BOISE, Idaho (AP) – A federal jury has deemed confessed killer Joseph Edward Duncan III eligible for the death penalty for the 2005 kidnapping, torture and murder of a 9-year-old Idaho boy.

The jury deliberated for two hours Friday before issuing its unanimous ruling.

Jurors must now decide whether Duncan should be executed. The 45-year-old Duncan has acted as his own attorney and will have the chance when the hearing resumes next week to plead his case for a life sentence without parole.

The jury’s sentence recommendation is binding on U.S. District Judge Edward Lodge.

Duncan pleaded guilty in December to kidnapping Dylan and Shasta Groene from their Coeur d’Alene home and taking them to Montana, where he tortured them and killed Dylan.