48 Hours Mystery The Railroad Killer - Serial Killer

48 Hours Mystery The Railroad Killer - Serial Killer

The lone survivor of a serial killer on a multi-state killing spree tells her story
Produced by Lourdes Aguiar and Michael McHugh

This story originally aired Dec. 11, 2010.


What if someone wanted you dead... but you lived to tell?

At age 20, college junior Holly Dunn came face-to-face with an infamous serial killer who earned his nickname by choosing victims along the railroad tracks. After being raped, beaten and stabbed, Holly somehow found the will to survive. She would learn that her attacker was responsible for a multi-state killing spree. The race was on to find him before he killed again.

Heather Dunn Niemeier, Holly's sister: I began writing as a process of healing. ...The writing, I found, really helped me deal with what had happened.

Heather reads: "Since as far back as I can remember, I've had the same dream. I'm running. I was constantly running away from someone. We lived on 13 acres. So, I could never get someone to hear my screams or run fast enough. I would run down the hill of the front to our house across the fields.

There were many mornings that I would wake up after a night of running all night in my dreams. But, then run down the stairs to play with my younger sister. We had a great time growing up together. We had that special bond that you hear people talk about. We were so close.

[Aug. 29, 1997] I didn't get to hear the answering machine until I got home that night. ...I remember there being an oddly high number of calls. But three of the messages were from my dad.

The room was dark and she woke up [at University of Kentucky Medical Center]. She was lying on her side and I put my head to her face and just held her. It was there that she told me the worst story that I had heard in my life. Maybe this is what I had been running from in all those dreams as a child - this horrific story that happened to my sister."

Holly Dunn, Heather's sister: In late August 1997, I was a student at the University of Kentucky. It was about the second night of classes. It was a Thursday night. And I went to a party with my boyfriend, Chris Maier, not far from campus. It was a little bit boring, so we packed up Chris' backpack with some beers, and we were gonna head down to the tracks.

We sat there and talked for a while, I'm not sure how long, but we got up to leave and go back to the party. And we started walking along the tracks. And when we got to an electrical box beside the tracks a man came out from behind it. He asked us for money. We of course said, "We don't have any money, we're poor college kids".

And I don't know if it was an ice pick, if it was a screwdriver, but he had it on Chris the whole time. He asked Chris to get down on his hands and knees... He went through his backpack and didn't find anything that he wanted. And I didn't realize it, but he was tying up Chris' hands with the backpack... behind his back.

And he took off my belt and tied up my hands behind my back with my belt. And he actually pulled Chris from the tracks, on the gravel, into the grass beside the tracks. In my head, I was panicking. And I was like saying my last prayer. And thinking, "I'm going to die."

Holly Dunn: It was very dark and you couldn't see very well. So it was very startling to see someone come out that was crouched behind an electrical box.

Chris and I were looking at each other I think in disbelief that this was actually going on. Like, we were looking at each other very confused. Like, "What in the heck is happening?"

You know, I remember saying, "Why are you doing this? What do you want? Do you want credit cards? ATM cards? You can have our car it's just parked down the street." You know, we were just trying to figure out what he wanted.

And, at this point, our attacker ripped a shirt. And he gagged us. I actually stuck my tongue out so that the gag wouldn't work. It just fell off.

We had split seconds in where - our attacker would go back up to the tracks and we were down in the grass. And so, we could talk to each other, and... Chris and I started strategizing, you know, saying, "OK, should I run? Can you get untied?" I got my hands untied. I couldn't get my feet untied. I ripped Chris' gag off of his mouth. And so, we were talking to each other, trying to figure out how we were going to get away... Because Chris kept saying, "You know if you can get yourself untied get away, run away." Because he couldn't get - his arms were all tied up in his backpack. And he couldn't get untied.

And I really don't know how much time passed before our attacker came down carrying a rock. ...and he came over and literally just dropped it on Chris' head.

I think, at that point, I went into survival mode. I, you know, to see him drop this rock on Chris' head, and... He climbed on top of me. I realized, at that point, that he was going to rape me. I fought him. I tried to hit him. I tried to kick him. I tried to scream. That's when he took that weapon that he had, and he held it to my neck and he said, "Look how easily I could kill you." That's when he stabbed me in my neck. And so, I just stopped. I was like, "Okay, well, you know, what's gonna happen is gonna happen."

I was staring at every scar he had, every tattoo he had. I was thinking, "Let me remember everything about you that I can, because we'll get you at some point."

And I tried to rip off my fingernails and dig in the dirt so that if I was taken away, someone would know that I had been there. I started saying, you know, "What are you? Where have you been? What do you need?" You know, "how can I help you?" You know, "I really have a family that wants to see me again." I said, "Do you have friends? Do you have a family?"

I was begging him, "Please don't hurt me." You know, "I will let you go. I won't tell anybody what happened here, just don't hurt me."

That's when he started hitting me. I don't remember being hit. I was hit with some sort of wooden board. ...I think I put my hand up to block it. But I was hit five or six times in the front of my face and then, I turned over, and I was hit five or six times in the back of my head. I'm positive that he probably knocked me unconscious. And ... my breathing was shallow enough that he thought he had killed me.

I don't know how long I laid there. But, at some point, I got up, and I realized that he was gone. I knew that I was injured. I knew that I was hurt. I don't think I knew what my injuries were. I realized that my mouth wasn't shutting right. And I was covered in blood.

I walked about 200 yards or so ... maybe on the rocks along the tracks.

Chad Goetz, University Senior: It was - probably 1:00, 2:00 in the morning. It was between 1:00 and 2:00. I was sitting in my chair, studying. And out of the corner of my eye just glimpsed something go across the front yard. She was covered in blood from head to toe. And I could not figure where all the blood had come - was comin' from. ... Her face - it looked like a boxer whenever they - whenever they get cut during a boxing match. At that point, I brought her in and set her down on the couch. And she collapsed on the couch.

I thought she was going to die. There was no doubt in my mind. And she started - I kept losin' her a little bit here and there. And I just kept talkin' to her 'cause I definitely didn't want her to pass out, ya know, I was just trying to keep her awake until the paramedics got there.

Video: Paramedic recalls the events of that night

Holly Dunn: And I did keep saying to him, "My friend's still out there. You know, like, "be sure they know my friend's still out there. My friend's still out there."
Det. Craig Sorrell, Lexington Police Dept.: On Aug. 29, 1997, I received a call at home about 3:00 in the morning that there had been an attack on two students along the railroad tracks. My lieutenant asked me to come out and said it was a bad one.

Another detective and I were sent over to the University of Kentucky Hospital to check in on the victim. On the way, we learned her name was Holly Dunn.

