Scared Monkeys Discussion Forum

   ::MonkeyJustice::

Today, April 16, 2010, John Albert Gardner III pleaded guilty to the murder of Chelsea AND Amber

Still talking live about it here:

http://www.10news.com/video/15013365/index.html

DA will be holding a press conference at 3:30
Amber and Chelsea's familes will be there
No cameras are allowed so it will be reported after conference is over.

Chelsea was raped and strangled
Killing was done with premeditation during the course of a rape
She was murdered within one hour

Amber was taken to Pala where she was raped and stabbed
Killing done with premeditation during the course of rape
Murder took place with 1.5 hours of meeting Amber

John Albert Gardner III pleads guilty to King, Dubois murders

John Albert Gardner III pleaded guilty to the murder of 17-year-old Chelsea King and 14-year-old Amber Dubois Friday.

4.16.10
John Albert Gardner III pleaded guilty to the murder of 17-year-old Chelsea King and 14-year-old Amber Dubois Friday. Gardner waived his right to a speedy trial and in exchange for the plea, with the families’ consent, District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis will not seek the death penalty.

Gardner was charged last month with murder with a special circumstance of rape or attempted rape in King’s death. The 17-year-old Poway girl went missing Feb. 25 at Rancho Bernardo Community Park, where she had gone for an after-school run.

Her body was found in a shallow grave on Lake Hodges on March 2. Dubois‘ skeletal remains were found in Pala March 6. The Escondido girl went missing Feb. 13, 2009, and investigators had no break in the case until last month.

Gardner was also charged with sexual assault on a jogger in the same park on Dec. 27.

He pleaded guilty in 2000 and served five years in prison for assaulting a 13-year-old girl. A psychiatrist who evaluated Gardner warned he would be a continued threat to young girls.

A leaked search warrant in Gardner’s case was posted on a Los Angeles radio station’s website Thursday. According to the documents on KFI-AM 640’s site, authorities seized gardening and lawn tools – including pickaxes and shovels – and clothing from Gardner’s Lake Elsinore home.

Authorities also searched Gardner’s mom’s home in Rancho Bernardo, a storage unit in Escondido, and a car that belongs to Gardner’s girlfriend, according to the radio station.

King’s family and Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher traveled to Sacramento this week to rally support for Chelsea’s Law (Assembly Bill 1844). The new law would increase penalties and parole requirements for some registered sex offenders and establish safe zones to limit where sex offenders visit.

The bill had 16 cosponsors and the support of Assembly Speaker John Perez Tuesday. More than 150 people traveled to Sacramento for a ceremony outside the capitol to voice support for Chelsea’s Law.

http://www.swrnn.com/southwest-riverside/2010-04-16/news/john-albert-gardner-iii-pleads-guilty-to-king-dubois-murders

Northern, thank you for alerting us in the Haleigh thread about this.  I am in shock but glad it willl not be a prolonged agony for the families.  I can barely stand to look at him.

Janet - Yes , Gardner pled guilty in exchange for the DA taking the death penalty off the table.

I was shocked to see him back in court today as he was not scheduled to be there.  I am glad be pled guilty and glad the DA spoke with both the King and Dubois familes and came to the decision to take the DP off the table with the input of the familes.  They have gone through enough, they have been spared a long trial. 

He has waived his right to an appeal
His plea does not insulate him from other charges in the future if they find he is connected to something else. 

They must have had a ton of evidence against him in BOTH murders. 

Considering how long he had been out on parole, I am afraid there are others.  I think he has been doing this a long time.

   DA spokesman says the famillies will speak bit does not know who #nbcsd
half a minute ago via mobile web

the court just sent out documents and a reporter is complaining about not being abe to read the plea agreement #NBCSD
4 minutes ago via mobile web

the DA's press room is full of reporters and photogs talking case minutia and theories #NBCSD
7 minutes ago via mobile web

Kelly King was visibly emotional and was comforted by her husband #NBCSD
15 minutes ago via mobile web

 after Gardner was found guilty, Dumanis spoke to King family #NBCSD

http://twitter.com/nbcsandiego

Thanks for all the updates.   ::MonkeyCool::

That is good to know, I was worried about that aspect, so if they find he has commited other rapes/murders they can go after him.

He Killed Both of Them
John Albert Gardner III admits he murdered Chelsea King and Amber Dubois.

In a dramatic turn in two high profile murder cases, John Albert Gardner III pleaded guilty at a hearing Friday to murdering both Chelsea King and Amber Dubois.

