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[Angel Who Cares]

Sex offender pleads guilty to killing two teen girls
In a deal to avoid the death penalty, John Albert Gardner III admits to the murders of Chelsea King, 17, and Amber Dubois, 14.
April 17, 2010
<snipped>
A 31-year-old registered sex offender pleaded guilty Friday to murdering two teenage girls in northern San Diego County in a deal that spares him from the death penalty.

John Albert Gardner III, who previously served five years in prison for beating and molesting a 13-year-old girl, pleaded guilty to the murders of Chelsea King, 17, and Amber Dubois, 14, both during rape attempts. In exchange for his plea at the hastily arranged hearing, Gardner will be returned to prison for life, without the possibility of parole.

With his head bowed, Gardner admitted Friday to Superior Court Judge David Danielsen that he strangled Chelsea and stabbed Amber. He also admitted to attacking a female jogger Dec. 27 in a rape attempt at Rancho Bernardo Community Park. The victim managed to escape Gardner's grasp.

The parents of both murdered girls were in the courtroom, as were a dozen supporters, some wearing T-shirts and buttons with pictures of the two victims.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Kristen Spieler told Danielsen that Dist. Atty. Bonnie Dumanis agreed to the plea bargain after "careful consideration of the feelings and opinions" of the victims' families.

In a news conference after the plea, Maurice Dubois, Amber's father, said the agreement allowed "justice and closure" for his daughter. Brent King, Chelsea's father, said lengthy court proceedings would have had a "destructive effect" on their 13-year-old son, Tyler, and the community and distracted from the family's campaign for tougher laws for sex offenders.

Dumanis said that without Gardner's guilty plea, her office would not have had enough evidence to take him to trial for Amber's murder.

Although a gag order has prevented authorities from discussing either killing or the evidence linking Gardner to the crimes, a search warrant indicates that investigators found shovels and a pickax at Gardner's home in Lake Elsinore.

At the request of Gardner's public defender, Danielsen continued the gag order until an April 22 hearing. Danielsen said he has "grave reservations" about continuing the order but will allow lawyers to make their arguments. Danielsen made an exception to the gag order to allow Dumanis to comment to reporters.

The sentencing is not official until a June 1 court hearing. At that hearing, the relatives and friends of the victims can address the court. Under the plea bargain, Gardner is eligible to be treated as a mentally disturbed sex offender, Danielsen said.

John Gardner, right, with attorney Michael Popkins, pleads guilty to both counts of murder Friday, April 16.

Article:
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-gardner-plea17-2010apr17,0,2308767.story

 

[Angel Who Cares]

REGION: Plea allowed resolution to Amber Dubois case
April 16, 2010 9:51 pm
<snipped>
Chelsea King's parents agreed to let their daughter's killer live, in part so Amber Dubois' parents could learn how their daughter died. It was a "torturous" decision, Chelsea's father Brent King said at a news conference Friday. Execution for John Albert Gardner III was his "unequivocal first choice."

An hour before he spoke, Gardner, 31, admitted during a court hearing in downtown San Diego that he raped and killed both teenage girls in attacks separated by a year.

Amber, he stabbed. Chelsea, he strangled.

To legally avenge Amber's death, San Diego County District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis said at the same news conference in her downtown offices Friday, her office struck a deal: Gardner would plead guilty to both killings, and they would not seek to have him executed.

She said there was simply no evidence that Gardner raped Amber, then stabbed her to death inside of 90 minutes after he abducted her 14 months ago ---- other than the fact that he told authorities what he had done, and on March 5 led them to her shallow grave in Pala.

Until the life-or-death deal was struck, Amber's parents were not told what led authorities to locate the girl's remains. All her parents knew was that Amber, 14, had been found less than a week after Gardner was arrested for raping and killing Chelsea, 17, of Poway.

To learn the truth about Amber, prosecutors agreed not to use Gardner's confession against him, Dumanis said. That was the only promise made to Gardner in exchange for his cooperation.

If, however, authorities found anything else that tied Gardner to Amber's death, then prosecutors could use it. But there was nothing ---- no DNA or anything else to link him beyond a reasonable doubt, Dumanis said. "We could not make a case," Dumanis said.

During the news conference, tears streaked down the face of Carrie McGonigle, Amber's mother. She did not speak.

Amber's father, Maurice "Moe" Dubois, thanked prosecutors and law enforcement for diligence and dedication. "As you can imagine, this turn of events in the case came as a surprise to us when we were informed about the details yesterday," he said. "As a parent, I am thankful for the work put forth by the DA's office and the defense team, coming forth with a resolution in the case and allowing us to have justice and closure for Amber's case."

On Friday, Gardner pleaded guilty to murder, admitting that he raped and killed Amber Dubois, who disappeared as she walked to Escondido High School under dreary skies on Feb. 13, 2009.

Gardner also admitted he raped and killed Chelsea, who was on a run near Lake Hodges when he grabbed her, dragged her to a remote area, raped and strangled her on the afternoon of Feb. 25, more than a year after he killed Amber.

"There is nothing ---- nothing ---- satisfying about this moment," Brent King said. "It is only one more unbearably painful day that we will have to carry in our memory as long as we live."
*Much more at link!