Heather Dunn Niemeier, Holly's sister: Her face was disoriented. She had a broken eye socket, a broken jaw. And, so, her face looked off. It was very bruised - lots of cuts across her face. And then, of course, staples of where they could - just to stop the bleeding. They couldn't even, you know, cut her hair. They just stapled on top of her hair.

And even in that state of her looking the way that she did, I can just remember this feeling of overwhelming gratitude and love that she was alive. Just feeling so thankful that she was alive and that she was there. ... I have felt so guilty to not be there, to know that your sister is begging for her life. She is begging someone for her life, and you are... you're sleeping.

Holly Dunn: I remember they weren't talking about Chris. And, eventually, I asked my dad, I just said "Chris is dead, isn't he." And my dad was like, "Yes, he is." It was very hard to accept the fact that I lived through this and Chris didn't. And, you know, it was just - I just felt like it wasn't fair. It's not fair that - that I'm still alive and that Chris isn't.

Chris was so friendly... he was very laid back and down to earth... he loved the outdoors, he didn't have a care in the world.

I couldn't attend the funeral. I was really upset about that only because I really wanted to attend I never really got the chance to say goodbye and ... I wanted to have that chance to have some peace.

Det. Craig Sorrell: Despite her - state, she was ready and willing to try and communicate what had happened to her.

Holly Dunn: I was really trying to remember every detail about my attacker. And I remember hearing his accent, thinking, "that is a Mexican accent."

Det. Craig Sorrell: Holly described the suspect as a male, possibly Hispanic. Five six, five eight in height. Kind of a wavy, black hair, wearing glasses. She said that - he wasn't muscular, but he seemed somewhat wiry.

Holly Dunn: They repaired my jaw. They actually kind of just realigned it. And wired my mouth shut. And really that was the only thing that they could fix. The broken eye socket, there was nothing they could do. As soon as I could get the surgery to get my jaw wired shut and my jaw fixed, my parents took me home.

I definitely think that there's parts of me that wanted to retreat away. Right after this attack happened, I just wanted to lay in bed and not get out of bed again. But, you know, there's always something that's pulled me out of that.

My sister was my rock throughout this entire process... And she doesn't - maybe didn't even realize how much she was helping me by what she was doing.

Det. Craig Sorrell: We received a lot of phone calls and a lot of tips, and we followed up on a lot of people who thought they had seen this person. We were able to establish - that we had a DNA sample of the suspect - from the rape. The sketch was the best thing we had and the DNA evidence, of course. And then we also entered it into the National Database for Violent Offenders... in the hopes that maybe someday down the road - there would be some similarities to other cases that I could become aware of to try to track this fellow down.

14 MONTHS AFTER THE ATTACK

Drew Carter, Texas Ranger: In December of 1998, a doctor was murdered in the Houston area.... She had suffered both stab wounds and blunt trauma to the head. And she was also the victim of a sexual assault. And then, a pastor and his wife were killed in Weimar. And the pastor and his wife were murdered in their bed with a sledgehammer that was found in a tool room there at the house.

Photos: "The Railroad Killer" & his victims

When we first started working it, we approached it from the standpoint of a fugitive investigation and that was trying to learn as much as we could about the subject at hand. We knew that we had forensic evidence, we had fingerprint evidence that linked to a particular suspect and both houses were in the near vicinity of railroad tracks.

Det. Craig Sorrell: Somewhere around May or June of 1999, I got a call from ViCAP, which was the national database that we put the info in. Get a call from them saying, "Listen, we've had another homicide near railroad tracks in Texas." It was a loose connection at best... But it was near railroad tracks. And after two years, we hadn't had anything of substance anyway, so we chased any lead.

Drew Carter: Detective Sorrell called and we compared details about the cases. And realized that we not only had a serial killer that was within 150 mile radius of Houston, but we had one that was in other states as well.

Det. Craig Sorrell: They were able, through fingerprint analysis, to have a suspect. The suspect at that point had been identified as Rafael Resendez Ramirez.

Drew Carter: The majority of his attacks were by surprise. Often the people were in bed asleep when he was getting 'em. So he's like the boogeyman coming into your house. He supports the fact that true evil does exist in this world.

Holly Dunn: To know that he was doing it again, that he was more violent, that he was killing more people. That he was doing it over and over again. ...I started to feel like, "Wow, this is a lot bigger than me." It was almost like my worst nightmare coming true.

Det. Craig Sorrell: And that was when the ball started rollin' and it became a national serial killer manhunt. We were driven. We had to catch him before he killed somebody else.
Det. Craig Sorrell, Lexington Police Dept: We knew then we had a serial killer on the loose. We knew that he was extremely violent. And we had no information as to where he was. Our last clue was Texas. So it was an all out race then to try and figure out where he was and get hands on him.

So everybody went to Texas.

From what I've come to learn of Resendiz, he was an immigrant, transient, moved around, had done a lot of odd jobs... migrant work. He was prone to violence at least 20 years prior to this killing spree.

Drew Carter, Texas Ranger: He was nicknamed by the media as "The Railroad Killer." And he got that moniker just by the fact that most of his murders happened in and around railroad tracks and that that was a mode of transportation that he used to travel across the country.

Local news report: The dragnet for the suspected rail riding serial killer now stretches from Ohio to the Mexican border.

Det. Craig Sorrell: As part of the search, there was actually a huge operation to stop trains. A bunch of Texas agencies participated. We had helicopters in the air to fly over various train tracks. ...If they saw somebody, we'd get the train stopped, check the train - stop anybody and identify anybody on it.

Devon Anderson, Harris County Prosecutor: The sense of urgency was - it was unbelievable because people were dying.

He was continuing to kill. And he was killing effortlessly. No one was stopping him. He killed two women in one day, 90 miles apart. Four days later, he's in a different state. People were scared.

FBI press conference: We are here to announce that Rafael Resendez Ramirez has been elevated to the FBI's Ten Most Wanted List.

Holly Dunn: I just got really scared, because it - it got so big. And they still couldn't find him. They didn't know where he was. And that - that was, you know, a very scary time, because I just - I felt - I knew that he knew I was still alive. I felt that. So, I was afraid. I thought he would come back and get me.

I was so scared that I had to get out of the country. I signed up that day to go to school in England.

Det. Craig Sorrell: The FBI, all the local agencies, the different areas, everybody was running leads. So the volume was huge, and you just started piecing the things together. But truthfully, the tip that made the case was a call from a family relative to "America's Most Wanted."

Drew Carter: And based on information from that phone call, it led us to go back - to go to New Mexico, to speak with his sister.

She hadn't been in touch with her brother but she had been in touch with someone that was in touch with her brother. And that's where we started the discussions about Resendiz and the fact that he was tired ...and that he might be willing to surrender.