Charges in Amber's death were added at a status conference Friday at 2.30 p.m.

Gardner, wearing a dark blue jail jumpsuit with his shackled arms hanging at his sides, said nothing but "yes" repeatedly as the judge asked him for his pleas. He pleaded guilty to both Amber and Chelsea’s murder.

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.

At the hearing, Gardner admitted he raped, strangled and killed Chelsea within an hour before dragging her body to a shallow grave.

Gardner also admitted to raping and killing Amber one and a half hours after he met her.

Chelsea and Amber’s families were consulted in the plea bargain and understood and supported the deal.

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, District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis turned around to speak to Chelsea King's parents. Kelly King was visibly distraught as her husband comforted her.

Amber’s father, Maurice Dubois, waited patiently for the Kings to speak to Dumanis, before leaving the courtroom with the Kings.

Amber vanished in February 2009 and the investigation produced few solid leads until Chelsea disappeared Feb. 25 near the site where Amber went missing.

Gardner was arrested three days later and initially pleaded not guilty to murdering Chelsea.

Chelsea's body was discovered March 2 in a shallow lakeside grave after a massive search. Prosecutors say Gardner was linked to the crime by DNA found on Chelsea's clothing.

Amber Dubois' bones were discovered March 6 in a rugged, remote area north of San Diego. She vanished with a $200 check to purchase a lamb she was to raise for Future Farmers of America. The check was never cashed.

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

The site got access to “tons of documents” according to a station employee and worked over the last week to sort through them and post them to the station’s website.

Among them are an affidavit where investigators listed specific items they were looking for in a search of Garner’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 “Hard Rock Café Baghdad on the front with ‘Farsy’ script underneath the print.”

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’s bedroom.

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

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

(http://media.signonsandiego.com/img/photos/2010/04/16/gardnerut_r290x251.JPG)

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/apr/16/gardner-pleads-guilty-murders-chelsea-amber/

Gardner pleads guilty to murders of Chelsea, Amber

By Dana Littlefield, UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

Originally published April 16, 2010 at 2:29 p.m., updated April 16, 2010 at 3:21 p.m

John Albert Gardner III pleaded guilty Friday to murder charges in the slayings of Chelsea King and Amber Dubois, ending weeks of speculation as to whether he would be charged in the deaths of both teenage girls.

As a result, Gardner, a 31-year-old convicted sex offender, will avoid facing the death penalty, and instead be sentenced to two consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole.

Gardner also pleaded guilty to the special circumstances of raping or attempting to rape both teenagers.

He also pleaded guilty to a charge of assaulting a jogger, Candice Moncayo, in Rancho Bernardo Community Park on Dec. 27, 2009.

As part of the plea agreement, Gardner waived his right to appeal the convictions. San Diego Superior Court Judge David Danielsen accepted the plea Friday afternoon.

Dressed in a black jumpsuit and orange sandals, Gardner mostly kept his gaze lowered and gave one-word answers to a series of questions by Danielsen, acknowledging his guilty pleas.

Danielsen’s questioning revealed new information about the circumstances of Amber’s death. Gardner acknowledged to Danielsen that he raped and stabbed the 14-year-old Escondido girl within 90 minutes of first contacting her. Amber disappeared on Feb. 13, 2009 while walking to Escondido High School.

Chelsea disappeared on Feb. 25 after going for a run in Rancho Bernardo Community Park. The 17-year-old Poway girl’s body was found five days later, on March 2, in a shallow grave in a tributary of nearby Lake Hodges. Thousands of volunteers and law enforcement officials had searched for the girl.

Gardner was arrested Feb. 28 and arraigned the next day on charges he raped and murdered Chelsea. He was linked to the crime through DNA evidence found on a piece of Chelsea’s clothing.

On March 6, authorities announced they had found Amber’s skeletal remains 13 months after she went missing.

Escondido police said Gardner was a focus in the investigation into Amber’s death, but would not discuss any further details.

Citing a gag order, lawyers in the case refused to answer any questions about Gardner, including whether he had led authorities to Amber’s body.

On Thursday, Deputy District Attorney Kristen Spieler said District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis had consulted parents of both teenagers before making the plea agreement with Gardner.

“Both families understand the reasons behind this decision and support this decision,” Spieler told Danielsen.

Attending the hearing were Chelsea’s parents, Brent and Kelly King, and Amber’s parents, Moe Dubois and Carrie McGonigle.

