Crime & Safety

Killer Of Beaumont Boy 'Evil In Its Purest Form,' Prosecutor Says

Joseph Edward Duncan III avoided the death penalty in California through a plea deal, but received two life sentences.

(Updated 9 p.m. Tuesday, April 5)

A mass murderer, who to the kidnap and slaying of a 10-year-old Beaumont boy, was sentenced Tuesday to two life terms in prison without parole.

Joseph Edward Duncan III, 48, could have faced the death penalty in California as originally charged in the brutal killing of Anthony Martinez, but he made a plea deal with prosecutors on March 15.

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Duncan’s sentencing is 14 years and one day after the April 4, 1997 death of the young boy, which rocked the Beaumont community when he pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and other charges on March 15.

Riverside County Superior Court Judge David Downing doubled the sentence because Duncan admitted a prior conviction.

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“I can say in 31 years of being involved in the criminal justice system, I have never met a person more evil than Mr. Duncan,’’ Downing said.

The judge, whose voice was full of emotion, ordered Duncan to be removed from the courtroom.

Duncan, who did not speak during the 30-minute hearing, will be taken to a federal detention center in Indiana, where he will await the death penalty for the killing of a boy in Idaho.

Anthony’s mother, Diana Reed, said during the hearing she did not want Duncan to know the pain he had caused her family because he had said he killed her son to extract revenge on society.

“I was not going to allow him to steal that from me,’’ she said. “I wasn’t going to spend the rest of my life letting him know what he had done to us. I don’t think he deserves to even know.

“He might have been able to take Tony physically … he never would be able to take away the love that we’ve had,’’ she said, adding that she feels pity for Duncan, who she sees as less than human.

Reed said she had Anthony at the age of 16.

“He was like my buddy. He was always there. We kind of grew up together. I wanted so much for him,’’ she said.

Duncan sat with his eyes closed for part of her statement, occasionally opening his eyes and staring straight ahead.

Anthony’s father, Ernesto Martinez, said he believes God has a special place for Duncan when he dies.

“He will endure for eternity pain and suffering that no humankind can comprehend,” Martinez said, stopping at points to hold back tears.

Supervising Deputy District Attorney Otis Sterling called Duncan "evil."

"Just the thought of someone taking a child from the backyard of their home where they were playing and doing what Joseph Duncan did there is no other word to describe that than to say it is evil -- probably evil in its purest form,'' the prosecutor said.

Sterling admired Anthony's family for their strength.

"I’ve lived with this case for three years," Sterling said. "I wanted to make sure when Duncan came to California I could do everything I could possibly do to make sure he was convicted. I spent many a nights crying for you and Anthony. The pain doesn’t compare to what you had to endure."

Duncan has already been sentenced to death for the killing of an Idaho boy. He also faces six life sentences for kidnapping the boy's sister and killing three other members of their family.

Last month, Riverside County District Attorney Paul Zellerbach said he struggled with the decision to drop the death penalty.

"I want to make something perfectly clear. Having been a prosecutor for over 22 years, having been a superior court judge for almost 11 years, I have never seen a person in my professional career who is more deserving of the death penalty than Joseph Duncan," Zellerbach said. "He deserves the death penalty for the murder of Anthony Martinez.”

During the March 15 hearing in Indio, Supervising Deputy District Attorney Otis Sterling read aloud a document that was apparently written by Duncan during the hearing to lay a factual basis for the plea.

Sterling said that Duncan admitted to luring a group of boys at a Beaumont home by asking them to help him find a lost cat "and offered each of the kids $1."

Duncan then pulled out a knife and forced Anthony into a car before driving 50 miles to a remote desert area in Indio, which is near Palm Desert.

“(Duncan) forcibly removed all of Anthony’s clothing,'' the prosecutor read. "My (Duncan's) intent in touching Anthony was so he could control him to perform sexual acts on him. Joseph Edward Duncan then proceeded to rape Anthony."

Sterling said Duncan admitted to binding the boy with duct tape before hitting him over the head with a rock, killing Anthony.

"His intention also was to exact revenge against society,” according to the prosecutor.

Duncan was brought to Indio in January 2009 to face torture and murder charges in the death of Martinez.


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