Devon Anderson: She became the liaison between United States law enforcement and the serial killer.

Drew Carter: I believe that his options were limited. ...This man had no friends. I mean he was a loner, he had a high price on his head and he had an entire nation, really two nations, looking for him. And I think the - amount of pressure that was put on him, ultimately led to him to have to make a choice.

TWO YEARS AFTER THE ATTACK
INTERNATIONAL BRIDGE, U.S. - MEXICO BORDER

Devon Anderson: It was early in the morning, and Drew was on one side of the International Bridge, waiting. I mean, on the Texas side. And not knowing, I assume, whether he was gonna show up or not, if he was gonna show up armed. I mean, who knew?

Drew Carter: And so then, you know, the doubt sets in. Like, all right, you know, is this gonna happen? An amount of time passed, and you see a pickup truck drivin' up, drivin' across the bridge. And there's three people in that ol' pickup truck. And the center passenger, I immediately recognized as Resendiz. And that's kinda when I thought to myself, "Man, this is really gonna happen."

Resendiz surrendered to Texas Ranger Drew Carter and other law enforcement on the International bridge in El Paso. He was transported by the Rangers back to Houston to face charges.

Devon Anderson: I closed the door and started crying because I was so relieved there wasn't ... I don't want another case to prove up. I don't want another dead body.

Drew Carter: At the time of his arrest, Resendiz was linked to six murders in Texas, two in Illinois and one in Kentucky.

Det. Craig Sorrell: For two years we had operated under the belief that his name was Rafael Resendez Ramirez. We learned that he had a variety of names. But ultimately it was determined his name was Angel Maturino Resendiz.

Devon Anderson: And I had been waiting to see this guy. So when they walked him in [to the courtroom] it was a great moment, but he was so scary. He was a little guy. But wiry and strong, ropey muscles on his arms and curious. He would look - he'd look at everybody in there. He'd looked at me. And there is nothing there. There was nothing there. No humanity. No emotion. It's like somebody took a black magic marker and colored his eyes. They were flat black and expressionless face.

But I just buckled down and just decided - it's gotta be about the victims. And it's gotta be about gettin' this guy dead. Honestly. It's gotta be about convincing a jury to give him the death penalty, because he so richly deserved it and earned it.

Holly Dunn: And I knew that I was going to testify. I had always wanted to do that.... I just wanted the chance to tell what had happened to us. And that was my chance.

Devon Anderson: And I wish I could've seen his face when he heard that someone was living. I wish I could've seen his face when he knew she was comin' to testify against him. I just would love to know what he - what he thought when he found that out.
Holly Dunn: I don't have things that I think about all the time. ...I can't forget about Chris being hit... the rock hitting him. That really is probably the part that I try the hardest and can't forget.

Devon Anderson: She was definitely our star witness. She was our only living witness. Nobody else could speak out against him in first person. "This is what happened to me. This is what he did to me." We didn't have anybody else.

Trial started in May of 2000. It was held here in Houston.

He was so different at trial. I guess sitting in jail he got fat, he got the jail house pallor, had grew his hair, greasy.

There was not a shred of humanity about this man. He did not deserve to live among us. I wanted to put him down.

Local news report: Resendiz faces capital murder charges in the stabbing death of Dr. Claudia Benton.

Devon Anderson: [Dr. Claudia Benton] had been sexually assaulted, stabbed, beaten in the head. He was only charged with one because that's all you need to get the death penalty.

He ultimately pleaded not guilt by reason of insanity. The evidence was overwhelming as to his guilt. ...So that was really his only out - was the insanity defense. We knew we were battling with the jury not wanting to believe that someone could do these horrible things to people and be sane. ...A lot of people did not want to believe - you have to be crazy to do that to someone. You have to be crazy.

The jury reached a verdict after many hours of deliberation. It was pretty - nail biting... But they worked through the evidence. They saw all the indications that he knew what he was doing was wrong, and then they ultimately convicted him of capital murder.

Holly Dunn: I actually got involved in the penalty phase of the trial, so that's when they say whether he gets the death penalty or life in prison.

Devon Anderson: I knew I wanted Holly to testify last. So by the time she took the stand, the jury had heard the gruesome details of all the other murders we had solved at that point. It was a horror show. Heads beaten to a pulp. Knives put all the way through the body, that's how much force was used. Just horrific violence.

Photos: "The Railroad Killer" & his victims

Det. Craig Sorrell: We were the last of the cases presented. I testified as to the evidence at the scene, presented the pictures... And then, lastly, Holly testified as the only surviving victim.

Holly Dunn: I flew into Houston with my family the night before I was going to testify. And I woke up during the middle of the night screaming and crying.

I talk about the trial as the hardest day of my life. ...What I was most worried about, I think, was seeing him again.

Devon Anderson: I cannot imagine the amount of courage she had to marshal to come into that courtroom to walk in and face him.

Holly Dunn: [Devon Anderson] told me, "Don't look at him. Look at me. I'll be right in front of you. You know, look at your family. They'll be right behind me. He'll be off to your left. Just do not look at him."

The first question that the prosecutor asked me on the stand was "What did you do last weekend?" And so I was like, I graduated from college. ... It felt good for me to be able to say, you know, I graduated from college ... in front of the guy who basically could have ruined my life and destroyed it. And not that he cared, because I don't think he did.

For me to be able to say, "You didn't destroy me." Like... "I'm still here. I'm still strong. I'm still, you know, the same person I was" - it felt good. It felt like I'd finally had my chance.

I told all the details of what I knew, what I remembered. And, you know, cried through the entire testimony... I was crying - all the jury was crying. I don't even remember exactly what I said or how long it took.

Det. Craig Sorrell: Sometimes you don't always have the human picture, the actual human suffering. Because there's no victim to stand in front of you to tell you what they experienced, what they went through. Holly gave that to Chris and all the others that had been murdered. She was able to give a real-life person - to give them a real feeling of the brutality of this man.

Holly Dunn: They got to the moment in the trial when they say, "Is the person who attacked you in the courtroom today?" I hadn't looked at him yet. I knew he was there. I said, "Yes."

Devon Anderson: I wanted it to be the last thing that jury heard and the last thing they saw was Holly Dunn sitting on that witness stand saying, "That's the man."

Holly Dunn: They said, "Well, could you tell us what he's wearing?" And I turned and looked at him. It was surreal. I said, "He's wearing a white button-down shirt." And they - I mean, I literally - I felt my hearing going into my head. He had like this smug look on his face. And I mean, I was so close to fainting when I looked at him again that I mean - I don't know how I didn't.

Devon Anderson: It was devastating. And it was the best part of our case... I mean, she basically, from his perspective, came back from the grave - to nail him.