The families were joined by about 10 supporters, some wearing buttons with Amber’s face on them. Some wore T-shirts emblazoned with, “Hope never sleeps, bring Amber home” and “Amber’s eyes will always shine.” Three people wore shirts promoting Chelsea’s Light Foundation with the phrase, “They can because they think they can.”

After the hearing, supporters gathered outside the courtroom and hugged each other, but declined to comment.

Gardner’s attorneys, deputy public defenders Mel Epley and Michael Popkins, declined to make a statement after the hearing.

Dumanis and Sheriff Bill Gore also attended the hearing, sitting in the front row of onlookers.

A.mber's parents are both wearing Amber buttons #NBCSD
less than 10 seconds ago via mobile web

Dumnais is reiterating court developments and thanking law enforcement #NBCSD
1 minute ago via mobile web

Paul Levikow said the families will not take any questions

http://twitter.com/nbcsandiego

Dumanis says Gardner led them to Amber's body #NBCSD

http://twitter.com/nbcsandiego

Now it is confirmed, I felt that is what happened  ::MonkeyNoNo::

Gardner's only deal was that he could
 minutes ago via mobile web

but that info could not be used against him, but info gained from scene #NBCSD
3 minutes ago via mobile web

DA took deal in order to gain murder convictions in both cases #NBCSD
less than a minute ago via mobile web

http://twitter.com/nbcsandiego

 ::MonkeyNoNo::  How many more victims???? That is the question of the day  ::MonkeyNoNo::

yes   ::MonkeyNoNo:: 

If I read that last set of tweets correctly, Gardner's only deal was that he would take  LE to where he buried Amber and they could not use that against him, however any evidence they found at the scene could be used against him.  He must have left a lot of evidence.

Yes.  The question isn't "ARE there more victims?", but like you asked, "How many more victims?", for I truly believe there are more.  I don't think Amber and Chelsea were his only ones.  Sad.   ::MonkeyNoNo::  I hope with time more can be determined.  I'm glad Gardner's off the streets now.

IMO and I'm not trying to implicate anyone other than John Gardner, they need to look at past hasher runs in the area. 

nothing can replace the lives of chelsea king an amber dubois, says DA #NBCSD
4 minutes ago via mobile web

Mo Dubois speaks, thanks DA and asks for time to grieve #NBCSD
2 minutes ago via mobile web

Brent King says decision to accept deal was tortuous #NBCSD
1 minute ago via mobile web

http://twitter.com/nbcsandiego

Says he agree to deal but "there's nothing satisfying about this moment" #NBCSD
5 minutes ago via mobile web

King says they agreed to the deal for the sake of their son and so that Amber's family could have closure #NBCSD
4 minutes ago via mobile web

The Kings hugged after he finished his statement, with Kelly's eyes closed, for at least five seconds #NBCSD
2 minutes ago via mobile web

http://twitter.com/nbcsandiego

Afterward, Dumanis asked that people respect the families' privacy to give them time to grieve#NBCSD
2 minutes ago via mobile web

http://twitter.com/nbcsandiego

::MonkeyAngel::

Thank you for the updates and notes on this. How sad these poor girls had to be killed as they were. I am relieved JAG confessed but I can't help but wonder if he is just a coward who doesn't want to die.


Does anyone know if there is a video of the hearing?

I have not found any yet but I am sure that one of the stations will be posting it soon.

Gardener Leads Authorities To Teen's Body

SAN DIEGO (AP) - San Diego County District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis says convicted sex offender John Gardner led authorities to the body of Amber Dubois.

Dumanis says Gardner agreed to lead authorities to the body on the condition that they could not use that information against him in court.

Dumanis says it was a difficult decision, but prosecutors had no other evidence or DNA to link him to the death of Dubois

http://www.keyt.com/news/local/91100374.html

Sex offender admits two slayings, avoids trial

SAN DIEGO – John Gardner, the convicted sex offender from Lake Elsinore, avoided a death sentence by pleading guilty Friday to the slayings of two San Diego County girls.

Gardner waived his right to appeal the convictions and will be sentenced to two consecutive, no-parole prison terms.

His unexpected plea ended speculation over whether he would be charged in the deaths of both Chelsea King and Amber Dubois.

Gardner also admitted assaulting another girl in the Rancho Bernardo Community Park in December.

Amber disappeared in February of last year while walking to Escondido High School.

