Idaho woman recalls escaping serial killer Joseph Duncan in doc: ‘How long am I going to be alive?’

Shasta Groene can vividly recall the second she was rescued after surviving seven weeks of captivity and sexual assault.

It was 2005 and Groene, then 8, was acknowledged by prospects and staff at a Denny’s restaurant in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, after arriving with Joseph Edward Duncan, a registered intercourse offender from Fargo, North Dakota. The 42-year-old spent a lot of his life in jail and at one level, advised a therapist that he estimated he had raped 13 youthful boys by the point he was 16.

“The day earlier than, he was telling me that he needed to take me to North Dakota and meet his mother and household,” Groene, now 25, advised Fox Information Digital. “At that time, I used to be making an attempt to earn his belief and make him imagine that I didn’t need to depart his aspect. I might inform him that I needed to indicate him all of the locations I grew up in, the place I went to high school as a result of I cherished college, the place I used to hang around, principally present him my life as a result of I had no household. That made him really feel good as a result of he felt that I trusted him. He felt that he was studying about my life and attending to know a susceptible a part of me. I used to be simply making an attempt to control him.”

“He requested if I used to be hungry and advised him not likely,” she continued. “However he stated, ‘Come on, we will go to Denny’s and get a milkshake or one thing.’ I stated OK. So we pulled in. I seemed up and noticed this man. He checked out me, and I nodded my head. He nodded again. And I can inform from his eyes that he knew who I used to be. I used to be making an attempt to inform him by means of my eyes, that it was me. This man, Nick Chapman, went to the waitress.

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Shasta Groene, who continues to be therapeutic from her household tragedy, is coming ahead along with her story.
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“She seemed over at my desk. She then came visiting to me and was making an attempt to speak to me, giving me a coloring e book and holding me busy. Abruptly, she introduced the milkshakes out and stated she was going to get me somewhat paper crown. She ran again, and that’s after I noticed the police. The officer walked up behind her towards our desk. He requested me who I used to be. I advised him that my identify was Katie. Joseph Duncan advised me, ‘It’s OK, you possibly can inform him.’ That’s after I stated, ‘My identify is Shasta.’ The cop then grabbed Joseph Duncan and handcuffed him instantly.”

The story of Duncan and his horrifying crimes are the topic of the two-hour, Season 6 premiere of “Folks Journal Investigates” airing Monday night time on Investigation Discovery (ID). The true-crime sequence explores a number of the most surprising instances throughout the nation and the way they had been solved. It options interviews with survivors, family members of victims, investigators and different specialists intently related to the tales being advised.

The tragic case of Shasta Groene is the topic of ‘Folks Journal Investigates’.
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Groene witnessed the night time that Duncan sneaked into her household’s house in Wolf Lodge, Idaho, and murdered her mom, stepfather and certainly one of her brothers. She and her different brother had been kidnaped by Duncan. Her sibling was later killed. Groene has tried to remain out of the highlight for 17 years however was compelled to return ahead for the particular.

“For a very long time, I wasn’t in a spot the place I felt assured sufficient to talk out,” she defined. “I wasn’t prepared. However by the point we started filming, I used to be in a extremely good head area. Joseph Duncan had handed away, and it virtually felt like a brand new begin for me. I felt like I instantly wakened and stated, ‘I need to assist others with my story.’”

Groene described rising up inside a close-knit household that bonded over the outside. Gatherings consisted of barbecues, looking and fishing.

Brenda Groene, Shasta Groene’s mom.
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“I had my brothers with me on a regular basis,” she mirrored. “And that’s precisely how I needed it to be. I at all times needed to be with them. I used to be the youngest and the one lady. I used to be the little sister my brothers protected. And my mother made positive that the household was at all times collectively.”

Duncan’s most violent string of crimes occurred in Could 2005, when he was driving throughout the Idaho Panhandle on Interstate 90 and noticed two kids enjoying of their swimsuits within the yard of a house subsequent to the freeway. He pulled off the highway and began surveillance of the house.

Utilizing night-vision goggles, he broke in and tied up Brenda Groene, 40; her boyfriend, Mark McKenzie, 37; and her son, Slade Groene, 13. Then he beat them to demise with a hammer. Two of Brenda’s different kids, 9-year-old Dylan and Shasta, had been lacking when authorities obtained to the home.