The jury did find that he was a future danger to society. So the judge sentenced him to death.

Holly Dunn: I felt, I guess, relieved. I mean it just felt good to know that he would never be able to hurt anyone ever again.

Devon Anderson: After the trial, Resendiz was sent to death row in Huntsville, Texas. He was not tried for any other crimes. He had gotten the ultimate penalty. When the last appeal was denied, he was put to death in June 2006.

Holly Dunn: I chose not to attend the execution because Resendiz represented all those angry feelings that I had. And I decided to stay with my family, be surrounded by my family. I had already seen one person die in front of me and I did not need to see another.

Devon Anderson: I read an account of the execution, and it said that right before they injected him, his feet were shaking under the sheet. And I hoped that he experienced some of the fear - that Holly did. That gave me a small sense of satisfaction, that he was scared.
Holly Dunn: I definitely feel like I have another opportunity at life. I wanna live it to the fullest.

I can't explain how this changes you. I'm a stronger person because of it. My whole life focus changed because of it. I'm a different person today because this happened. I knew that I had to heal physically first. And then I had to heal. I had to deal with Chris dying. I had to deal with myself almost dying. And then I had to deal with being raped.

Your brain works in amazing ways and it kind of sort of let me deal with each thing as I could.

In 1997, I met Jacob Pendleton at the outdoor store that I was working at. He was the first guy that I dated after the attack. And he just, like, reintroduced me to the world.

(Gets emotional) I don't think Jacob even knows like how much he helped me ... by just listening to me. There'd be days that I would literally cry to him. And, you know, be upset. And he would just listen to me. And, you know, really wouldn't judge me at all, which was great.

Heather Dunn Niemeier, Holly's sister: To see Holly happy, married is wonderful. She has led our family in how we have recovered from this and it could have gone a completely different way where our family was devastated by this, but instead, we are so happy for how she's led her life.

Holly Dunn: I started speaking about two years after the attack. To me it felt like part of my healing process to talk about it, and to cry about it and to be emotional, because for so long I had to kind of detach emotion from it...

When I was speaking, I didn't have to worry about that. I could work through my emotions and that really helped me in my healing process.

Being a survivor is one thing, but helping other survivors and knowing how to do that in a professional manner was another thing.

Holly's House is a child and adult advocacy center that provides a safe reporting location for victims of intimate crimes. It's a nonprofit center in Evansville, Ind. We opened on Sept. 2, 2008, and we have served over 300 victims since that time.

Holly's website
Learn more about Holly's House

Devon Anderson: Holly is a hero because she did not let what happened to her destroy her. But she did the opposite. She decided to make it her reason to live. Or her reason to help people.

Holly Dunn: It's important to me for victims to be supported. For them to know that they're not alone. That they're not going through what - what has happened to them alone. I get support through victims that come through Holly's House. I feel like through helping others they're helping me.

Det. Craig Sorrell, Lexington Police Dept.: This case for me has become one that I have looked back on many times. I keep a little bit of a reminder on my desk. A rock from our crime scene and a railroad spike that I got from down in Texas. ...Not so much as a reminder of the largest case I worked, but more a reminder that if you stick with a case and follow up on everything that you can be successful. So be determined. Don't give up.

I've stayed in touch with the victim, Holly, since it began. She's really just an amazing person individually. She is the model of survivor.

Holly Dunn: I remember Chris in a lot of ways. I like to keep things around me that remind me of him. I'm lucky enough to have my amazing husband and have Chris be a part of our lives.

I think to get over my survivor's guilt that I had, I had to know that I lived my life not just for me and not just for Chris. I'm living my life for all of Resendiz's victims, for all of them... And that I have to - or I want to - be the best person I can be and live the best life I can, because they didn't get that chance and I did. So I want to live for them. I want them to be remembered. ... and what I would want for them is to be proud of, you know, me.

By the time of his execution, Resendiz was linked to at least 15 murders in six states.

Authorities learned he killed a teenage couple in Florida just months before he attacked Chris and Holly.

48 Hours Mystery: Picture Perfect Real life drama

New books reveal Jodi Arias' troubled, highly sexual relationship with lover Travis Alexander — which ended in murder


48 Hours Mystery: Picture Perfect Real life drama  video;



Two new books uncover the sordid details of the relationship between the convicted killer and her young, Mormon beau, whose throat she slit ear to ear.
Jodi Arias and Travis Alexander's relationship ended on June 4, 2008, with Alexander’s naked body found in his Mesa, Ariz., home, covered in 27 knife wounds, his throat cut open. He had also taken a bullet in the face.

There's no question that Jodi Arias was a dangerous woman — slutty, nutty and, ultimately, murderous. As the convicted killer sits in prison awaiting the sentencing portion of her trial, two new books tell her story in chilling, salacious detail.

And not only her story, but that of Travis Alexander, the young Mormon man whose throat she slit ear to ear. No matter who’s telling the tale, it’s clear the two had an affair that was beyond sordid.

“Late at night, Jodi slipped into Travis’ house through the unlocked door. Creeping quietly up the stairs, careful not to disturb his roommates, she stepped into his bedroom. Stripping off her clothes, she crawled into his bed, stirring him awake with a lustful kiss,” writes journalist Shanna Hogan in “Picture Perfect: The Jodi Arias Story,” out Sept. 3.

FILE POOL PHOTO
MARK HENLE/AP
On May 8, after dramatically changing her story three times and improbably claiming self-defense, Arias was convicted of first-degree murder.
“She was not simply placating Travis with sex; according to Travis, Jodi was a woman with a voracious sexual appetite. One of Travis’ best friends, Taylor Searle, said Travis revealed to him that Jodi was a sexual dynamo who could achieve numerous orgasms in a row,” writes Jane Velez-Mitchell, who covered the trial for HLN and is the author of “Exposed: The Secret of Life of Jodi Arias,” out Tuesday.

Their relationship would end on June 4, 2008, with Alexander’s naked body hunched sitting on the shower floor in his Mesa, Ariz., home, his upper body covered in 27 knife wounds, his throat cut open. Alexander had also taken a bullet in the face.

POOL PHOTO
ROB SCHUMACHER/AP
Though Arias originally said she wanted to be executed, following her conviction she changed her mind, claiming she wants to spare her family the pain of seeing her die.
Arias, back home in another state by then, thoughtfully called the police to offer her assistance in the investigation. But she had already done enough. On May 8, after dramatically changing her story three times and improbably claiming self-defense, Arias was convicted of first-degree murder. Still to be determined is whether she’ll get the death sentence.