Related Videos
Video: Statement from Amber Dubois' father
http://www.nctimes.com/vmix_28508750-49bc-11df-a8b3-001cc4c002e0.html

Video: Statement from Chelsea King's father
http://www.nctimes.com/vmix_1f362fd0-49bc-11df-8379-001cc4c002e0.html

Video: District Attorney explains case against Gardner
http://www.nctimes.com/vmix_6a028798-49bc-11df-a282-001cc4c002e0.html

Related Documents
King Family Statement, April 16, 2010
http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/sdcounty/pdf_da0634dc-49b6-11df-adc4-001cc4c002e0.html

District Attorney's Statement, April 16, 2010
http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/sdcounty/pdf_bd091de0-49b6-11df-92f4-001cc4c002e0.html

Article:
http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/sdcounty/article_3d1d6c5b-acb0-5add-bc58-e2a897582893.html

 

[Angel Who Cares]

Kings gave consent to plea agreement
Saturday, April 17, 2010 at 1:20 a.m
<snipped>
District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis said that Gardner, 31, will die in prison for raping and killing Chelsea, 17, of Poway and Amber Dubois, 14, of Escondido.

Authorities had a case in Chelsea&#8217;s death, but said they didn&#8217;t in Amber&#8217;s, in part because they had promised Gardner some immunity in exchange for leading them to Amber&#8217;s remains. Short of the plea, Gardner might never have been identified as Amber&#8217;s killer. So the deal allowed some closure for both families.

An hour after Gardner&#8217;s chilling courtroom admission to the crimes Friday, the fathers of the two girls talked about justice and pain. &#8220;There is nothing satisfying about this moment,&#8221; King said. &#8220;It is only one more unbearably painful day that we will have to carry in our memory as long as we live.&#8221;

The sadness of the day spread quickly beyond the San Diego courthouse where the hearing and news conference were held.

Poway High School senior Andrea Todesco said when she first read a Facebook posting that Gardner wouldn&#8217;t get the death penalty, she was furious because she wanted to see him pay the ultimate price for murdering her friend. &#8220;I was really mad, really mad,&#8221; she said. &#8220;But I talked to my mom and dad, and they both said that this way no one has to go through a trial, which would be really brutal.&#8221;

Poway High teacher Traci Barker-Ball is the adviser for the campus&#8217; peer counseling program that Chelsea participated in. She talked with several students as soon as the hearing ended.

Most seemed excited that Gardner would never leave prison and that a protracted trial had been avoided, she said. Information that came out in the hearing, that Gardner had killed Chelsea within an hour, was welcome news to students who feared he may have kept the teen captive or that Chelsea had been left mortally injured.

Amber was dead 90 minutes after Gardner abducted her.

Rincon Middle School teacher Pat Gross was grading papers when she heard about Gardner&#8217;s confession. Gross had been Amber&#8217;s eighth-grade English teacher and spoke movingly about the teen at a memorial for Amber at Escondido High School in February.

&#8220;Wow, it&#8217;s good,&#8221; Gross said. &#8220;For me, it truly is a sense of deep relief for many reasons, but particularly for the families. There&#8217;s relief because we know now that he did it and that no one will be subjected to the circus that would occur with a trial. These families can now truly begin the process of healing.&#8221;

Chelsea&#8217;s father, &#65279;Brent King (right), offers support to Amber&#8217;s father, Moe Dubois, after a news conference Friday with District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis.

A cross has been attached to a tree near Lake Hodges where Chelsea King&#8217;s body was found.

Documents related to John Albert Gardner III
http://www.signonsandiego.com/Gardner/

Article:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/apr/17/kings-gave-consent-plea-agreement/

 

[Angel Who Cares]

Pick axes, shovels seized from Gardner's home
Search warrants show jeans, Hard Rock T-shirt also taken
April 15, 2010 at 11:55 a.m., updated April 15, 2010 at 1:05 p.m
<snipped>
Digging tools, T-shirts and jeans were among the items seized from the home of John Albert Gardner III during the early stages of the investigation into the slaying of Poway teenager Chelsea King, according to search warrant records.

The documents were obtained by Los Angeles radio station KFI AM640 and posted on the station&#8217;s Web site today. The documents are under court-ordered seal.

In an affidavit, sheriff&#8217;s investigators listed several items they were hoping to find during a search of Gardner&#8217;s home in Lake Elsinore, including specific pieces of clothing; rope, tape or handcuffs; human hairs, tissues or fluids; clothing or other objects with blood; personal documents.

Authorities searched Gardner&#8217;s Lake Elsinore home on Gillette Street on March 9 and seized two pick axes, 10 shovels from a backyard shed, as well as an additional shovel and pick ax near the front door, according to the return affidavit. Also seized was five pairs of jeans, a white &#8220;Hard Iraq Cafe &#8212; Baghdad&#8221; T-shirt and a pair of Reebok size 12 sneakers from his bedroom.

Documents: On the KFI Web site
http://bit.ly/aYqgN3

Article:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/apr/15/pick-axes-shovels-seized-gardners-home/

 

[Angel Who Cares]

Defense attorneys seek additional gag order
Judge unsure why it&#8217;s necessary now
Saturday, April 17, 2010 at 12:45 a.m.
<snipped>
Defense lawyers for John Albert Gardner III asked a judge to sign a new gag order Friday barring prosecutors and other authorities from making public statements about the case.

Minutes earlier, Gardner had pleaded guilty to murdering North County teenagers Chelsea King, 17, and Amber Dubois, 14.

