Media Links **NO DISCUSSION**

[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

 

[Texas Mist]

Amber's Stepfather Explains His Rage
By KATIA LÓPEZ-HODOYÁN and MICHELLE WAYLAND
Updated 8:49 AM PDT, Sun, Apr 18, 2010

Amber Dubois’ stepfather says a trial for John Albert Gardner III would have been a waste of taxpayer’s money. Now he hopes this ordeal will somehow trigger change.

David Cave was questioned by Escondido Police for months in Amber’s disappearance.

“Opened my house, gave them my computers, opened my vehicles up for them, gave them all my corporate account information,” Cave said. “I said, ‘you guys investigate me, do what you have to do, but hurry up so you can find the right person’.”

He says detectives always treated him with respect, but until recently, never ruled him out as a possible suspect.

Now that the right person is behind bars, Cave says he feels a sense of closure -- but still, plenty of rage.

“The jerk does not realize how many people's lives he's affected and destroyed,” Cave said.



more here

http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local-beat/Ambers-Stepfather-Explains-His-Rage---91393939.html

 

[Texas Mist]

Missing details in murders left parents difficult choice

Sunday, April 18, 2010


SAN DIEGO (AP) — 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 should 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 get a conviction of Gardner in Chelsea’s death but they didn’t have enough evidence in Amber’s killing.

more here

http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/2010/apr/18/missing-details-in-murders-left-parents-difficult/

 

[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]

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

 

[Angel Who Cares]

Victims&#8217; kin know anguish of plea deals
Sunday, April 18, 2010 at 12:04 a.m.
<snipped>
Three young mothers, the widows of slain San Diego State University professors, sit around a conference table in the District Attorney&#8217;s Office, holding hands and sobbing. Please don&#8217;t seek the death penalty for our husbands&#8217; killer, they beg. A mother in Chula Vista answers a knock on her door one night. It&#8217;s a lawyer for the man accused of molesting and strangling her 13-year-old son. Please don&#8217;t push for my client&#8217;s execution, he asks her.

When the question is life or death, the answer is rarely easy. Those who have had to confront the issue sympathize with the anguish that went into the deal allowing John Albert Gardner III to escape the death penalty by pleading guilty Friday to killing North County teens Amber Dubois and Chelsea King. &#8220;In the end, you have to make the decision you think is best for you,&#8221; said Deana Alonso, one of the three widows from the 1996 SDSU shooting. &#8220;For us, we all had young children. We didn&#8217;t want to be going to court all the time. We wanted to concentrate on healing and moving forward.&#8221;

Maria Keever wishes she could move forward, too. It has been 17 years since her son, Charlie, and his friend Jonathan Sellers were killed, and more than five years since their murderer was sentenced to die.

The case was horrific: Two boys out for a bike ride to get hamburgers in Palm City are lured into a fort made of brush along the Otay River and sexually assaulted, tortured and strangled. The crime went unsolved for nearly eight years until new DNA testing methods linked it to Scott Erskine, already in prison for raping a San Diego woman. Faced with overwhelming evidence of guilt, Erskine&#8217;s attorneys put all their effort into saving his life. They offered to exchange a guilty plea for life in prison. Erskine said he would submit to medical and psychiatric testing &#8220;to help society understand why I have done the terrible things I have done.&#8221;

Keever said one of the lawyers even came to her house one night for a personal plea. &#8220;He wanted me to convince Mrs. Sellers not to seek the death penalty,&#8221; Keever recalled. &#8220;I didn&#8217;t really say anything. I was shocked. I couldn&#8217;t believe he was asking me that.&#8221; No deal was struck &#8212; &#8220;We were never going to plea-bargain with this monster,&#8221; the prosecutor said in court &#8212; and Erskine, then 41, was sentenced to die. He&#8217;s one of about 675 inmates on death row in California, including 40 from San Diego County. &#8220;I always say I&#8217;ll feel a lot better when he is not breathing on this Earth,&#8221; Keever said. &#8220;He&#8217;s watching TV. He&#8217;s living. My son is not.&#8221; She&#8217;s haunted by what happened to her son. &#8220;I think about him every second of my life,&#8221; Keever said.