Both authors agree that by the time Arias met Alexander, she was growing desperate. Though she was gorgeous — even more so after she dyed her hair blond in her 20s — she couldn’t find a man willing to marry her. She was in a tailspin from another failed relationship. By the time she stumbled across Alexander in 2006 she was searching for a way out of the financial sinkhole she’d created.

Both authors agree that by the time Arias met Alexander, she was growing desperate. Though she was a gorgeous woman, she couldn’t find a man willing to marry her.
JODI ARIAS VIA MYSPACE
Both authors agree that by the time Arias met Alexander, she was growing desperate. Though she was a gorgeous woman, she couldn’t find a man willing to marry her.
Alexander must have looked good to Arias when she met him at a convention for Pre-Paid Legal Services in Las Vegas. Alexander was a high-ranking executive with the legal insurance company that operated on a recruiting hierarchy some criticized as a pyramid scheme. He was 29, owned his own home, drove a nice car, and was looking to get married.

The son of two meth addicts in Riverside, Calif., eventually taken in by his grandparents, Alexander had converted to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints as a young man. He had already strayed from the vow of chastity and served his penance. Now that he was approaching 30, still being single was an odd fit in the Mormon Church.

Shanna Hogan’s 'Picture Perfect: The Jodi Arias Story' details a night that Jodi Arias snuck into Alexander's house and crawled into his bed naked.
Shanna Hogan’s 'Picture Perfect: The Jodi Arias Story' details a night that Jodi Arias snuck into Alexander's house and crawled into his bed naked.
Velez-Mitchell writes that very early on, Alexander talked to Arias about how important marriage and family were, and that Arias might well have translated that to mean that he was interested in marrying her, although he never said precisely those words. It turned out to be the wrong message to send to the new recruit to legal service association, a waitress struggling financially.

There’s no question that their affair became sexual almost immediately. Velez-Mitchell recounts Arias’ version of events that first weekend when they joined another Latter-Day Saints couple, Chris and Sky Hughes, at their home.

In 'Exposed: The Secret of Life of Jodi Arias,' Jane Velez-Mitchell writes that Jodi Arias may have misinterpreted Travis Alexander's marriage talk to mean that he was interested in marrying her, though he never said those words.
In 'Exposed: The Secret of Life of Jodi Arias,' Jane Velez-Mitchell writes that Jodi Arias may have misinterpreted Travis Alexander's marriage talk to mean that he was interested in marrying her, though he never said those words.
“Travis came to see her in her bedroom after everyone had gone to sleep ... Jodi recalled that Travis was wearing his temple garments, the Mormon Church’s symbolic protection from the evils of the world, under his sweatpants. Before long the temple garments were discarded in a joint effort, and, according to Jodi, Travis performed oral sex on her. She then reciprocated.”

Sky Hughes claims that Alexander told her that “I left her wanting,” and that he had said, “I want you to know that I respect you, and I don’t want you to regret anything and let’s move slowly.”

A nude photo of Arias was part of the evidence at trial. Velez-Mitchell writes that according to Alexander, Arias was 'a woman with a voracious sexual appetite.'
A nude photo of Arias was part of the evidence at trial. Velez-Mitchell writes that according to Alexander, Arias was 'a woman with a voracious sexual appetite.'
Arias would also claim that Alexander forced anal sex on her shortly after baptizing her into the church and then was brusque with her, making her feel like “a used piece of toilet paper.”

Meanwhile, Alexander would talk to friends about Arias’ almost insatiable sexual needs, calling her a nymphomaniac. His friends also noticed how provocative she was with him, all over him in public to the point where he had to push her off.

Arias' behavior became more bizarre when Alexander began seeing another woman. She sent a sinister email to the new girl, and the tires on Alexander's car were slashed twice.
ROSS D. FRANKLIN/AP
Arias' behavior became more bizarre when Alexander began seeing another woman. She sent a sinister email to the new girl, and the tires on Alexander's car were slashed twice.
Sex seemed to be the only aspect of their relationship that was working. While the two could have deep, meaningful phone conversations when she was back home in Palm Desert, Calif., when they were around his friends he’d often act distant, disavowing her as his girlfriend. And she was a little stalkerish from the start. That Christmas, she crashed a massive party at his house after he had told her not to come. The next morning a guest found her asleep under the Christmas tree.

But things truly turned sordid and steamy after the two broke up. Her paranoia and jealousy were the cause. Arias was banned from the Hughes home after she shot Sky a look of “pure evil” when she was caught lurking outside a closed door, eavesdropping on a private conversation. According to Velez-Mitchell, Arias elicited “Travis’ reckless forbidden passion” but he felt she was also “the vehicle of his moral corruption.”

The debauchery of their last day and night together was endlessly detailed during the trial when Arias took the stand for 18 days. Time-stamped photos from Alexander’s camera showed her naked on his bed and then in the frame with his bloody corpse.
ROSS D. FRANKLIN/AP
The debauchery of their last day and night together was endlessly detailed during the trial when Arias took the stand for 18 days. Time-stamped photos from Alexander’s camera showed her naked on his bed and then in the frame with his bloody corpse.
In June 2007, they ended their relationship. And, incredibly, it was then that Arias moved to Mesa. Alexander started dating a nice Mormon girl, but continued a secret sex-driven relationship with Arias that was degrading to both of them.

Their texts and emails ranged from merely lewd to incredibly nasty. In one, Alexander referred to her as a “slut” and a “three hole wonder.”

A bizarre video shows Arias singing, talking to herself and doing a headstand in an interrogation room minutes before she's charged with brutally murdering Alexander.
NEWSAROUNDU VIA YOUTUBE
A bizarre video shows Arias singing, talking to herself and doing a headstand in an interrogation room minutes before she's charged with brutally murdering Alexander.
Arias got crazier, sending a sinister email to the woman Alexander was seeing. She’d obviously been following them. The tires on his car were slashed twice. She stole his journals. Alexander started seeing another Mormon woman, but still didn’t quit Arias. Even after she moved back to her hometown of Yreka, Calif., he was sexually wired to her.

At the trial, a tape Arias had made of a phone conversation was played and in it Alexander uses extremely pornographic language, saying that he wants to tie Arias to a tree and sodomize her, among other things. The conversation took place a month before the murder.

Arias, now 33, faces either execution or life in jail.
NEWSAROUNDU VIA YOUTUBE
Arias, now 33, faces either execution or life in jail.
But Hogan reports there was another phone conversation after that, one that was possibly even more provocative. Alexander told a friend, Taylor Searle, that he had confronted Arias, saying, “I never want to see you again. This is it.”

“They had a chat where he tore her apart,” Searle recalled. “He called me and told to me what he had said to her. I said, ‘Aren’t you afraid she’s going to hurt you?’”