San Diego Superior Court Judge David Danielsen said he would impose the order temporarily, but scheduled a hearing for Thursday for the attorneys to make their arguments as to why it is necessary.

Danielsen had signed a similar order March 9, then lifted it Friday. He said the primary purpose of a gag order is to preserve a defendant&#8217;s right to a fair trial in light of intense media coverage. Because Gardner, 31, pleaded guilty to the crimes &#8212; agreeing to two consecutive life sentences in prison without parole &#8212; there was no danger of tainting the jury pool.

&#8220;I&#8217;m having a little difficulty understanding why there might be prejudice if the gag order is lifted,&#8221; the judge said, adding that he was hesitant to sign the order, which was drafted by the defense team. &#8220;I have great reservations about the propriety of continuing this protective order,&#8221; Danielsen said.

Deputy Public Defenders Michael Popkins and Mel Epley argued Friday that the judgment in the case is not final until Gardner is sentenced June 1.

They said the new order was a &#8220;precautionary matter&#8221; that would prevent officials from the county District Attorney&#8217;s Office, Sheriff&#8217;s Department or Medical Examiner&#8217;s Office from revealing information that could harm their client. &#8220;We cannot predict what&#8217;s going to happen in the next five or six weeks,&#8221; Popkins said.

The revised order allowed District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis to make a statement Friday about her reasons for accepting the plea agreement. Deputy District Attorney Kristen Spieler did not object to the signing of the order in court.

Article:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/apr/17/killers-defense-attorneys-seeking-additional-gag/

 

[Angel Who Cares]

Spared the Gruesome Details
A local mother of a murdered daughter wouldn&#8217;t wish a trial on any parent
Updated 3:27 PM PDT, Sat, Apr 17, 2010
<snipped>
The news of John Gardner's plea spread quickly throughout the community. Many said they felt relieved for the family, one woman in particular. Linda Severino has been through a similar horror as Chelsea King&#8217;s and Amber Dubois&#8217; family.

"She was murdered on a Monday," Severino recalled about her daughter. 13 years ago, her daughter was sexually assaulted and strangled. When Linda sees pictures of Chelsea and Amber she says she knows what their parents are thinking. "You always wonder what the last few minutes were like, no matter what you do, you always think about that," Severino said.

While the few details disclosed Friday about Chelsea and Amber&#8217;s final moments may have been difficult to hear, the Kings and Dubois&#8217; will not have to sit through a trial -- an experience Severino does not wish on anyone.

"Pictures were awful. Details were awful," she recalled. "Everyday you got to trial and you sit there and you can't not be there. You have to be there. You're representing your child."

Her advise to the Kings and Dubois: Try not to think about how these young, innocent girls died. But rather, how they lived. She says Friday&#8217;s events are a good first step. "I think it will be comforting,&#8221; Severino said. &#8220;Questions are still out there, but you won't see the graphic pictures, details. They won't have that."

Video: Spared the Gruesome Details
http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local-beat/Spared_the_Gruesome_Details_San_Diego.html

Video: 'Nothing Satisfying About This Moment': Brent King
http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/loc...About_This_Moment___Brent_King_San_Diego.html

Video: Amber's Mom Talks About Plea Deal
http://www.nbcsandiego.com/station/as-seen-on/Amber_s_Mom_Talks_About_Plea_Deal_San_Diego.html

Article:
http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local-beat/Spared-the-Gruesome-Details--91231509.html

 

[Angel Who Cares]

Lives Lost, Lessons Learned
Updated 3:30 PM PDT, Sat, Apr 17, 2010
<snipped>
Dozens of people went to Iron Mountain Saturday, but not to hike. To learn.

They had signed up with Klaas Kids Foundation -- named after Polly Klaas, who was abducted and killed in 1993. Since then, the foundation created in her name has organized classes around the country, teaching people how to do search and rescue more effectively. Brad Dennis is the director of search operations for the foundation.

"We're really just trying to make them a better tool and a better resource for law enforcement or the local search teams," said Dennis.

Klaas Kids is the group that searched for Amber Dubois when she went missing. Her mom Carrie McGonigle was at today's class, and says she would have done some things differently if she knew then what she knows now. "We would have done a more organized search at the beginning. We would have had people going door to door," she said.

This class of volunteers learned how to look for clues, how to track someone and how to examine crime scene evidence.

If you're interested in signing up for future classes, you can visit the Klaas Foundation website.

Klaas Foundation Website:
http://www.pollyklaas.org/

Article:
http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local-beat/Lives-Lost-Lessons-Learned--91272724.html

 

[Angel Who Cares]

Amber's Mom Grateful for Sacrifice
The parents of Chelsea King faced a torturous decision
Updated 11:38 AM PDT, Sat, Apr 17, 2010
<snipped>
For the parents of Amber Dubois, everything happened so fast. On Thursday, they had a secret meeting with the District Attorney in a parking lot.

"It was at 2:15 in the afternoon," said Carrie Mcgonigle. Over the next half an hour, Carrie and Maurice Dubois would listen as the District Attorney explained what was going to happen on Friday. Gardner had confessed, and he would plead guilty to raping and murdering Chelsea King, as well as Amber.

"24 hours, it was a lot to take in," Mcgonigle said. But there was more. For the deal to happen, Chelsea's parents, Brent and Kelly King, would have to give up their strong desire to seek the death penalty for John Gardner.