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Mark McKenzie, Shasta Groene’s stepfather.
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Duncan had taken the youngsters into the wilds of western Montana, the place he tortured and abused them for weeks earlier than killing Dylan.

“I actually do not know what gave me power or hope,” Groene admitted. “However there was one thing inside me that was pushing me to say or do sure issues to be on Joseph Duncan’s good aspect and earn his belief. I imagine that was my mother’s spirit guiding me. She needed me to get out secure and alive. I felt like I used to be getting assist from her spiritually. However there have been occasions after I actually thought, ‘How lengthy am I going to be alive?’”

Brenda Groene’s Wolf Lodge house.
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Groene stated that following her rescue, she struggled to place the items of her life again collectively. She described lacking a complete yr of college as a result of her father didn’t suppose it was secure. Cameras would flock to her house as they tried to get each element of her harrowing journey. Rumors and hypothesis surrounding the Groene household intensified, leaving the little lady helpless in making an attempt to guard her household’s reminiscence. The appointments with counselors had been fixed, together with the numerous conferences involving attorneys and investigators.

Slade Groene, Shasta Groene’s teenage brother.
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“It felt bizarre being in a home with my dad and his girlfriend with none of my brothers,” she stated. “I used to be simply so alone. He was a truck driver, so it was very seldom that we noticed him. However that’s how he paid the payments. I additionally turned actually delicate about my weight and the issues that I ate. I believe it was a solution to punish myself. I developed an consuming dysfunction at a really younger age. If I ate, I made myself throw up. I then began self-harming. I used to be hiding so much from my dad. After which he obtained throat most cancers. He virtually died from it. A lot has occurred that I by no means totally obtained to heal.”

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There was additionally the survivor’s guilt.

“I had promised my brother [Dylan] that I might guarantee that we obtained out alive,” stated Groene. “I carried a lot guilt as a result of he didn’t dwell, and I did. I felt prefer it ought to have been the opposite means round. I dealt with all of that in very unhealthy methods. I began consuming at age 13, smoking marijuana and hanging out with older folks. I used to be making an attempt to numb every little thing. And there was a chance that my dad may die. I didn’t know what to do.”

Dylan Groene, Shasta Groene’s brother.
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As we speak, Groene is a mom to 4 sons underneath the age of six. She has a fifth due in August. Her life consists of play dates, strolling her canine at a neighborhood park and dealing as a supervising housekeeper at a close-by resort. She described her life as “a wholesome chaotic” as she continues in her restoration from the trauma. However, “I’ve obtained all my youngsters and I get to get up each day and be a mother or father,” she added.

Following Duncan’s conviction, he was extradited to Southern California to be tried for the demise of 10-year-old Anthony Martinez of Riverside County in 1997. Duncan was linked by DNA to the killing. He pleaded responsible and acquired a sentence of life in jail. In 2021, Duncan died of mind most cancers whereas serving a number of life sentences on federal demise row. He was 58.

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“After I obtained the decision, I simply cried and held my child,” she stated. “I considered my mother, my household. However after that first week, I felt, ‘OK, now we will begin to dwell our lives with out feeling like we’re being held down by one thing or any individual.’”

In accordance with courtroom data, Joseph Edward Duncan underwent mind surgical procedure and was recognized with glioblastoma, stage 4 mind most cancers. He declined chemotherapy and radiation.
(Photograph by Jeff T. Inexperienced/Getty Pictures)

Groene hopes that in sharing her story, others who’ve suffered from trauma will probably be empowered to by no means hand over as they rebuild their lives.

“There have been so many occasions in my life the place I gave up on sure issues,” she stated. “Wanting again on them at the moment, I want I by no means did. I’d most likely be so much additional in my life than I’m now, regardless that I’m far… However I didn’t know tips on how to heal. I didn’t know tips on how to grieve. I do suppose it’s essential to start out the grieving and therapeutic course of. In any other case, you’ll simply hold dwelling your life, not realizing that there are elements of you which can be falling behind. It’s OK to wrestle in your life, however it’s the resiliency that issues.”

“Folks Journal Investigates” airs at 9 p.m. ET on ID and streaming on discovery+ . The Related Press contributed to this report.