Chelsea disappeared February 25th after going for a run in the Rancho Bernardo park. The 17-year-old Poway girl’s body was found five days later.

http://www.inlandnewstoday.com/story.php?s=13832

Klaas can you bring over the letters from the previous thread? I couldn't read them and when I clicked on them the got tiny..............thanks

I have to admit I am physically sick to my stomach right now...............This sick SOB...I understand the parents agreeing to a plea deal........but I wish ther had been another way..............this animal needs to be DEAD and hopefully someone in prison will feel the same and ensure he has a long, slow and extremely painful death.

thanks to NR  and Klaas for all the updates

Not sure what you mean but I'll see if I can find it and bring it over,

OK, I looked and still don't know, LOLOL  What letters are you referring to?

I agree..................

Starting on about pg. 95 of previous thread, Northern Rose posted a letter and lots of docs.  I thought making a thread for them would be a good idea, when I get a chance.

Letter:
http://scaredmonkeys.net/index.php?topic=7233.msg1114064#msg1114064

NR posted some letter from Gardner girlfriend..on the previous thread

I don't think I can copy the letter over, since it looks like it went through Northern Rose's photobucket? 

Muffy, that would be great...I wasn't able to read any of the doc etc that NR posted

http://scaredmonkeys.net/index.php?topic=7233.msg1114082#msg1114082

Letter from Gardner to his girlfriend

darn it....

Let me see what I can do though.   ::CowboySmiley::  There's a way to solve this, I'm sure.   ::dogwag::

me too

I feel certain that there are other victims.  It is sad, but I am glad the families to not have to endure a lengthy trial. 

this?

girlfriend letter and her reply

Annon letter

 ::MonkeyDance::  Yes Northern Rose, I believe that's what Sunny was looking for.  When I first saw all that you posted, I thought it would be very useful to have a thread with those in it and the links for future reference.  I know for a fact that others will come along and wonder where they are and/or some will need to go back to them.  Your posting all of that is wonderful  ::MonkeySlide:: 

Letter from John from Jail to Mommy

I agree.  There were so many docs that the radio station posted and the three part interview is worth a listen to.

FYI this appears to be a letter typed from when he was previously in prison 2000-2005, right?

This annon letter, what do you make of it?

It is not dated so could be.  Here is the link where everything is

http://www.kfi640.com/cc-common/mainheadlines3.html?feed=153218&article=6978166

Reading the letter JG wrote to the GF and her list of questions, I am guessing and this is purely my opinion , that it was written by the "other" gf that he may have had.

thanks Miz Bee...am I the only one who can't read them???

Reading at that link, yes the letter to his mom is while he is in prison.  Likely right before a parole hearing or something.

Hi AZ....that is my fear as well!!

nope...you posted some letters between gardner and his girlfriend.

yep but I must be more technically challenged than  everyone else....to read it I have to move the bar on the bottom, but I can't get to the bar on the bottom when trying to read the top...I hope that makes sense

WOOHOO...Ok, I can go to the link and click and I can then read it!  THANKS!!!!

Is Jariah the mother of his son?

http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local-beat/Kings-Tortured-Over-Plea-Deal-91109344.html
(http://media.nbcsandiego.com/images/410*307/Brent+King+After+Plea.jpg)

Kings Tortured Over Plea Deal
By R. STICKNEY
Updated 5:21 PM PDT, Fri, Apr 16, 2010

Source: Kings Tortured Over Plea Deal | NBC San Diego

The decision to give the district attorney the blessing to make a deal with the man who raped and murdered his daughter was “torturous,” according to Chelsea King’s father, Brent.

“There is nothing -- nothing -- satisfying about this moment,” he told members of the media shorlty after John Gardner entered a guilty plea for raping and killing his 17-year-old daughter,Chelsea, and raping and killing 14-year-old Amber Dubois of Escondido.

In exchange, Gardner escaped the death penalty.

“While our unequivocal first choice is the death penalty, we acknowledge that in California that penalty has become an empty promise,” said King.

King also mentioned that avoiding a trial would help the community to heal as well as allow him and his wife, Kelly, to try and give their son, Tyler, 13, as much of a normal childhood as possible.

Another deciding factor for the Kings was the impact such a deal would have on the search for answers in the death of Amber Dubois. The King family became close with Maurice "Moe" Dubois and Carrie McGonigle immediately after Chelsea's disappearance, as the two sets of parents were drawn together in what Dubois has come to call an unfortunate club.

“The Dubois family have been through unthinkable hell the past 14 months,” said King. “We couldn’t imagine the confession to Amber’s murder never seeing the light of day, leaving an eternal question mark.”

King called Gardner's crime "a despicable, evil act committed against our beautiful daughter, Chelsea, committed against our family and committed against our community."

He vowed to work for change to protect children as a result of what's happened to his daughter.