Gardner's attorneys would only agree to the deal if it meant life in prison without the possibility of parole. Brent and Kelly agreed, so Carrie and Maurice could have closure. "I have to thank the King family for going the route they did or we wouldn't have the closure you know," said Mcgonigle. "It put a lot of weight on them to say, give the Dubois family some closure."

On Friday, Carrie almost didn't go to Gardner's hearing, because she didn't want to hear the gruesome details of Amber's murder. She had already heard them from the D.A. during the secret meeting the day before. It took every ounce of strength, but Carrie faced her daughter's killer for the first time in court. The emotions overwhelmed her.

"Rage, wanting to go up there and just kill him myself basically," Mcgonigle said. "It's a lot to handle&#8230; Just looking at him and seeing that kind of person hurting our girls and killing them. There's no words for it, the disgust."

Video: Amber's Mom Talks About Plea Deal
http://www.nbcsandiego.com/station/as-seen-on/Amber_s_Mom_Talks_About_Plea_Deal_San_Diego.html

Video: The Amber Dubois Memorial: Broken Dreams
http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local-beat/89332627.html

Article:
http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local-beat/Ambers-Mom-Grateful-for-Sacrifice--.html

 

[Angel Who Cares]

He Killed Both of Them
John Albert Gardner III admits he murdered Chelsea King and Amber Dubois.
Updated 6:43 AM PDT, Sat, Apr 17, 2010
<snipped>
In a dramatic turn in two high profile murder cases, John Albert Gardner III pleaded guilty Friday to murdering both Chelsea King and Amber Dubois, ending weeks of speculation. He will not face the death penalty because of a plea deal.

Gardner, 31, wearing a dark blue jail jumpsuit with his shackled arms hanging at his sides, said nothing but "yes" repeatedly as San Diego Superior Court Judge David Danielsen asked him for his pleas at a status conference Friday.

He pleaded guilty to kidnapping, raping and stabbing Amber one and a half hours after he met her. He also admitted dragging Chelsea to a remote area where he raped, strangled and buried her -- and pleaded guilty to attempting to rape another woman who was jogging in Rancho Bernardo Community Park last year.

In the plea deal, Gardner will avoid the death penalty and get two consecutive life terms without parole and a third life term with a minimum of 33 years. He relinquished his right to appeal.

&#8220;The defendant will die in prison,&#8221; District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis said. She said Gardner led authorities to the 14-year-old Escondido teen&#8217;s body on March 5 with the agreement that it couldn&#8217;t be used against him in court. There was no evidence at the scene linking Gardner to Amber&#8217;s murder, Dumanis said. &#8220;We could not make a case. We kept the information about how we located Amber&#8217;s body secret to protect the integrity of the case,&#8221; Dumanis said.

The District Attorney&#8217;s office took the plea deal in order to gain murder convictions in both cases. &#8220;This was a solemn decision,&#8221; Dumanis said. &#8220;Nothing can replace the lives of Chelsea King and Amber Dubois, but today is another step as their families come to terms with their loss.&#8221; Prosecutor Kristen Spieler told the judge the victims' families agreed to the plea agreement.

Gardner looked and sounded composed and aware of what was going on during the hearing. He only consulted with his attorney one time, when he was questioned by the judge about his plea.

After the hearing, Dumanis turned around to speak to Chelsea King's parents. Kelly King was visibly distraught as her husband comforted her. Amber&#8217;s father, Maurice Dubois, waited patiently for the Kings to speak to Dumanis, before leaving the courtroom with the Kings.

Search warrant documents posted online by Los Angeles radio station KFI640AM show investigators removed a number of items from John Gardner&#8217;s home on March 9, 2010, including shovels, pick axes, digging tools and articles of clothing -- just days after police found the body of missing teen Amber Dubois.

Among them was an affidavit where investigators listed specific items they were looking for in a search of Garner&#8217;s Lake Elsinore home including rope, tape, handcuffs and other restraining devices, human hair, tissues or fluids, jeans, sneakers, and several shirts including a black T-shirt with writing that said &#8220;Hard Rock Café Baghdad on the front with &#8216;Farsy&#8217; script underneath the print.&#8221;

A receipt lists the items taken from the home. They include a pick ax and a shovel taken from the front of the house by the front door. From the shed in the backyard, officials took 10 shovels, two pick axes and a yellow plastic carrier with digging tools. They also seized a pair of Reebok shoes size 12, five pairs of jeans and a white T-shirt with Hard Iraq Café Baghdad size 2XL from Gardner&#8217;s bedroom.

Gardner will be sentenced June 1 at 1.30 p.m.

Hear The Victims Story: James Gardner pleaded guilty to attempting to rape another woman who was jogging in Rancho Bernardo Community Park last year.
http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local-beat/Lake-Hodges-Attack-Victim-Speaks-88170922.html

PDF: Details About The Charges
http://media.nbcsandiego.com/documents/04-16-10+-+John+A.+Gardner+-+Charges.pdf

Video: Details Revealed During Gardner's Plea
http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local-beat/Details_Revealed_During_Gardner_s_Plea_San_Diego.html

Article:
http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local-beat/Surprise-Hearing-in-Gardner-Case-Today--91044959.html

 

[Angel Who Cares]

Tribute to Chelsea
Updated 9:15 AM PDT, Sun, Apr 18, 2010
<snipped>
Just hours after a torturous day in court for Chelsea King&#8217;s family, a video surfaced on the family&#8217;s Chelsea&#8217;s Light Facebook face.

