Anthony's Mother: 'Now We Can Mourn'

A confessed serial killer pleaded guilty Tuesday to the 1997 murder of a 10-year-old Beaumont boy as part of a plea deal that will allow him to avoid the death penalty in California.

Joseph Edward Duncan III entered the guilty plea in Indio to the kidnapping, rape and murder of Anthony Martinez in exchange for life in prison without the possibility of parole. Duncan is expected to be sentenced April 5, when he will face two life sentences.

The plea came after Riverside County prosecutors accepted a plea deal offered by defense attorneys representing the 48-year-old man.

"What is your plea, guilty or not guilty?" Riverside County Superior Court Judge David Downing asked Duncan.

"Guilty," he said.

The judge said Duncan would have been 70 years old before he could be put to death in California.

"I think it was the right thing to do,'' Downing said to a packed courtroom, that included Anthony's mother and other family members.

Diana Gonzalez dabbed her eyes with a Kleenex at times during the hearing. A few hours later in Riverside she wore dark sunglasses during an indoor news conference. When it was her turn to speak, she rubbed her hands together, stepped to a podium and spoke softly.

"I have no idea what I'm going to say," Gonzalez said. "I didn't write anything down. I'm just going to speak from the heart, and just let everyone know that  ...  it was 14 years almost, just within two weeks of being exactly 14 years that we've waited to get to this point where we're at now  ...  and it was the longest road that I've ever been on."

She said she agreed to the plea bargian "because it had just been so long, we just didn't want to wait.''

"I've waited fourteen years to just fall apart," she said. " ... Now we can mourn Tony's death the way we should have in the beginning. When we buried him we didn't know who did it."

During the 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.

By pleading guilty, Duncan waives his right to appeal the guilty plea.

"As I understand it relates to this case only,” Duncan told the judge.

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.

District Attorney Paul Zellerbach discussed his decision during a news conference Tuesday afternoon in Riverside. Sterling and Diana Gonzalez appeared with him.

"I think we can appreciate and understand that over the past 14 years the kidnapping and murder of Anthony Martinez has generated a great deal of public concern and notoriety," Zellerbach said.

"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.

"This was one of the most difficult decisions I've ever had to make in my career," Zellerbach said. "But in doing so, I have spoken with Anthony's family, including Diana. I've spoken to the federal prosecutors in Idaho, I've spoken with the state prosecutors in Idaho, and I've spoken with the state prosecutors in Washington.

"Based upon the fact that Mr. Duncan has already received multiple death sentences in federal court and the fact that it was Anthony's family's desire that we accept his plea offer, I agreed to do it."

Mitch White, a retired Beaumont police lieutenant, was Beaumont's lead investigator on the case when Anthony first went missing.

"I have waited almost fourteen years for the day that the killer of Anthony Martinez would face justice and today is that day," White said after Duncan's guilty plea. "The case is now closed and I hope that those that have been so deeply affected be this tragedy can finally have the peace they deserve."