She thought it would help if she could talk to Erskine, find out why he did what he did, maybe learn her son&#8217;s last words. But he has refused to meet with her, she said. That hasn&#8217;t stopped her from going to San Quentin State Prison, where Erskine is housed. A counselor there arranged for her to meet with other convicted killers, to hear their stories &#8212; and for them to hear hers. &#8220;Some of them cried,&#8221; Keever said. &#8220;But they couldn&#8217;t answer the questions I needed to have answered.&#8221;
*More at link!

Article:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/apr/18/victims-kin-know-anguish-of-plea-deals/

 

[Angel Who Cares]

Guilty plea a degree of closure for so many
Sunday, April 18, 2010 at 12:04 a.m
<snipped>
The prom is coming up. So is the senior picnic. But, thankfully, no preliminary hearing. No long, taxing murder trial. And so a community just might be able to heal.

Scott Fisher was worried for the students at Poway High School, where he&#8217;s principal. They&#8217;ve been through so much. A trial would have been brutal. Details would have emerged. Details of a rape and murder of one of their own, Chelsea King, 17. Fisher didn&#8217;t want them to be subjected to that. He wanted to protect them. But in this day and age, the way information moves, how could he?

How could anyone? It&#8217;s over, in some ways. The TV cameras won&#8217;t be coming back. If there had been a trial, they would have. Day after day after day.

The students are remembering Chelsea in a positive light, Fisher said. Much of the mourning has passed. &#8220;A trial would have been a horrible distraction.&#8221; It&#8217;s been hard on so many here. &#8220;I still break down,&#8221; said Dan Schaitel, Chelsea&#8217;s high school cross country coach.

Schaitel coached Chelsea for two seasons. She was a special young person. The decision made by the Kings had to be tough, he said. They lost so much losing this child. &#8220;They did what they had to do for the best of everyone,&#8221; Schaitel said. &#8220;They&#8217;re some of the strongest people I&#8217;ve had the chance to be with.&#8221; Like many, he was shocked by Friday&#8217;s news. Everybody was gearing up for a long slog.

A death-penalty trial can last months. Appeals can make the process last years. The death penalty hasn&#8217;t been carried out in California for years, Schaitel noted, so it&#8217;s more of a life sentence anyway. He didn&#8217;t think Gardner would come clean for the killing of Amber. He didn&#8217;t think he had the guts.

Article:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/apr/18/guilty-plea-a-degree-of-closure-for-so-many/

 

[Angel Who Cares]

Psychologist Analyzes John Gardner's Behaviors
POSTED: 11:46 pm PDT April 17, 2010
UPDATED: 12:02 am PDT April 18, 2010
<snipped>
10 News looked inside the mind of admitted killer John Gardner through the eyes of Doctor Micheal Mantell, a former clinical psychologist with the San Diego Police Department.

Many who watched Friday&#8217;s court proceedings described Gardner as emotionless, but when Mantell watched the video for the first time Saturday, he found some of Gardner&#8217;s behaviors to be offensive. &#8220;He&#8217;s reacting, showing signs of anxiety and discomfort,&#8221; said Mantell as he analyzed Gardner&#8217;s every move on the courtroom floor.

Mantell was quick to point out the behaviors he said are characteristic of an anti-social, psychopathic individual. &#8220;He is a classic serial, sexual murderer, a lust murderer who murdered for his sexual gratification,&#8221; Mantell said.

Mantell said Gardner did not view Chelsea King or Amber Dubois as human beings, but instead simply objects of his deviant sexual fantasies. &#8220;When he's looking down my guess is, he's replaying this stuff in his mind. That's how sick and twisted and void of humanity this guy is,&#8221; Mantell said.

Mantell added that all the behaviors Gardner displayed are the physiological reactions to his internal psychological state, some of which Mantell found to be repulsive. &#8220;Some of it is simply offensive. He doesn&#8217;t look at the judge in the eye. His hands start to move, almost in a fist like way.&#8221;

Mantell said he noticed the most physical reaction out of Gardner when he heard the judge read aloud his sentence of three consecutive life terms in prison. &#8220;A guy like this, could he possibly be sorry for what he's done at all? No. This is a man who can't spell the word remorse, shell of a human being.&#8221;

Mantell also analyzed Gardner's signature on his change of plea form. He said it is as if there is not a person owning the signature. He said it is a mess and completely diffuse and without form.

