Joseph Duncan Due Back in Idaho Court

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A convicted child killer who waived his right to appeal his death sentence is back in Idaho for a competency hearing in federal court to determine if he was mentally competent in 2008 when he waived his rights. The Idaho Statesman reports that 49-year-old Joseph Edward Duncan III arrived in Boise Thursday afternoon and is being held in solitary confinement at the Ada County Jail.

Duncan was sentenced to death in 2008 after admitting he kidnapped and tortured two northern Idaho children before killing one of them in Montana. He gave up his appeals, but his former attorneys fought the sentence on his behalf, and last year the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ordered a retroactive competency hearing. The newspaper reports the hearing is set for this week.