Alexander responded, “No. She’s crazy, but she’s harmless.”

The debauchery of their last day and night together was endlessly detailed during the trial when Arias took the stand for an incredible 18 days. She tried to deny the murder at first but the police had the pictures to prove it. Time-stamped photos from Alexander’s camera — which Arias had dumped in the washing machine at his Mesa home — showed her naked on his bed and then in the frame with his bloody corpse.

Arias claimed intruders broke into the house and gave interviews to “Inside Edition” and “48 Hours Mystery.” After two years in jail, she changed her story, claiming she had murdered Alexander in self-defense. After a day of sex and bondage, she was photographing him nude in the shower when she dropped his expensive camera, she said. Arias claimed Alexander was so furious he body-slammed her into the tile floor and went for her again after she got up.

On the stand, she said she remembered shooting him but not stabbing him more than two dozen times.

After a trial that became a media circus in the face of her preposterous claims and sensational disclosures, Arias, now 33, faces either execution or life in jail. Though she originally said she wanted the former, following her conviction she changed her mind, claiming she wants to spare her family the pain of seeing her die.

She can tell that to the jury, and see what they come back with.

Serial Killer Paul Durousseau The Jacksonville Serial Killer Documentary

Serial Killer Paul Durousseau The Jacksonville Serial Killer Documentary

Paul Durousseau (born August 11, 1970) is a serial killer from the United States who murdered seven young women (including two who were pregnant) in the southeast United States between 1997 and 2003. German authorities suspect he may have killed several local women when he was stationed there with the Army during the early 1990s. Typically, Durousseau would gain the victim’s trust, enter the victim’s home, tie their hands, rape, then strangle them to death.[2] All of his known victims were young, single African-American women.

Personal life

Paul Durousseau was born in Beaumont, Texas. Little is known publicly about Paul Durousseau's childhood. His first offenses with the law as an adult took place on December 18, 1991 and on January 21, 1992 for carrying a concealed firearm in California.[3] In November 1992, he enlisted in the US Army[3] and was stationed in Germany, where he met Natoca, who would later become his wife.

The two married in 1995 in Las Vegas. In 1996, they were transferred to Fort Benning, Georgia. On March 13, 1997, he was arrested for kidnapping and raping a young woman. However, in August of that year he was cleared of those charges. Soon after, he was found in possession of stolen goods. He was court-martialed in January 1999, found guilty and dishonorably discharged from the Army.[4]:3

The two moved to Durousseau's hometown of Jacksonville, Florida where they had two daughters. It was during that period that he committed most of the murders. He struggled to keep jobs and make ends meet, and the couple would often have fights over the issue of finances. In 1999, the police advised Durousseau's wife on how to file for a restraining order after he allegedly slapped her in the face and grabbed her by the neck. Later, she testified he got violently angry when she talked about getting a divorce. In September and October 2001, Durousseau spent 48 days in jail for domestic battery.[4]

Durousseau still managed to hold various legitimate jobs. In 2001, he was hired as a school bus driver and an animal control worker despite being a convicted felon. In 2003, he worked as a taxi driver in Jacksonville. It was erroneously reported that Gator City Taxi Company failed to run a background check on Durousseau[5] and it is now accepted that this is how he first came into contact with some of his victims. The City Of Jacksonville Department of Motor Vehicle/Taxicab Inspection office is responsible for background investigations of all persons applying for taxicab driver permits. Durousseau was issued a Taxicab Driver Permit from the City of Jacksonville.[6]

Neighbors and friends described him as a "lewd womanizer". He often asked young women when they planned to "make flicks" with him. A witness recalled Durousseau hitting on a girl that appeared to be 13 or 14 years old.[7]

Chronology of the murders

Less than one month after the acquittal over the rape charges, the nude body of 26-year-old Tracy Habersham was found on September 7, 1997 in Fort Benning.[8] She had been missing for 48 hours and was last seen leaving a party. She had been raped and strangled to death with a cord. Paul Durousseau was not a suspect in the murder but DNA would later tie him to the crime. He also would confess in Habersham's killing after his arrest.[3][9]

In 1999, he raped and killed 24-year-old Tyresa Mack in her apartment. Witnesses saw him leave her place with a television.[10] In 2001, he was arrested for raping a young woman in Jacksonville. He spent 30 days in jail and received two years' probation. On December 19, 2002, 18-year-old Nicole L. Williams' body was found wrapped in a blue blanket at the bottom of a ditch in Jacksonville. She had been reported missing two days earlier.[8]

On January 1, 2003, family members of 19-year-old Nikia Kilpatrick went to check on her. They had not had any news from her for several days. They found her body in the bedroom of her apartment. She had been raped then killed by strangulation with a cord two days before. Her two sons, an eleven-month-old and a two-year-old, were alive but malnourished. Kilpatrick was approximately six months pregnant at the time of her death.[4]

On January 9 of the same year, 20-year-old nurse assistant Shawanda Denise McCalister, who was also pregnant at the time of her death, was raped and strangled to death in her Jacksonville apartment. The murder scene was almost identical to that of Nikia Kilpatrick. She was killed on Durousseau's first day of driving a cab for Gator City Taxi. Her body was found the following day.

The next two victims were 17-year-old Jovanna Jefferson, and 19-year-old Surita Cohen. Their bodies were found close to each other in a ditch next to a construction site on New Kings Road in Jacksonville on February 5. Police estimated that Jefferson was murdered around January 20 and Cohen was killed 10 days later. Witnesses recount having seen the two last victims with a taxi driver fitting Paul Durousseau's description on the night they disappeared.

He was arrested and charged with five counts of murder on June 17, 2003. On December 13, 2007 he was sentenced to die by lethal injection for the murder of Tyresa Mack. As of August 18, 2013, he was still a resident on Florida's death row at Union Correctional Institution. No execution date has been set.

Serial Killer Joseph E Duncan III Jazzi Jet Documentary

Serial Killer Joseph E Duncan III Jazzi Jet Documentary

Joseph Edward Duncan III (born February 25, 1963) is an American convicted serial killer and sex offender who is on death row in federal prison in conjunction with the 2005 kidnappings and murders of members of the Groene family of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. He is also serving 11 consecutive sentences of life without parole in conjunction with the same crimes as well as the 1997 murder of Anthony Martinez of Beaumont, California. Duncan has confessed to but not been charged with the 1996 murder of two girls in Seattle, Washington.

Born in Tacoma, Washington, Duncan's criminal history dates to when he was 15 years old. In 1980, he was sentenced to 20 years in prison for sexually assaulting a boy in Tacoma and as a result has spent all but six years of his adult life in prison. He was paroled in 1994 but was returned to prison in 1997 for violating the terms of his parole.

