim that the spirits of the Gronies
Starting point is 00:31:36 are in their home. The real horrors of this case can be observed amongst the living. They are burdens that Shasta must carry with her the rest of her life, and I can't imagine how she feels to this day. And above all, this story really goes to show you that you can never know who's out there, who might be watching. Duncan literally chose this family just because he saw Shasta and Dylan playing outside of their house one day. Who do you think is? watching you. Who do you think might pick you to be their next victim? That's the scary possibility of life. You may think you know your neighbor, you may think you can trust the police officer that's helping you out on a dark road at night. But really, can you? A lot of times, you can't. And that's
Starting point is 00:32:26 what makes stories like these so terrifying, those moments when life can change in the blink of an eye. That's exactly what happened to Shastogroney and her family, and it's something that I'm sure will continue to happen to families across the world until the end of time. So watch your back. Keep one eye open because monsters live everywhere, and they specifically like to blend in with the rest of us. Well, everybody, thanks for listening to Murder in America, episode number five. Courtney, how do you feel about that one?
Starting point is 00:33:03 That one was rough, but we made it through. Yeah, that's a very, very disturbing story and a very sad one. Our hearts go out to Shasta and obviously with the memory of her family. Next episode, we are sticking in Idaho and we are dealing with one of the craziest stories that I've ever heard. Yeah, thank you guys. Once again, I want to remind you to follow us on Instagram at Murder in America. Our Patreon is running. We've got some video clips on there and photos.
Starting point is 00:33:31 We're going to be posting more soon. And the last thing I'll leave you with here. It's almost as if the dead speak through Shasta. They got their revenge through what she told investigators after Duncan was caught. And for me, it has always made me wonder when I heard this story. Are there more victims that Duncan may have buried deep in the woods somewhere where investigators will never find them? What if they had a voice? What if they could come back and tell us where they were?
Starting point is 00:34:00 That's just one possibility in this twisted story. And it makes you wonder, the dead don't talk. Growing up, my mom was always the best at handling sticky, stressful situations. I mean, we have so many crazy family memories, so many things that stick out to me, so many trips that we took and just funny moments. I mean, I remember specifically one just crazy time when we had jet skis and we took them out. We had rented them for the day and we took them. about on this lake and somehow something got on the engine of the jet ski, mine stalled, my dad
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Starting point is 00:38:23 Thanks for listening, everybody.

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