
The father of Shasta and Dylan Groene has filed a wrongful death suit seeking to prevent convicted sex offender Joseph Duncan III from profiting off the kidnappings and murders of the Groene family in May 2005.
Steven Groene's lawsuit asks that Duncan, 43, not be allowed to write books or provide "television or movie content" stemming from his alleged involvement in the deaths of Groene's sons, Dylan, 9, and Slade, 13, or his ex-wife, Brenda.
Groene's lawsuit also seeks $75,000 in damages for emotional distress and battery against daughter Shasta, whom authorities believe Duncan kidnapped along with her brother, Dylan, from their rural Idaho home after he killed the rest of the family on May 16, 2005.
Police contend that Duncan molested the two missing children during several weeks they spent in hiding, before finally killing Dylan.
The suit, filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Idaho, accuses Duncan of causing Shasta and her father "severe mental anguish" stemming from the loss of "care, companionship and society" of their deceased kin.
Duncan faces the death penalty when he goes on trial later this month for the violent bludgeoning deaths of Slade and Brenda Groene and her boyfriend, Mark McKenzie.
Duncan will be tried in federal court at a later date for allegedly abducting and molesting Shasta and Dylan.
He will also face the death penalty for Dylan's death.
Duncan was arrested in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, nearly one month after the murders, when a Denny's restaurant employee spotted him with Shasta on the premises.
Lawyers for Steven Groene and Joseph Duncan did not return calls for comment Friday.
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