BOISE, Idaho (AP) -- Jurors cringed, cried and some desperately looked
away as they were shown a series of deeply disturbing and graphic videos
taken by a convicted child killer as he tortured, sexually abused and
nearly killed a 9-year-old boy.

Joseph Edward Duncan III, acting as his own attorney, had argued against
playing the videos, saying it would turn jurors "into my victims" as
they decide whether he should be executed.

Duncan kidnapped the boy, Dylan Groene, and his sister, Shasta, in May
2005 after murdering their older brother, their mother and her fiance in
the Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, area. The two young children were taken deep
into the Lolo National Forest, where they endured weeks of horrendous
abuse at Duncan's hands.

Duncan ultimately shot the boy point-blank in the head while his sister,
then 8, watched. He was arrested after returning to Coeur d'Alene, where
a waitress recognized Shasta as the two ate at a Denny's restaurant.

The videos and photos taken at the cabin show Duncan forcing the boy to
perform a sex act, whipping him with a belt and hanging him with a wire
noose until the boy passed out.

"The devil is here, boy, the devil himself. The demon couldn't do what
the devil sent him to do so the devil came himself," Duncan yells in one
video. "The devil likes to watch children suffer and cry."

Duncan covered his face as parts of the video were shown, and jurors
frequently shot him looks. Two of Duncan's standby attorneys also
avoided looking at the screen.

Duncan, a convicted pedophile originally from Tacoma, Washington, has
pleaded guilty to federal and state counts including murder. The federal
jury is considering the death penalty on charges related to the
kidnappings and Dylan's murder, but he also could face execution on
state counts in the other three killings.

Duncan, who is representing himself in federal court, objected to
showing the videos, saying that would "basically be turning the jury
into my victims so I will be tried not by a jury of peers but by a jury
of victims."

Judge Edward Lodge overruled Duncan's objection, as well as a
last-minute request from Steven Groene, Shasta and Dylan's father, to
close the courtroom to everyone but essential court personnel and one
news media representative. He did prevail upon U.S. marshals guarding
the courtroom to cover the windows on the door.

In the video, after releasing Dylan from the noose, Duncan promised to
take him to the hospital so his injured neck could be treated. He also
promised to tell hospital staffers where to find Shasta, who had been
left back at the campground, so they could come find her. He kept
neither promise.

After that, Duncan offered to let Dylan watch the video of his "death,"
then wandered away from the camera where he could be heard singing part
of the Lord's Prayer.

Steven Groene left the courtroom just before the video was played.
Before he did he approached some spectators, angrily motioning them out
and making an obscene gesture when they stayed put. At one point he
threatened to make a citizen's arrest of anyone watching, saying viewing
child pornography is a crime.

Once the video had been shown and he returned to the courtroom, Groene
confronted some of those who had stayed, asking bitterly if they enjoyed it.

The prosecution's last witness was a man who testified that Duncan had
raped him at gunpoint in 1980, when the man was just 14 years old. Parts
of the story seemed similar to some of Duncan's videotaped abuse of Dylan.

The Associated Press' policy generally does not identify victims of
sexual assault. In Shasta and Dylan Groene's cases, however, the search
for the children was so heavily publicized that their names are widely
known.

After the prosecution rested, Duncan told the court he wanted to
testify, but when took the witness stand he said he only wanted to
answer any questions that government lawyers might have. They were
unable to cross-examine him, however, because court rules generally
prohibit questioning a defendant about anything that wasn't raised in
the defendant's direct testimony.

Duncan said he had no other witnesses to call.

Jurors were given instructions Thursday afternoon and are expected to
hear closing arguments on Friday morning before they begin
deliberations, Lodge said.

If the jury finds Duncan is ineligible for the death penalty, the
hearing will be over and he will be sentenced to life in prison without
parole.

If the panel finds him eligible for capital punishment, the hearing will
enter a second phase in which the government will try to convince the
jury that Duncan should be executed while he will be able to present
evidence to try to convince the jury that his life should be spared.

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