Show notes
On the 7th Nightmare Before Christmas...
Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, is the kind of place that sells serenity. Nestled in the lush green folds of the state’s northern panhandle, its glittering lakes and cozy resorts draw tourists each summer, while locals call it the Lake City. It’s a place where doors stay unlocked, where evenings hum with crickets, and where danger feels far away.
Eight miles east of town, near the Wolf Lodge campground, a small, weathered house sat back from the road—nearly hidden by the trees. In 2005, it was home to 37-year-old Mark McKenzie, his girlfriend, 40-year-old Brenda Groene, and Brenda’s three children: 13-year-old Slade, 9-year-old Dylan, and 8-year-old Shasta.
The family lived their days filled with school, work, and play. Their back door was almost always unlocked. But on the night of May 15, 2005, that small gesture of safety and comfort would be the very thing that destroyed them.
That night, a man named Joseph Edward Duncan, 42, slipped through the open back door. He was dressed in dark clothing, wearing black leather gloves, and carrying a shotgun. Along with the gun, he brought duct tape, zip ties, and a claw hammer.
The family was asleep. Duncan knew they would be. He had been watching them for days. He’d first noticed Dylan and Shasta playing outside in their swimsuits—laughing, carefree, the way children should be. Something in his twisted mind fixated on that moment.
In the quiet town of Coeur d’Alene, a single open door had invited a nightmare that would leave five lives shattered—and shadows that would never lift.
Join Cam and Jen on this episode of Our True Crime Podcast entitled "Abducted in Idaho: Groene Family Massacre."
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Sources:
https://rivcoda.org/community-info/news-media-archives/convicted-serial-killer-who-murdered-10-year-old-beaumont-boy-24-years-ago-dies-in-indiana
https://web.archive.org/web/20110510093816/http://spokesmanreview.com/sections/duncan/?ID=258599
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https://meaww.com/who-was-joseph-edward-duncan-crimes-serial-killer-dies-idaho-groene-family-death-row-brain-cancer
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https://archive.today/20120721053927/http://www.bonnercountydailybee.com/news/local/article_cbcf5288-ac50-11e0-9115-001cc4c002e0.html
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https://5nchronicles.blogspot.com/2020/07/day-to-day-on-federal-death-row-for-me.html
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https://web.archive.org/web/20110510100116/http://spokesmanreview.com/sections/duncan/?ID=154916
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