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Duncan broke into the Groene household(in Idaho. He tied everyone up, then murdered Slade(13), his mother Brenda (39), and her fiancé Mark McKenzie (37) to death with a claw hammer. He then took the remaining 2 kids, Dylan(9) and Shasta(8), to Lolo national forest so he could torture and molest them. The kids were then reported missing and the investigation had started.

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Crystal Champagne, Thibodeaux's step cousin, left her family's Westwego, Louisiana, apartment in July 1996 to go to the nearby mall. When she didn't return home as expected, her family began to search for her. The search ended the following evening when her body was discovered along the levee in Bridge City. A piece of red extension cord was wrapped around her neck. In addition, her shirt was pulled above her breasts and her shorts were pulled down, suggesting a possible sexual assault.

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Duncan rented a 2005 red Jeep Grand Cherokee on April 15th and never returned the vehicle. The Jeep was then reported as a stolen vehicle on May 4th. Police later learned that between the time the Jeep was rented and reported stolen, Duncan had traveled through parts of Missouri and had gone far south. On April 27th, a little more than a week before the vehicle would be reported stolen to police in Minnesota, that he allegedly stole a set of license plates off of a vehicle and placed them on the Jeep that he was driving.

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She was a 14 year old girl who lived in Louisiana before she was sexually assaulted and murdered.

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He was charged for murder and aggravated rape. He spent 15 years on death row from 1997 to 2012. He first became a suspect to the case because of his familial relationship to Champagne. Thibodeaux initially denied any involvement in the crime and agreed to take a polygraph, in which he was informed that he failed. After many hours of investigation, he gave a recorded statement that he had consensual and non-consensual sex with Champagne and then also confessed to beating and murdering her. Two eyewitnesses testified that they saw someone pacing near where the body was found. They both selected Thibodeaux from a photo array and identified him in court. Despite any physical evidence linking Thibodeaux to the murder, he was convicted and sentenced to death row in Louisiana.

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This was before the reinvestigation. He was 22 years old at the time of this mug shot.

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This jacket was found with numerous of other items seized from Duncans SUV. The jacket contained blood from both Dylan and Shasta on it. It was found on the passenger seat of the Jeep. Also found in the jeep were binoculars, Mark McKenzie's wallet, a checkbook, a small hatchet, a bag of zip ties, a sawed-off 12-gauge shotgun with Dylan's DNA.

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According to testimony, Shasta said Duncan shot her brother dylan in the forest and barred him in the national forest where they were kept in captivity. Dylans skull cap was also found near the campsite according to DNA tests along with possible human remains.

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In this image, Duncan and Shasta were caught on camera walking into a convenient store hours before she was rescued.

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This hatchet was recovered near one of the campsites. Shasta told police that at one point Duncan swung a hatchet at her.

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In this video, key evidence is discussed of the sexual activities Duncan performs on dylan which turns into key evidence in this case.

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Thibodeaux’s confession was inconsistent with the crime in numerous ways; for example, he stated that he used a white or gray speaker wire from his car to strangle Champagne, though it was a red cord. Several forensic experts concluded that there was no physical evidence connecting Thibodeaux to the murder and that, contrary to Thibodeaux’s statement, the victim had not been sexually assaulted. DNA on the cord in the tree, which had tested positive for blood in the original investigation, revealed male DNA that did not belong to Thibodeaux. The eyewitnesses who identified Thibodeaux as the man they had seen pacing near the crime scene stated that they had, in fact, already seen Thibodeaux’s photo in the news media before taking part in the identification procedure. Moreover, they stated that the sighting had in fact occurred the day after the body was found, when Thibodeaux was already in custody. The reinvestigation further confirmed that Thibodeaux’s confession was false in every significant aspect. The prosecution’s own expert had concluded prior to the original trial that Thibodeaux falsely confessed based on fear of the death penalty, but this information was never shared with the defense. He was exonerated due to DNA testing.

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In this video, there is a slideshow and narration on the case, and majority of the video is Thibodeaux's perspective on this case.

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In this picture, Thibodeaux received a Vikings hat during a reception at Fredrikson and Byron to welcome him to Minneapolis.

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This is an after and before the case picture of Damon Thibodeaux

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In this video, the Innocence Project speaks on behalf of Damon Thibodeaux's case after his exoneration and also the Innocence Project and Thibodeaux are interviewed by press.

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Damon Thibodeaux on his newfound freedom