In May 2005, Kootenai County, Idaho authorities discovered the bodies of Brenda Groene, her boyfriend, and her 13-year-old son in the family home near Coeur d'Alene. Authorities also noted that Groene's two other children were missing: Shasta, 8, and Dylan, 9. After an intense search for the two children, Shasta was found alive with Duncan at a restaurant in Coeur d'Alene nearly seven weeks later, and Duncan was arrested in conjunction with her kidnapping. Dylan's remains were found days later in a remote area near St. Regis, Montana. Duncan was subsequently charged with murdering Dylan as well as the three victims at the Coeur d'Alene home.

During his incarceration, authorities connected Duncan with the unsolved murders of Anthony Martinez in California and two girls in Seattle, all of which occurred during Duncan's parole from 1994–1997. Of those murders, Duncan has only been charged in the California case. In all, Duncan has been convicted in Idaho for kidnapping and murdering the three victims in Coeur d'Alene, for which he was given six life sentences; in federal court for kidnapping Shasta and Dylan Groene and murdering Dylan, for which he was given three death sentences and three life sentences; and in the state of California for kidnapping and murdering Martinez, for which he was given two life sentences.

Early criminal history

Duncan has a long history as a violent sexual predator. He committed his first recorded sex crime in 1978 in his hometown of Tacoma, Washington, when he was 15 years old. In that incident, he raped a nine-year-old boy at gunpoint. The following year, he was arrested driving a stolen car. He was sentenced as a juvenile and sent to Dyslin's Boys' ranch in Tacoma, where he told a therapist who was assigned to his case that he had bound and sexually assaulted six boys, according to a report by the Associated Press. He also told the therapist that he estimated that he had raped 13 younger boys by the time he was 16.

In 1980, also in Tacoma, Duncan stole a number of guns from a neighbor and then abducted a 14-year-old boy and sodomized him at gunpoint. Duncan was sentenced to 20 years in prison, but was released on parole in 1994 after serving 14 years. While out on parole, Duncan is known to have lived in several places in the Seattle area. He was arrested in 1996 for marijuana use and released on parole several weeks later with new restrictions. Authorities believe that during his parole Duncan murdered Sammiejo White and Carmen Cubias in Seattle in 1996 and Anthony Martinez in Riverside County, California in 1997; however, both those cases went cold and were not tied to Duncan until after his arrest in the Groene case. Duncan was arrested in Kansas and returned to prison in 1997 after violating the terms of his parole;[3][10] he was released from prison on July 14, 2000 with time off for good behavior[10] and moved to Fargo, North Dakota.[11]

In March 2005, Duncan was charged with the July 3, 2004 molestation of two boys at a playground in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota. On April 5, 2005, he appeared before a Becker County judge, who set bail at US$15,000.[12] A Fargo businessman with whom Duncan had become acquainted helped him post bail; however, Duncan skipped bail and disappeared.[13] On June 1, 2005, a federal warrant was issued for Duncan's arrest on the charge of "unlawful flight to avoid prosecution."[14]

Idaho murders and kidnappings

On May 16, 2005, authorities discovered the bodies of Brenda Groene, 40; her boyfriend, Mark McKenzie, 37; and her son, Slade Groene, 13, in their home along Lake Coeur d'Alene, outside the city of Coeur d'Alene.[4] Two of Brenda Groene's other children, Dylan, 9, and Shasta, 8, were missing. An AMBER Alert was issued and searchers combed the area for the missing children while authorities investigated the deaths at the home as homicides.[4] Autopsies determined the cause of death to be "blunt trauma to the head"; authorities also noted that the victims had been bound.[15]

Seven weeks later, in the early morning hours of July 2, 2005, Shasta Groene was seen at a Denny's restaurant in Coeur d'Alene in the company of an unknown man. A waitress, manager, and two customers at the restaurant recognized Shasta from the media attention. They surreptitiously called police and positioned themselves to prevent the man from leaving.[16] Police officers arrived at the restaurant and arrested the man, later identified as Duncan, without incident.[16] Shasta Groene identified herself to a waitress at the restaurant and to authorities, and was taken to Kootenai Medical Center for medical treatment and to be reunited with her father.[14] Coeur d'Alene police, meanwhile, detained Duncan on kidnapping charges and on his outstanding federal warrant.[14]

When Shasta Groene was found without Dylan, authorities held little hope of finding the boy alive. Police asked the public for tips, specifically with respect to sightings of the stolen red Jeep Cherokee with Missouri license plates that Duncan was driving at the time of his arrest.[17] Authorities discovered that Duncan had rented the car in Minnesota and never returned it. A gas station employee in Kellogg, about 40 miles (64 km) east of Coeur d'Alene, recognized the vehicle as one that had stopped at her station hours before Duncan was arrested.[17] The employee suspected the girl wandering around the station might have been Shasta, but did not confront her, as nothing appeared out of the ordinary. The employee and her manager notified authorities after reviewing surveillance camera footage and seeing Duncan and Shasta in the video.[17]

Many tips provided to authorities centered around remote areas along the Idaho–Montana border. On July 4, 2005, investigators found human remains at a remote makeshift campsite in the Lolo National Forest near St. Regis, Montana.[18] The remains were sent to the FBI lab in Quantico, Virginia for DNA testing and were positively identified as Dylan Groene.[18]

Shasta Groene's interview

Much of what is known about the murders of the Groene family was revealed by Shasta Groene herself. According to Shasta Groene's police interview, Duncan killed her mother, older brother and her mother's fiance and then took her and her brother away in the red Jeep Cherokee.

Shasta told investigators her mother called her into the living room, from her bedroom where she had been sleeping, and she saw Duncan wearing black gloves and holding a gun. Her captor tied her mother's hands with nylon zip ties, and did the same to her mother's fiance and her brother Slade. Dylan and Shasta were removed from the house and placed inside the stolen rental car. While she waited with her brother, she heard her mother's fiance scream out and then saw her injured older brother staggering away from the entrance to the home. Duncan then bludgeoned the three to death; neither Shasta nor Dylan witnessed the murders. Both Shasta and Dylan were removed to other locations, where they were repeatedly molested for six weeks. She said that they drove a long distance and stayed in two different campsites, where Duncan told her of having beaten her family members to death with a hammer.[19]

Other crimes

Duncan's arrest led the FBI to launch a nationwide review of unsolved missing child cases. He was implicated as a possible suspect in several crimes that occurred between 1994 and 1997, when he was on parole, and between 2000 and 2005, when he was free from prison. Although he was cleared as a suspect in some cases, authorities in California and Washington had enough evidence to believe Duncan had committed unsolved murders in their jurisdictions.