There is no closure for the Kings, though, Brent King said Friday: “It’s only one more unbearably painful memory that we will have to carry in our memory as long as we live.”

I'm not sure AZSunny

good idea klaasend

My heart just breaks for the Kings, and the Dubois. What an unbeliveable decision they had to make.

There does seem to be a pattern. 

Video of his plea:

 

What a monster. I can bearly think the words without crying yet he is able to admit them without a tear. I only hope that some fellow inmate teaches him what it is like to be raped and strangled.

My heart and prayers go out to Chelsea's family and all who love her.

 ::MonkeyAngel::

I can't even begin to imagine what the King and Dubois families are going through right now.  Chelsea was taken from the King's and found swiftly, the Dubois have had to struggle for 14 mos not knowing where their Amber was. They now have closure but the pain must be excruciating. 

I hope this case will remain in forefront of the news and of our lawmakers because it is a perfect example of how broken the current system is, it has failed to provide safety for our innocent children and their families. If JAG would have been incarcerated for the time recommended by the doctor for the rape he committed 10 years ago Chelsea and Amber would still be alive. IMO monitoring does NOT work, these predators cannot be rehabbed and as far as I am concerned no amount of tracking is going to prevent them from offending again, they need to be locked up from the get go and be done with it. Strike one, your out. 

God Bless the King's and the DuBois.   ::MonkeyAngel::

I believe there are more...I hope that other cases are been investigated...and more families can get their answers.  If he is really doing the right thing...than he will fess up.  I am shocked that he admitted to both...lots of evidence I am sure...but, to agree to no appeal well that is on him, right?  He still wouldn't have received the DP even if he didn't waive his right to appeals?

Psychologist Analyzes John Gardner's Behaviors

SAN DIEGO -- 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.

Gardner, 31, faces life in prison without parole for murdering 14-year-old Amber Dubois and 17-year-old Chelsea King.

Many who watched Friday’s court proceedings described Gardner as emotionless, but when Mantell watched the video for the first time Saturday, he found some of Gardner’s behaviors to be offensive.

“He’s reacting, showing signs of anxiety and discomfort,” said Mantell as he analyzed Gardner’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. “He is a classic serial, sexual murderer, a lust murderer who murdered for his sexual gratification,” 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. “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,” 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. “Some of it is simply offensive. He doesn’t look at the judge in the eye. His hands start to move, almost in a fist like way.”

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. “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.”

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.

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

Thanks NorthernRose.    ::MonkeyCool::

Father’s comments broke Gardner case
Moe Dubois’ TV remarks provoked Gardner to talk

It was something Moe Dubois said.

His daughter’s jailed killer heard Dubois’ plea at a news conference and decided to lead authorities to the shallow grave where he had left the girl — 14-year-old Amber — 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’s parents learned that her murder had been solved.

“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,” Dubois said Saturday in an interview. “Actually, it scares me that I can connect to someone like that.”

Dumanis told Amber’s parents that John Albert Gardner III, 31, had confessed to raping and killing her in exchange for a deal his lawyers had presented to avoid the death penalty in the murder of fellow teenager Chelsea King, 17, of Poway.

Instead, Gardner faces life in prison without a chance of parole or appeal. It’s an outcome the parents of both Chelsea and Amber can accept.

“It was necessary to take him off the streets and put him in a place where you would put a wild animal,” Dubois said. “In a cage.”

Dubois said that prosecutors told him that Gardner had felt remorse after hearing one of Dubois’ pleas for help to find his daughter, and decided to make an offer.

Gardner agreed to take authorities to Amber’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’s family could have some closure and a body to bury — 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’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’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.

“There was one question specifically that I think personally is what it is, when a reporter asked me how I felt regarding the extra attention on Chelsea’s case in relation to Amber’s case,” Dubois said.

“I noticed in watching me that it took me several seconds to compose myself,” he said. “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’t work that way.”

Moe Dubois said that he, his girlfriend, Rebecca Smith, and Amber’s mother, Carrie McGonigle, went to the 2 p.m. meeting in Dumanis’ office Thursday thinking prosecutors would say they were charging Gardner in Amber’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’s parents, Brent and Kelly King, learned the same information Thursday morning in their own private meeting with Dumanis.

Dubois said Dumanis’ 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’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, “as sick as this sounds,” he’s glad that Gardner gave up Amber’s location.

“Allowing us to have Amber’s body back for burial and for emotional closure is such a big, big thing because where Amber’s body was, we more than likely would never, ever have found her,” he said. “It was so far out of the way.”