Article:
http://www.10news.com/news/23185987/detail.html

 

[Angel Who Cares]

Chelsea's Law: One day state will get it right
04/18/2010 01:50:47 AM PDT
<snipped>
California hasn't yet figured out how to deal justly with sex offenders in a way that protects the public but doesn't break the bank. Unfortunately, Chelsea's Law, proposed this week, takes another step in the wrong direction.

Backed by legislators from San Diego County, where a convicted sex offender has been accused of the February rape and killing of 17-year-old student Chelsea King, the proposed law would send some first-time child molesters to prison for life and require others to wear tracking systems forever.

"These offenders cannot be rehabilitated. They do not deserve a second chance," Chelsea's father, Brent, declared during a Capitol press conference to support the bill by Assembly-man Nathan Fletcher, R-San Diego.

The thing is, rehabilitation can and does work. As the Sex Offender Management Board pointed out in January, "Research is consistently showing that the lowest recidivism is occurring when both treatment and surveillance are more evenly balanced in an individually developed case plan."

Besides, lifetime monitoring is already required for some offenders, but it isn't done because cities and counties can't afford it. Chelsea's Law would make the state pay, but Assemblyman Fletcher acknowledges that he doesn't know what that would cost.

Here's a preview: The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation recently reported that it's costing about $55 million a year to monitor the 7,100 parolees who have GPS bracelets. It is also costing more than $40,000 a year to keep an inmate locked up. How much California afford to spend on this?

Chelsea's Law still has a long way to go before it becomes California law. As it makes its way through legislative hearings, scheduled to begin this month, lawmakers must rework it to include more of the cool-headed recommendations from the advisory board and remove the emotionally charged pieces that will do little or nothing to ensure public safety.

Article:
http://www.timesheraldonline.com/ci_14908891

 

[Angel Who Cares]

Amber's Stepfather Explains His Rage
Police questioned David Cave for months after Amber Dubois disappeared
Updated 9:54 AM PDT, Sun, Apr 18, 2010
<snipped>
Amber Dubois&#8217; stepfather says a trial for John Albert Gardner III would have been a waste of taxpayer&#8217;s money. Now he hopes this ordeal will somehow trigger change. David Cave was questioned by Escondido Police for months in Amber&#8217;s disappearance.

&#8220;Opened my house, gave them my computers, opened my vehicles up for them, gave them all my corporate account information,&#8221; Cave said. &#8220;I said, &#8216;you guys investigate me, do what you have to do, but hurry up so you can find the right person&#8217;.&#8221; He says detectives always treated him with respect, but until recently, never ruled him out as a possible suspect.

Now that the right person is behind bars, Cave says he feels a sense of closure -- but still, plenty of rage. &#8220;The jerk does not realize how many people's lives he's affected and destroyed,&#8221; Cave said.

Now, his focus is on changing the state's law. He calls the death penalty "a joke." &#8220;How many millions of dollars get spent a year by Californians on people who have been sitting on death row for 30 years, for 20 years for 10 years?&#8221; Cave said. His plea is for legislators to take action and leave all the talk behind. &#8220;Last time I checked, they worked for us,&#8221; Cave said.

On Saturday Cave had a tearful message for his stepdaughter. &#8221;I love you Amber. I miss you and I love you and I'm going to keep missing your forever,&#8221; Cave said.

Video: Dave Cave Explains His Rage
http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local-beat/Dave_Cave_Explains_His_Rage_San_Diego.html

Article:
http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local-beat/Ambers-Stepfather-Explains-His-Rage---91393939.html

 

[Angel Who Cares]

Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher on Chelsea's Law in his own words
Sunday, 18 April 2010 09:12
<snipped>
On Monday, Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher (R-San Diego) introduced Chelsea&#8217;s Law in Sacramento, in partnership with Brent and Kelly King, parents of the slain 17-year-old Poway girl. Chelsea&#8217;s Law is a set of measures targeting the worst sexual predators in an effort to prevent future tragedies like those that befell the King, Dubois, and many other families. I caught up with Assemblyman Fletcher during his whirlwind week to inquire about the new proposed legislation.

PDF: Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher on Chelsea's Law in his own words
http://sandiegonewsroom.com/news/in...words&format=pdf&option=com_content&Itemid=40

Article:
http://sandiegonewsroom.com/news/in...-his-own-words&catid=55:legislative&Itemid=40