Anthony Martinez[edit]

On April 4, 1997, 10-year-old Anthony Michael Martinez was playing with friends in the front yard of his home in Beaumont, California, when an unknown man approached the group asking for help finding a missing cat. When the boys refused, the man grabbed Martinez at knifepoint and threw him into his vehicle.[13] After a 2-week search, on April 19 Martinez's body was found nude and partially decomposed in Indio. Investigators noted that he had been sexually assaulted and bound with duct tape.[13] Although a composite sketch of the suspect was made available and a partial fingerprint taken from the duct tape found on Martinez's body, the case eventually went cold.

In July 2005, bloggers noticed similarities between Duncan and the composite sketch in the Martinez case, as well as between Duncan's vehicle and the one Martinez's assailant was driving.[13] The FBI and National Center for Missing and Exploited Children became involved, and in turn contacted Riverside County authorities. Riverside authorities were able to match the fingerprint taken from Martinez's body to Duncan, and on August 3 the Riverside County Sheriff officially announced Duncan's connection with the Martinez case.

Sammiejo White and Carmen Cubias

Federal prosecutors also revealed that Duncan confessed to the murders of Sammiejo White, 11, and her sister, Carmen Cubias, 9, who vanished on July 6, 1996, after leaving the Crest Motel in Seattle, Washington, to panhandle. Their remains were found February 10, 1998, in Bothell, Washington.[20]

Trials

Joseph E. Duncan III has been convicted by three separate courts: first, by the state of Idaho for the kidnapping and murders of Brenda and Slade Groene and Mark McKenzie; second, by U.S. federal court for the kidnapping of Shasta and Dylan Groene, the murder of Dylan Groene, and various other crimes; and third, by the state of California for the kidnapping and murder of Anthony Martinez.

Idaho[edit]

Duncan first appeared in a Kootenai County court on July 13, 2005, where he was charged with three counts of first-degree murder and three counts of first degree kidnapping, all in conjunction with the deaths of Brenda and Slade Groene and Mark McKenzie.[21] Kootenai County prosecutors had initially planned to charge Duncan with the kidnappings of Shasta and Dylan Groene; however, they deferred those charges to the federal courts, as transporting children across state lines for the purpose of sexual exploitation is a federal offense.[21] Trial was set to begin on January 17, 2006, but was delayed until April 4, after the district judge granted a request to the defense for more time to prepare for the trial, and then again to October 26, after the judge in the case stated that "No one wants to try this case twice, including me."[22] Duncan's attorneys blamed the multiple postponements on the prosecution's insistence on pursuing the death penalty.[22]

On October 16, 2006, shortly after jury selection began, Kootenai County prosecutors and Duncan's attorney reached a plea bargain in which Duncan pleaded guilty to all state charges against him.[23] He was immediately sentenced to three consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole for the three kidnapping charges.[23] Sentencing on the three murder charges was continued pending the outcome of his federal trial on kidnapping and murder charges; the judge said that if he did not receive the death penalty on the federal charges, he would return to Kootenai County for a death penalty phase on the state murder charges.[23] Over two years later, after being sentenced to death on federal charges, Kootenai County sentenced Duncan to three additional life sentences.[24] Duncan also agreed to cooperate with Kootenai County sheriff's detectives investigating his crimes and provide passwords to encrypted files stored on his computer.[23]

U.S. federal court

On January 18, 2007, Duncan was indicted by a federal grand jury in Coeur d'Alene on 10 counts of "kidnapping, kidnapping resulting in death, aggravated sexual abuse of a minor, and sexual exploitation of a child resulting in death," and other crimes related to illegal firearm possession and vehicle theft.[25] He was arraigned the following day at a federal court in Boise, Idaho, where a judge ordered Duncan to stand trial the following March.[25] Duncan's defense attorneys immediately requested a postponement,[25] which was granted the week the trial was originally scheduled to begin; a new trial date was set for January 22, 2008.[26]

On December 3, 2007, Duncan pleaded guilty to all 10 charges against him.[27] As a condition of the agreement, Shasta Groene would not have to testify in the penalty phase of the trial. Due to a gag order, other details of the plea agreement were not released.

Jury selection for the penalty phase for Duncan's federal trial began on April 14, 2008. During jury selection, Duncan dismissed his attorneys and chose to represent himself. His attorneys objected, asserting he was not competent to do so, and requested a formal hearing as to the issue. The district court ordered an evaluation of Duncan to determine his competence, and accepted the evaluator's conclusion that he was competent to proceed without counsel.

On August 27, 2008, after three hours of deliberation, the jury recommended the death penalty, and the judge imposed three death sentences for "kidnapping resulting in death, sexual exploitation of a child resulting in death, and use of a firearm in a violent crime resulting in death," all related to the death of Dylan Groene. On November 3, 2008, Duncan was sentenced to an additional three consecutive terms of life without parole in federal prison for kidnapping Shasta Groene and for sexually abusing Shasta and Dylan.

Duncan's standby counsel filed a notice of appeal. Duncan subsequently wrote the court and informed it that any appeal was taken "against his wishes".

In July 2011, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the district court's decision to permit Duncan to represent himself without first holding a hearing as to his competence to do so and remanded for a hearing as to this issue.

As of May 18, 2012, on remand, the district court had not set a competency hearing. As of September 2012, Duncan is incarcerated at the United States Penitentiary, Terre Haute in Indiana.

California

On January 18, 2007, the same day Duncan was indicted in federal court, Riverside County officials announced that Duncan was charged with Martinez's murder.[25] Despite attempts by Riverside County officials to extradite Duncan to California, including an appeal by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Duncan's federal trial proceeded. He was eventually extradited to California on January 24, 2009, five months after being sentenced to death by the federal court.[34]

On March 15, 2011, Duncan pleaded guilty to Martinez's murder, and was sentenced to two life terms on April 5, 2011.[35] As part of a plea deal, the sentence comes without the possibility of parole or right to appeal.[2][36] Although Duncan could have faced a separate death sentence in addition to the ones he had already been sentenced to in federal court, Riverside County District Attorney Paul Zellerbach justified the life sentence by stating that he had consulted with the Martinez family who wanted closure in the case and that "the federal system will kill him long before the state of California would have seriously considered it."[2]

"The Fifth Nail" and "Fifth Nail Revelations"

Prior to his arrest for murder, Duncan published his ideas on the Internet. He titled it "The Fifth Nail", which is also the URL for his personal website.[37] According to lore, in addition to the four nails used to pierce the body of Jesus Christ in his crucifixion, there was a fifth nail that was taken away and hidden by Romani. Duncan adopted the name for his own website and blog. The website depicted Duncan's day-to-day life as a sex offender.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_E._Duncan_III