On Friday, Gardner admitted to the crimes in open court, in front of the parents of the two girls he killed.

“We had a whole night to mentally prepare ourselves to hear it in court,” Dubois said. “Thankfully, the judge read the statement. I was under the impression that it was going to be read by John Gardner, and that would have been very difficult to hear.”

An hour later, the fathers of the girls whose lives are now linked in death addressed the news media.

Dubois’ words were short and to the point. He thanked the authorities for working diligently on his daughter’s case, “for allowing us to have justice and closure.”

Brent King stood at the lectern longer, characterizing Gardner’s murder of Chelsea as a “despicable, evil act” and saying it was a torturous decision to bless the plea deal that will lock Gardner away but spare his life.

“The Dubois family has been through unthinkable hell the past 14 months,” King said. “We couldn’t imagine the confession to Amber’s murder never seeing the light of day, leaving an eternal question mark.”

Dubois had touched on that uncertainty March 3 in making the statement that perhaps caused Gardner to reach out to prosecutors.

“We are constantly going to keep searching for Amber,” her father said then. “We feel she’s still alive, and we always will feel she’s still alive until we find her and we have her home.”

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

http://www.10news.com/news/23201879/detail.html

Gardner Could Face More Charges With New Info
New Information Could Help Find More Victims Of John Gardner

POSTED: 6:19 pm PDT April 19, 2010
UPDATED: 7:14 pm PDT April 19, 2010

SAN DIEGO -- Although he has pleaded guilty to the murders of Chelsea King and Amber Dubois, John Gardner could be facing more charges.

"Now that they have suspect in custody -- a confessed killer -- now it's easier for them to track back where was he staying and was there anybody in that general area that also came up missing," said Kevin LaChappelle, a former investigator.

Last January, Gardner was pulled over and ticketed for expired license tags on his girlfriend's car in Lake Elsinore at a DUI checkpoint.

Three months earlier, someone tried to kidnap a woman at gunpoint. While a sketch was distributed, San Diego County Sheriff's deputies did not connect it to Gardner, a registered sex offender who was listed in the computer database.

When sheriff's deputies arrested Gardner on suspicion of rape and murder, the search was still under way for Chelsea King. Two days after Gardner was arrested, Chelsea's body was found.

Less than a week later, the remains of Amber Dubois were found. Amber's parents suffered through a year of not knowing, but while the finding of her body was a crushing blow, now they know.

Gardner was sentenced to live in prison without parole, but there's still good reason to close every case possible.

Another family may still be searching for answers or a woman could be living in fear of the man who attacked her.

Some of the case files may be opened to the public after a hearing on Thursday, which could lead to more questions. The file will stay open if new information leads to additional charges.

"Many people think [Gardner is] being locked up for a number of life sentences...but families need closure, if there are any other victims," said LaChappelle.

BLOCKED WEBSITE

http://www.10news.com/news/23231422/detail.html

Judge To Consider Lifting Gag Order In Dubois, King Cases

POSTED: 7:37 am PDT April 22, 2010
UPDATED: 7:44 am PDT April 22, 2010


SAN DIEGO -- A San Diego judge Thursday will consider lifting a gag order in the case of a convicted sex offender who admitted raping and killing 17-year-old Chelsea King and 14-year-old Amber Dubois.

John Albert Gardner III, 31, pleaded guilty Friday to the rapes and murders of Chelsea, a Poway High senior, and Amber, an Escondido High School freshman.

Attorneys for Chelsea's parents asked San Diego Superior Court Judge David Danielsen on Tuesday for an order to stop the news media from making information contained in court documents about the killings public. Danielsen met privately with attorneys involved in the case, then scheduled a hearing on the issue for Thursday.
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According to the King family, attorney Pat Swan will "advocate for suppression of certain documents under victims' rights statutes.

"This action has become necessary in response by some media outlets to obtain the release of all records related to Chelsea's death, which runs counter to the King's family's wishes to honor their daughter's memory, and to allow the community to heal," the Kings stated.

Gardner attacked, raped and killed Chelsea, who disappeared after going for a run Feb. 25 at Rancho Bernardo Community Park. The avid runner and straight-A student's body was found March 2 in a shallow grave near a tributary of nearby Lake Hodges -- not far from Gardner's mother's home.

Gardner 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.