The video is a touching tribute to Chelsea -- to who she was -- and how her peers remember her.

She had applied to 11 colleges and aspired to a career that would combine her interests in writing and the environment. Although her aspirations were cut short, her parents and friends say her light still shines strong.

*This video intends to let the world know who Chelsea King is. It aims to give a description of her loving and eccentric personality and how she affected the world around her. Out of respect for and in memory of Chelsea King, we should strive to live our lives with a more positive outlook and in a more loving manner. That way Chelsea's spirit will live on in and through us.
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwpJg7-KzrE[/ame]

Article:
http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local-beat/Tribute-to-Chelsea--91267879.html

 

[Angel Who Cares]

Parents of murdered SoCal OK bless plea deal
4/17/10
<snipped>
The parents of Chelsea King faced a torturous decision. Should they insist that prosecutors seek the death penalty against a man charged with raping and murdering their 17-year-old daughter? Or do they settle for life in prison in exchange for his plea of guilty to the murders of their child and a 14-year-old girl whose killing would have otherwise gone unresolved?

John Albert Gardner III pleaded guilty Friday to raping and murdering both Chelsea and Amber Dubois in a plea agreement that called for life in prison and he would reveal details about how they vanished and died. He also waived his rights to appeal.

Chelsea's parents said they agreed to the deal because they wanted to spare their son the strife of continuing litigation as well as provide Amber's grieving family a measure of peace. "The Dubois family has been through unthinkable hell the past 14 months," Brent King said at the news conference, reading a joint statement with his wife, Kelly. "We couldn't imagine the confession to Amber's murder never seeing the light of day, leaving an eternal question mark."

Prosecutors said they were confident they could win a conviction against Gardner in Chelsea's death but conceded Friday that they didn't have enough evidence in Amber's killing. Gardner led authorities to Amber's bones on condition that prosecutors couldn't use that information against him. They would have to build a case on their own.

At the news conference after Friday's hearing, San Diego County District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis said investigators tried to connect Gardner to Amber's death independently of his confession but were unable to. "Accepting this plea has been an extremely difficult decision," she told reporters. "We have the evidence to pursue a murder charge against the defendant for Chelsea's murder but not for Amber's murder." Even if prosecutors rejected the deal, the King family would have had to endure decades of appeals if he was convicted and sentenced to die, Dumanis said.

Maurice Dubois, Amber's father, also appeared at the news conference with Amber's mother and the Kings and thanked law enforcement in a brief statement. He said he was surprised by "this turn of events in the case," which he learned about Thursday.

The deaths stirred strong emotions in San Diego and across the nation because Gardner served five years of a six-year-sentence for molesting a 13-year-old neighbor in 2000. Under a plea agreement, he could have been spent nearly 11 years in prison and a court-appointed psychiatrist strongly urged the maximum penalty allowed by law. Gardner also committed several violations while on parole until September 2008 but was not sent back to prison.

The Kings are campaigning for "Chelsea's Law" in California, which would send some child molesters to prison for life after a first conviction and monitor others with tracking technology until they die.

Article:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hJV5atkKxNxjq1tNeZqWdfDuL5bAD9F4N8AG0

 

[Angel Who Cares]

John Albert Gardner pleads guilty
April 16, 5:50 PM
<snipped>
John Albert Gardner admitted to murdering Chelsea King and Amber Dubois, and raping another woman, in San Diego County, today. Gardner offered to plead guilty to both murders if prosecutors did not seek the death penalty.

"Accepting this plea has been an extremely difficult decision. We have the evidence to pursue a murder charge against the defendant for Chelsea's murder, but not for Amber's murder," said District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis.

The Escondido crime lab tried to find evidence linking Gardner to Dubois murder, but were not successful.
Two days after he was charged with the murder of King, Gardner had led authorities to the skeletal remains of Dubois on the condition that prosecutors not go public with the information or use it against him in court.

"To end the anguish of the unknown for the Dubois family and to bring Amber home, we agreed," said Dumanis.

Slideshow: John Gardner pleads guilty
http://www.examiner.com/examinerslideshow.html?entryid=1181306

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyipjmjxETU[/ame]

Article:
http://www.examiner.com/x-18953-San...m4d16-John-Albert-Gardner-pleads-guilty-video

 

[Angel Who Cares]

REGION: State's death penalty lacks urgency
Chances of dying from old age, sickness or suicide are greater than lethal injection
April 17, 2010 5:42 pm
<snipped>
The father of slain teen Chelsea King was right Friday when he complained that in California the death penalty "has become an empty promise."

The 701 death row inmates in California stand a better chance of dying from old age or disease than an executioner's needle. Appeals that can be filed at virtually every level of state and federal courts generally prevent the death penalty from being exercised in anything close to a speedy fashion in California.

In fact, the 684 men and 17 women sentenced to death in the Golden State spend, on average, more than 17 years on death row at San Quentin State Prison.

Since the state reinstituted the death penalty in 1978, only 14 convicted murderers from California's death row have been executed ---- and one of them was actually executed in Missouri for crimes committed in that state.

