Competency trial begins for accused child killer

INDIO, Calif.—A mental competency trial began Monday for a convicted killer accused in the kidnap-murder of a 10-year-old boy more than a decade ago.
At issue is whether Joseph Edward Duncan III is mentally fit to stand trial for the 1997 crimes against Anthony Martinez. The boy was abducted as he played with his brother near their Beaumont home, and his nude and battered body was found two weeks later in the desert east of Los Angeles.
A judge decided earlier this year to suspend criminal proceedings against Duncan until his mental competency is determined. Riverside County district attorney spokesman Michael Jeandron said the competency trial is expected to last four weeks.
Duncan was convicted last year in Idaho of the 2005 kidnapping, sexual abuse and torture of 9-year old Dylan Groene and his 8-year old sister Shasta, and Dylan's murder. He was also convicted of killing the children's older brother, mother and fiance at their home near Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.
He received three death sentences and multiple life sentences for those crimes.
In the California case, defense and attorneys and prosecutors are both relying on testimony from psychiatrists. Defense attorneys say Duncan is delusional and suffers from mental illness, while prosecutors say he has been competent while in a local jail, the Press-Enterprise reported Monday.
Duncan previously had been sentenced to 20 years in prison for sexually assaulting a 14-year old boy in
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Tacoma, Wash., in 1980. He was paroled in 1994 but was returned to prison in 1997 after breaking the conditions. He was released in 2000.


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