He also admitted killing Amber Dubois, who vanished Feb. 13, 2009, while walking to Escondido High School. Her skeletal remains were found March 6 in Pala based on what Gardner told authorities.

http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local-beat/Search-Warrants-Sealed-for-Now-91831384.html

Search Warrants Sealed for Now
By PAUL KRUEGER
Updated 11:01 AM PDT, Thu, Apr 22, 2010

Search warrants in connection with the rape and murder of Poway teenager Chelsea King will stay sealed until Monday, a judge ruled Thursday.

John Albert Gardner III will be sentenced for the murders of 17-year-old Chelsea King and 14-year-old Amber Dubois on June 1 after accepting a plea agreement that removed the possibility of a death sentence for the crimes.

NBC San Diego and other media outlets have filed documents requesting the San Diego County Superior Court lift a gag order barring authorities from discussing the evidence and release records related to search warrants.

In a hearing Thursday, Judge Peter Deddeh heard arguments from attorneys representing the media as well as prosecutors, the Kings' attorneys and lawyers representing the parents of Amber Dubois.

Judge lifts gag order in Chelsea King, Amber Dubois murder cases
April 22, 2010

A San Diego judge Thursday lifted a gag order in the case of a convicted sex offender who admitted raping and killing 17-year-old Chelsea King and 14-year-old Amber Dubois.

John Albert Gardner III, 31, pleaded guilty Friday to the rapes and murders of Chelsea, a Poway High senior, and Amber, an Escondido High School freshman.

In addition to lifting the gag order that had been in place, San Diego Superior Court Judge David Danielsen rejected a request by Chelsea’s parents for a new order blocking the media from obtaining public information contained in court documents about the killings.

In a declaration to the court, Brent King, Chelsea’s father pleaded for a protective order that would prohibit authorities from releasing information regarding the crime scene or his daughter’s autopsy and sexual assault examinations.

“Every time we see an article in the paper, on television, or hear anything about the case on the radio or in the community, we are re-traumatized, re-victimized and gravely saddened beyond description,” he wrote.

Chelsea’s death has “traumatized” her brother, 13-year-old Tyler, Brent King wrote. The boy has stopped playing baseball and only attends school part-time.

“We worry every moment of every day about the well-being of our son, and cannot imagine what harm will come to him if the information we would like protected is disclosed in any fashion,” Brent wrote.

Chelsea’s father also wrote he and his wife have sought trauma counseling, that he takes medication to sleep now, and that his wife takes medication “to help cope with Chelsea’s horrible death.”

“I wake up every morning not wanting to wake up,” he wrote. “I can only sleep with medication, which I never needed before in my life. The thoughts that run through my head constantly replay my daughter’s last moments. I am tortured by it.”

Danielsen had discussed the issue privately with attorneys for Chelsea’s parents on Tuesday.

In a statement, her parents said, “This action has become necessary in response by some media outlets to obtain the release of all records related to Chelsea’s death, which runs counter to the King’s family’s wishes to honor their daughter’s memory, and to allow the community to heal.”

Gardner attacked, raped and killed Chelsea, who disappeared after going for a run Feb. 25 at Rancho Bernardo Community Park. The avid runner and straight-A student’s body was found March 2 in a shallow grave near a tributary of nearby Lake Hodges — not far from Gardner’s mother’s home.

Gardner 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.

He also admitted killing Amber Dubois, who vanished Feb. 13, 2009, while walking to Escondido High School. Her skeletal remains were found March 6 in Pala based on what Gardner told authorities.

http://www.sdnn.com/sandiego/2010-04-22/local-county-news/crime/judge-lifts-gag-order-in-chelsea-king-amber-dubois-murder-cases

http://www.cbs8.com/Global/story.asp?S=12366859

Gardner gag order is lifted, but no one is talking
Posted: Apr 23, 2010 5:42 PM PDT
Updated: Apr 24, 2010 10:10 AM PDT
 
Gardner gag order is lifted, but no one is talking

SAN DIEGO, Calif. (CBS 8) - The gag order in the John Gardner trial has been lifted, but documents about the murder of Chelsea King and Amber Dubois remain sealed. That's because there's a question about whether the public's right to know outweighs the victims' right to privacy.

News 8 has learned four out of 10 search warrants could be released on Monday, but autopsy reports are routinely sealed until sentencing. And even then, there could be another big legal challenge over releasing it.

In a battle over Marsy's Law and freedom of the press, records in the Chelsea King and Amber Dubois murder cases remain sealed, despite a judge lifting a gag order.

"I see a major legal challenge because Marsy's Law gives certain privacy rights to the victims and the families of victims of crimes, and that's going to be balanced against the public's right to know," News 8 legal analyst Bill Nimmo said.