More than five times that number ---- 72 condemned inmates ---- have died from natural causes, suicide or other reasons, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

The state's last two executions took place more than four years ago, with one in December 2005 and another in January 2006. Since February 2006, one month after the last execution, the state has had a de facto moratorium following a 9th Circuit Court of Appeals order that it must find a licensed technician to administer the injection ---- a condition which state officials at the time said they could not meet. The eleventh-hour ruling came hours before a scheduled execution.

Family wishes to play role
Former San Diego County District Attorney Paul Pfingst summed up one of the reasons his successor agreed to spare Gardner from death. "As a practical matter, there is no death penalty in this state," said Pfingst.

Pfingst said prosecutors face a host of issues when deciding whether the death penalty should be sought. The wishes of the victims' families often are the deciding factor, he said. In Gardner's case, Pfingst said the facts of his crimes as described in court Friday seem to merit the death penalty.

Gardner admitted kidnapping Amber on Feb. 13, 2009, as she walked to Escondido High School. He admitted raping and stabbing her to death within 90 minutes of coming across her. He buried her in a shallow grave.

The 31-year-old convicted sex offender also admitted snatching Chelsea from a running trail at Rancho Bernardo Community Park on Feb. 25, and raping and strangling her within an hour. He also buried her in a shallow grave.

"If this case doesn't merit the death penalty, what case does?" Pfingst said. "I know not seeking it is very unsatisfying for a lot of people." The danger in not seeking the death penalty is the precedent it can set, he said.

'Defendant will die in prison'
If nothing else, squeezing guilty pleas out of Gardner without having to put Amber's and Chelsea's families through the pain of a trial and post-conviction sentencing phase spares them a lot of pain and suffering, Dumanis said Friday. Gardner agreed to waive his right to appeal.

"We do know that a sentence of life without parole means this defendant will die in prison," she said. But state prosecutors do frequently seek and get death penalty sentences. Last year, 29 people were sentenced to death in California. San Diego County sent 11 people to death row between 2000 and 2009.

The last time a North County jury voted to recommend execution was in December, in the case of Derlyn Threats, who was convicted of murder and torture in the slaying of Carolyn Neville after she interrupted a burglary in her Vista home on Sept. 1, 2005. Threats, who is in the Vista jail awaiting formal sentencing, is seeking a new trial.

The last North County defendant actually sent to death row was Adrian Camacho. He was moved to San Quentin in 2006, after his conviction in the ambush shooting death of Oceanside police Officer Tony Zeppetella on June 13, 2003. It takes years for death penalty cases to get to trial. All death sentences are automatically appealed to the California Supreme Court. The appeals, too, take years.

Take the case of David Westerfield, sent to death row in 2003 for the rape and murder of Danielle van Dam, 7, who he had snatched from her Sabre Springs bedroom. It took the state nearly five years to appoint an attorney to represent Westerfield in the automatic appeal. Now, two years later, the attorney still has not filed the opening brief in his appeal; the state's high court has repeatedly agreed to delay the due date for the paperwork.

The delays are a story that play out in death penalty cases across the state. The opening brief of the mandatory appeal has still not been filed in the case of drifter Brandon Wilson, who was convicted in the 1998 slaying of Matthew Cecchi in an Oceanside Harbor public restroom. Wilson, who asked the jury to "execute me," has been on death row since 1999. His court-appointed attorney has won the court's OK to delay the filing 24 times.
*Much more at link!

Article:
http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/sdcounty/article_f54f505a-2993-5c54-a248-ca751d3091ed.html

 

[Angel Who Cares]

California sex offender pleads guilty to killing 2 teens
April 17, 2010 10:16 p.m. EDT
<snipped>
Calling capital punishment in California an "empty promise," the father of murdered teen Chelsea King said he supported a deal to take death off the table for his daughter's killer in order to bring closure to the community.

"We stand here because of a despicable evil act committed against our beautiful daughter, Chelsea, committed against our family and committed against our community," Brent King said in a news conference Friday. "While our unequivocal first choice is the death penalty, we acknowledge that in California that penalty has become an empty promise."

Prosecutors revealed in court Friday that Gardner led authorities to Dubois' body in exchange for assurances that it would not be used against him in court. In exchange for his guilty pleas, Gardner is to be sentenced to two consecutive terms of life without the possibility of parole. He also waived his right to appeals, ensuring that he will die in prison, Dumanis said at the news conference.

Superior Court Judge David Danielsen accepted the plea and scheduled sentencing for June 1. A gag order is in place until then.

The surprise change of plea came during a hearing Friday, after prosecutors charged him with murder with a special circumstance of rape for Dubois's death. Gardner was facing the death penalty on one charge of murder with a special circumstance of rape for King's death.

A resolution for the Dubois family also figured into the King family's decision to support the plea, Brent King said. "We find ourselves in a position to help give another grieving family a measure of closure. The Dubois family has been through unthinkable hell the past 14 months. We couldn't imagine the confession to Amber's murder never seeing the light of day, leaving an eternal question mark," he said.

"There's nothing, nothing satisfying about this moment. It's only one more unbearably painful day that we'll have to carry in our memory as long as we live."
*More at link!

Article:
http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/04/17/chelsea.king.gardner.plea/

 

[Angel Who Cares]

Amber Dubois' Family Hosts Search And Rescue Training
POSTED: 9:18 pm PDT April 17, 2010
<snipped>
Amber Dubois&#8217; family is fighting back. They wrapped up hosting a three day search-and-rescue training seminar on Saturday, conducting field exercises like crime-scene preservation, tracking, and grid-searching.

