Duncan: ‘My Intent Is To Harm Society’
BOISE — Jurors on Monday got a glimpse into Joseph Duncan’s past and his travels across the country during the fourth day of testimony at his sentencing hearing.
His neighbor and landlord at an apartment complex in Fargo, North Dakota were the first to testify Monday and told the courtroom about finding Duncan’s apartment in disarray back in April of 2005 and said he usually kept it clean and tidy.
Photos were shown to the jury revealing a mirror on which Duncan had written in black marker, “Time for a reality check” and “The only cure for crime is love and forgiveness. Everything else is a crime.”
Investigators connected a post on Duncan’s blog with the timing of his abrupt leave from the Fargo apartment. The blog post read, “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.”
Another person from Duncan’s past, Dr. Richard Wacksman, testified on Monday. The doctor, who lived in Fargo, said he often loaned Duncan money and helped him get a car, pay for college tuition and get an apartment.
Wacksman said he loaned Duncan $6,500 in March of 2005 for a lawyer when Duncan was charged with child molestation in Minnesota, but Duncan cashed the check and disappeared.
The next time Wacksman heard from Duncan was on July 1st 2005, a day before Duncan was arrested in Coeur d’Alene. Wacksman said Duncan called him and during the conversation said, “There’s something I haven’t told you.”
When the doctor confronted Duncan about disappearing from Fargo Duncan said, “I need to go. I’m running out of time.”
After Duncan left Fargo he struck out on the road heading west and during his travels he recorded places he was stopping at using a GPS device.
While on the road Duncan used the GPS system to mark points of interest as he traveled through Missiouri, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho and Washington. FBI agents found the GPS device in the Jeep Cherokee had stolen from Minnesota and then used it to visit each location Duncan had marked.
One such mark was found 25 miles north of Casper, Wyoming where on a rock outcropping a message on the rock face reads, “Deep in my dunjun, I welcome you her, 366231.”
The number 366231 was Duncan’s inmate number while serving a prison sentence in Washington State.
Between Fargo and Montana, seven homes including a daycare were all within several feet of marks found in Duncan’s GPS system. The homes were all in rural locations , visible from a major highway and had play equipment in their yards.
Other marks put Duncan at three different locations in the Lolo National Forest in western Montana where he held Shasta and Dylan Groene captive for several weeks.
