Attorneys For Accused Killer of Beaumont Boy Make Plea Offer

Attorneys for Joseph Edward Duncan III -- accused of killing 10-year-old Anthony Martinez of Beaumont in 1997 -- submitted a settlement offer to prosecutors on Tuesday that would allow Duncan to avoid the death penalty for the murder of Martinez, authorities said.

Duncan, 47, has already been sentenced to death for killing an Idaho boy and three of his family members.

Attorneys for Duncan on Tuesday offered to settle the Martinez case during a pretrial hearing in Indio.

Duncan is willing to plead guilty in exchange for a life sentence without the possibility of parole, Deputy District Attorney Otis Sterling told City News Service.

One of Duncan's two defense attorneys, Scott O'Meara, said the defense has always been interested in settling the case, the Press-Enterprise reported.

"It's always been about serving justice for our client and a question of what does that mean in a case like this where he has a death sentence pending in another jurisdiction," the newspaper quoted O'Meara.

Duncan's next hearing is March 7, when the district attorney's office may announce a decision on the settlement offer. District Attorney Paul Zellerbach will have the final say.

Martinez was abducted by a stranger on April 4, 1997, while he was playing with friends in an alley behind his family's apartment in Beaumont.

Fifteen days later, the child's nude body was found on Berdoo Canyon Road in Indio. He had been molested and beaten to death, according to sheriff's and coroner's investigators.

Duncan confessed to killing Martinez in 2005, after he was arrested in the Idaho murders. He received three federal death sentences and nine life terms for the Idaho killings.

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