The last day of training comes just one day after convicted sex offender John Gardner pleaded guilty to the murders of Poway High School Senior Chelsea King and Escondido High School Freshman Amber Dubois.

Dubois&#8217; mother, Carrie McGonigle, told 10 News she is still coming terms with the fact Gardner will not face the death penalty. She said &#8220;I go back and forth, I&#8217;m not against the death penalty, but in California, there really isn&#8217;t one. He&#8217;ll be in prison for the rest of his life and hopefully the prison system will take care of what they care of.&#8221;

Volunteers said they hope having a trained group of searchers ready to go will help future missing people and their families.

Article:
http://www.10news.com/news/23185634/detail.html

 

[Angel Who Cares]

Father&#8217;s comments broke Gardner case
Moe Dubois&#8217; TV remarks provoked Gardner to talk
Saturday, April 17, 2010 at 11:05 p.m.
<snipped>
It was something Moe Dubois said. His daughter&#8217;s jailed killer heard Dubois&#8217; plea at a news conference and decided to lead authorities to the shallow grave where he had left the girl &#8212; 14-year-old Amber &#8212; a year earlier.

That detail was one of several that stunned Dubois on Thursday during a hush-hush and hastily called meeting with District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis in which the Escondido teenager&#8217;s parents learned that her murder had been solved. &#8220;It was quite surprising to us, the fact that he had a moment of remorse and the fact that the moment of remorse came from something I may have said,&#8221; Dubois said Saturday in an interview. &#8220;Actually, it scares me that I can connect to someone like that.&#8221;

Dubois said that prosecutors told him that Gardner had felt remorse after hearing one of Dubois&#8217; pleas for help to find his daughter, and decided to make an offer. Gardner agreed to take authorities to Amber&#8217;s remains in a remote location north of Pala on condition that the information not be used against him. Dubois said prosecutors accepted that deal, which came as a surprise to him, so that Amber&#8217;s family could have some closure and a body to bury &#8212; and so that investigators could seek other evidence linking Gardner to the crime. None was ever found, Dumanis said, meaning the only way to connect Gardner to Amber&#8217;s death was by a confession, which he gave recently and formalized Friday in court.

Also that day, Dubois pulled out a video of the televised comments that the District Attorney&#8217;s Office said had made Gardner remorseful. It was a news conference March 3 after Gardner pleaded not guilty to killing Chelsea. He said he watched the video twice but does not know which words spurred Gardner to lead authorities to Amber. They found her three days later. &#8220;I noticed in watching me that it took me several seconds to compose myself,&#8221; he said. &#8220;It was very emotionally a tough question to answer. Any parent is going to say that you want every minute of focus, everyone in the world to stop and find your child, but the reality is it doesn&#8217;t work that way.&#8221;

Moe Dubois said that he, his girlfriend, Rebecca Smith, and Amber&#8217;s mother, Carrie McGonigle, went to the 2 p.m. meeting in Dumanis&#8217; office Thursday thinking prosecutors would say they were charging Gardner in Amber&#8217;s death. Instead, they were floored to hear he had confessed to raping and killing Amber 14 months ago and Chelsea in February and assaulting a college student in December. Chelsea&#8217;s parents, Brent and Kelly King, learned the same information Thursday morning in their own private meeting with Dumanis. Dubois said Dumanis&#8217; office called him at 9 a.m. Thursday and told him to be at a downtown parking lot a couple of blocks from the District Attorney&#8217;s Office in five hours. He said a deputy district attorney drove up in an unmarked car with tinted windows and took them to a private lot under the courthouse to avoid attention. After the hourlong meeting, Dubois said, they were walked back to the lot.

Dubois said, &#8220;as sick as this sounds,&#8221; he&#8217;s glad that Gardner gave up Amber&#8217;s location. &#8220;Allowing us to have Amber&#8217;s body back for burial and for emotional closure is such a big, big thing because where Amber&#8217;s body was, we more than likely would never, ever have found her,&#8221; he said. &#8220;It was so far out of the way.&#8221; Dubois had touched on that uncertainty March 3 in making the statement that perhaps caused Gardner to reach out to prosecutors. &#8220;We are constantly going to keep searching for Amber,&#8221; her father said then. &#8220;We feel she&#8217;s still alive, and we always will feel she&#8217;s still alive until we find her and we have her home.&#8221;
*More at link!

Documents related to John Albert Gardner III
http://www.signonsandiego.com/Gardner/

Article:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/apr/17/fathers-comments-broke-case/

 

[Angel Who Cares]

San Diego Residents Support Chelsea's Light Foundation
Apr 17, 2010 at 11:35 PM PDT
<snipped>
Fifteen local Golden Spoon frozen yogurt stores devoted Saturday to help raise money for Chelsea's Light Foundation.

The stores gave out free frozen yogurt and arranged to have places for customers to donate money in various bins with Chelsea King's picture on them.

San Diego residents told KUSI news that after the April 16 confession by John Albert Gardner III to both the murders of Chelsea King and Amber Dubois, they were committed to helping make things tougher for violent sexual predators.

The Hillcrest Golden Spoon gave away close to $2,000 worth of yogurt and raised about $550 for Chelsea's Light Foundation.

