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RIVERSIDE, CA- Joseph Edward Duncan III pleaded guilty to the 1997 killing of a 10-year-old Beaumont boy on Tuesday in exchange for a life prison sentence with no parole.

Duncan, 47, was sentenced on multiple counts to the death penalty as well as life in prison for killing the family in May 2005 the Coeur d'Alene area, and slaying young Dylan Groene near St. Regis. He was caught in time to rescue Dylan's sister Shasta.

He had faced the possibility of another death penalty if convicted in Indio of kidnapping and murdering 10-year-old Anthony Martinez. On April 5th, Duncan will be sentenced to life in prison without parole. Duncan's defense team proposed the deal in February.

"This is not something we want to rush into,'' Deputy District Attorney Otis Sterling said after last week's hearing. "We have to consider all the information there is to consider.''

District Attorney Paul Zellerbach has scheduled an afternoon news conference in Riverside to discuss the case.