In addition to the usual sources that a nonfiction author would use in the writing of a book about true events, such as interviews and site visits, the following media sources were consulted for information, and attributions are made throughout the book where applicable: the Spokesman-Review ; the Seattle Times ; USA Today ; the Bismarck Tribune ; Billings Gazette ; the Pacific Northwest Inlander ; Fox News; CNN; MSNBC; Globe magazine; The National Enquirer and Internet sites such as http://fifthnail.blogspot.com . Dialogue used throughout the book was either obtained from a direct source, or it was based on witness statements that appeared both in the news media, some of which are listed above, and in official sources. I would like to also acknowledge the work of Coeur dAlene Press staff writer Dave Turner, who carefully and painstakingly reported every detail of the Wolf Lodge murders case as it developed.
Joseph Edward Duncan III Timeline
February 25, 1963 Joseph Edward Duncan III is born in Tacoma, Washington, to Joseph E. Duncan Jr. and Lillian Mae Duncan, according to the Associated Press; an MSNBC report claims that Duncan was born at Fort Bragg, North Carolina; a prison psychological evaluation dated March 16, 2000, says that he was born in New Orleans, Louisiana.
1971 Experiences first sexual contact at the age of 8, initiated by two young female relatives.
1975 Sexually assaults a 5-year-old boy at age 12, according to what Duncan told therapists later in life.
1978 At 15, Duncan rapes a 9-year-old boy at gunpoint.
1979 After engaging police in a high-speed chase while driving a stolen vehicle at age 15, Duncan attempts to run through a roadblock and crashes the car. The crash damages the right side of his face, requiring surgery, and he is sent to Dyslins boys ranch in Tacoma, Washington, where he tells a therapist that hehas bound and sexually assaulted six boys and estimates that he has committed thirteen rapes of young boys.
1980 Duncan is sentenced to prison for raping a 14-year-old boy at gunpoint in Tacoma, Washington.
May 19, 1980 Duncan is court-ordered to undergo psychological and medical testing, as well as treatment, at Western State Hospital. The following day he is sent to the hospitals Mentally Ill Offender Program.
March 1982 After twenty-two months in a sex offender program, therapists decide that Duncan is not trying to make his treatment work, due to his activities of window-peeping and masturbating while out on pass to visit relatives. He is subsequently transferred to the Department of Corrections to serve out the remainder of his prison term.
June 1984 Duncan is placed into protective custody because other inmates are pressuring him for sex.
April 1985 Duncan is moved into preferred housing with greater freedom of movement.
May 1987 An Indeterminate Sentence Review Board finds that Duncan is capable of making parole. However, because of a number of serious infractions, his parole is actually still several years away.
January 1989 Duncan is determined by Parole Board to be a high-risk to re-offend. Specialized treatment and close supervision are recommended.
March 1989 Duncan is now two years beyond his original release date. Under a transition program, he cannot find acceptable parole resources in which to live and work and is therefore denied parole.
April 1989 Duncan is transferred to a facility where his behavior can be more closely monitored in an open setting.
November 1989 Duncan tells parole board members that he has decided to begin exploring his feminine traits.
January 1991 Duncan begins a pen-pal relationship with a King County revenue officer, David Woelfert.
April 1991 Items of Duncans mail are withheld after determining that publications he was attempting to have sent to him clearly depict child pornography.
April 1992 Duncan is found ineligible for parole and an additional 36 months is added to his prison term under the provisions of the State of Washington indeterminate sentencing guidelines for sex offenders.
June 1992 Duncan requests his court records because of the additional years added to his prison term.
July 1992 The parole board reverses its decision of finding Duncan ineligible for parole.
April 1993 Duncan tries to involve his friend, David Woelfert, in his attempts to alter an official document tomisrepresent the seriousness of his crimes. He is caught and receives a serious reprimand for the infraction.
May 1993 Duncan receives administrative segregation because of his fear that other inmates will pressure him for sex, thus causing him to resist and fight back. Duncan told the parole board that he would not resist because he does not want to receive additional infractions for fighting because of his desire to make parole.
September 1994 Duncan, 31, is released on parole to a halfway house in Seattle after serving 14 years in prison.
November 1994 Duncan undergoes routine urinalysis as a condition of his parole and tests positive for amphetamines. He blames the positive reaction on over-the-counter cold medications, receives warning.
January 1996 Duncan informs his parole officer that he is exploring a relationship with a woman who is married and has two small children. He explains that she is helping him explore his feminine side by assisting him with his transsexual fantasies. He begins buying and wearing womens clothing.
April 1996 Duncans therapist takes him on a gay retreat to Leavenworth, Washington, to observe how he deals with other gay men.
July 1996 Sammiejo White, 11, and her half sister, Carmen Cubias, 9, are last seen leaving a Seattle motel room.
October 1996 Duncan violates his parole for marijuana use and possession of a firearm. He spends 30 days in jail and is released.
November 1996 Duncan tells his parole officer that he intends to give up homosexuality for a heterosexual lifestyle.
March 1997 Duncan tests positive, again, for marijuana use. He violates at least nine conditions of his parole, including having contact with minor children in Seattle and moving without receiving permission from his parole officer. He is ordered to undergo a polygraph examination in Seattle on March 26, 1997, which he fails with regard to his interaction with children. His last communication with his parole officer occurs on March 27.
March 26, 1997 Deborah Palmer, 7, is last seen walking to school in Oak Harbor, Washington. Her body washes up on a beach five days later, on March 31. Duncan was known to be in that area on the date the girl disappeared.
March 31, 1997 Duncan steals his girlfriends 1986 Chrysler New Yorker and disappears. His mother tells his parole officer that she last saw him on March 31 and has no idea where he might have gone.
April 4, 1997 Anthony Martinez, 10, is kidnapped by a man with a mustache in Beaumont, California. The boys body is found two weeks later, on April 19, in the desert, bound with duct tape and partially buried. A partialfingerprint is found on duct tape. It would take nine years, but the fingerprint would eventually be identified as Duncans.