Video: San Diego Residents Support Chelsea's Light Foundation 1:44
http://www.kusi.com/home/91333514.html?video=YHI&t=a

Article:
http://www.kusi.com/home/91333514.html

 

[Angel Who Cares]

The Kings push for Chelsea's Law in Sacramento
Apr 13, 2010 at 10:51 AM PDT
<snipped>
Chelsea's Law would mandate stricter sentencing guidelines for violent sex offenders and institute more intensive monitoring of parolees. The bill calls for mandatory life sentences for certain violent attacks and life-long GPS tracking.

The measure would fill gaps in existing law, San Diego County Sheriff William Gore said at the news conference. "It allows us to hopefully deter these people from making further crimes, but if they do it helps us make a quick apprehension."

The bill introduced by Fletcher calls for life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for any forcible sex crime against minors that include one or more aggravating factors, including the age of the victim, whether a kidnapping substantially increased the risk of harm, the perpetrator has a previous forcible sex crime conviction, and whether he tied, bound or drugged the child.

The measure would also double the maximum penalty for a forcible sex crime to 16 years in prison, prohibit a convicted sex offender from entering a public park where children regularly congregate without prior approval of a parole agent, double the period of parole to 10 years for all forcible sex crimes, and establish lifetime parole and GPS monitoring for offenders who commit such crimes against children under 14 years old.

*More at link!

Video: The Kings push for Chelsea's Law in Sacramento
The parents of slain Poway High teenager Chelsea King and a state assemblyman unveiled a proposed law in Sacramento Monday to strengthen penalties for forcible sex crimes and tighten monitoring of offenders.
http://www.kusi.com/home/90713194.html?video=YHI&t=a

Article:
http://www.kusi.com/home/90713194.html

 

[Angel Who Cares]

San Diego Impact Walk for Chelsea's Law
Apr 12, 2010 at 8:39 AM PDT
<snipped>
The push for Chelsea's Law received help Sunday from some very devoted women and residents of San Diego.

This walk was measured at five-and-a-half miles. The trail was throughout Poway, where Chelsea King lived. Amber Dubois was also honored by the participants.

The legislation is being pushed forward in Sacramento this week by local State Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher.

Video: San Diego Impact Walk for Chelsea's Law 2:39
The push for Chelsea's Law received help Sunday from some very devoted women and residents of San Diego.
http://www.kusi.com/home/90591984.html?video=YHI&t=a

Article:
http://www.kusi.com/home/90591984.html

 

[Angel Who Cares]

John Gardner pleads guilty to murdering Chelsea King and Amber Dubois
Apr 16, 2010 at 6:50 PM PDT
<snipped>
A convicted sex offender pleaded guilty today to killing a 17-year-old Poway High School senior and a 14-year-old Escondido High School freshman, and he was expected to be sentenced to two consecutive life prison terms without the possibility of parole. John Albert Gardner III, 31, also faces an additional 33 years to life in prison for assaulting a woman Dec. 27.

Gardner, whose plea spares him from a possible death sentence, is scheduled to be sentenced June 1. His plea also bars him from filing an appeal of his conviction and sentence. Gardner admitted attacking, raping and killing 17-year-old Chelsea King, who disappeared after going for a run Feb. 25 at Rancho Bernardo Community Park. The avid runner and straight-A student's body was discovered five days later in a shallow grave near a tributary of nearby Lake Hodges -- not far from Gardner's mother's home. The defendant admitted attacking King while she was jogging, taking her to a remote area where he raped and strangled her and buried her in a shallow grave. Gardner admitted that he killed King within an hour of attacking her. He also admitted killing 14-year-old Amber Dubois, who vanished while walking to Escondido High School in February 2009. Her skeletal remains were found last month in Pala.

Gardner entered his guilty pleas moments after prosecutors charged him with Dubois' murder and rape. Before the defendant entered his pleas, Superior Court Judge David Danielsen informed Gardner that he would be spending the rest of his life in prison. Gardner will also be deemed a sexually violent predator. the judge told him.

Defense attorneys Michael Popkins and Mel Epley refused comment after the court hearing, but District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis briefed reporters on the reason Gardner was allowed to plead guilty. "The murders of Chelsea King and Amber Dubois have shaken the collective soul of our community and beyond," she said.

Dumanis said that on March 5, three days after Gardner was arraigned on charges he murdered King, the defendant led authorities to Dubois' body. She said the death penalty was still on the table in the King case, but recently Gardner offered to plead guilty to both murders and admitted killing both girls and assaulting the woman in Rancho Bernardo Park. "By accepting this guilty plea, we are obtaining a conviction for the murder of Amber that we would not otherwise have been able to obtain," Dumanis said. Both the King and Dubois families agreed that accepting the defendant's offer to plead guilty was the best solution that could be attained, the district attorney said. "We do know that a sentence of life without the possibility of parole means the defendant will die in prison," Dumanis said.

Video: John Gardner pleads guilty to murdering Chelsea King and Amber Dubois 4:06
http://www.kusi.com/home/91057369.html?video=pop&t=a

Video: Chelsea's Law supporters make presence felt in Sacramento 2:18
http://www.kusi.com/home/90844259.html?video=pop&t=a

Video: Chelsea and Amber's parents react to Gardner's change of plea 3:21
http://www.kusi.com/home/91127679.html?video=YHI&t=a

Article:
http://www.kusi.com/home/91057369.html