Citing Marsy's Law, or the Victim's Bill of Rights, which protects privacy of crime victims, the King family fought to block the media from making photos and details about the killings public.

Judge David Danielson couldn't order the case files unsealed, so the decision to release records must come from the sheriff's department, Escondido police and the medical examiner's office.

News 8 has submitted records requests with each agency, but so far no one is talking and nothing is being released.

 

"The amount of information that would be available would be massive," Nimmo said. "Toxicology reports could be instructive if there's some hint that these ladies were drugged in some way."

Nimmo says these documents could provide valuable insight into John Gardner's method of operation, and specifically how he was able to abduct both teens.

"Each of these incidents that have happened and thousands of other ones are all very instructive on how you should construct yourself to avoid harm," Nimmo said.

News 8 has no interest in obtaining autopsy photos, and does not intend to abuse the information, but we are interested in understanding how these crimes occurred, why they happened, how law enforcement reacted in both investigation, how the legal system prosecuted each case and what the community can learn from this tragedy.

"The United States Supreme Court and many courts have ruled that it's important for society to have full and complete reports of crime. That's the only way society can counteract crime," media attorney Guylyn Cummins said.

The district attorney and the sheriff's department says it will honor the families' wishes by not discussing either case with the media.

I really don't have the time to finish this right now...but wanted to show some of my progress.  I graduate SATURDAY...and I will have more time then.  Here is the link to a quick map that I made of sex crimes (only) reported around the area.

http://maps.yahoo.com/#mvt=m&lat=33.130976&lon=-116.911273&zoom=11&q1=400%20N%20Twin%20Oaks%20Valley%20San%20Marcos%2C%20Ca&q2=200%20Richland%20Rd%20San%20Marcos%2C%20Ca&q3=18448%20W%20Bernardo%20Dr%20San%20Diego%2C%20CA%2092127&gid3=38891760&q4=16400%20West%20Bernardo%20Dr%20San%20Diego%2C%20ca&q5=3800%20mission%20ave%20oceanside%2C%20ca&q6=25400%20lake%20wohlford%20rd%20escondido%2C%20ca&q7=19000%20lake%20dr%20escondido%2C%20ca

A.  Is 2/25/2010 @ 3:11pm
B.  Is 2/25/2010 @ 3:30pm (these two addresses are 5 minutes apart).
C.  Rancho Bernardo Park (13 minutes from B) 2/25/2010 Where Chelsea was at.
D.  2/26/2010 @ 9:35am
E.  2/27/2010 @ 9:00pm (Oceanside)
F.  2/28/2010 @ 1:15pm
G.  Where he was arrested around 4:30pm on the 28th.

I didn't include on Feb. 22, 2010 a sex crime took place very close to Escondido High School.  Also, interesting is the date and place that he received a ticket for speeding (Bonsall) there was a sex crime on 6/12/2010 at 12:01am...30000 old hwy 395--right off of 15. I am not certain of this system, in regards to the reported crimes...they are listed as incidents (not arrests) so I am assuming that these reports are not arrests.  Meaning they may not have a suspect...but, it seems if JAG were committing lots of rapes then more women would be speaking up.  Another thing a sex crime does not mean a rape took place...possibly an attempt...indecent exposure and so on.  It is interesting to look at this system and try and match up incidents with places that we know that he was at.  I truly believe that there are more victims.  Here is the link if anyone wants to use it.  http://mapping.arjis.org

Thanks HB or MB for the delete, i didn't know you could do it or I could request it.

 Labubske, it makes you wonder if Gardner really did feel remorse if he went back the next day to do it again and then the day after that. crimereports.com can go back to 10/26/2009 as of today but it doesn't show much. thanks for sharing your research and I hope your graduation day is a good one.

Great map and link, thanks!

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/top/all/6976969.html
Warrants suggest Calif killer followed 11-year-old
April 26, 2010

L CAJON, Calif. — An 11-year-old girl told police a man followed her home from school the day before registered sex offender John Albert Gardner III raped and murdered a 17-year-old girl in a nearby park, according to search warrants unsealed Monday.

The documents also said two women joggers were convinced they had encountered Gardner on the afternoon of Feb. 25, the day he attacked and killed Chelsea King when she went for a run in the park.

One woman said she was convinced a man she briefly spoke with about coyotes and snakes was Gardner.

Investigators linked Gardner to King's murder through semen found on her underwear, according to the search warrants unsealed in response to a request by The Associated Press and other news organizations.

King's body was discovered in a shallow lakeside grave five days after she vanished.

The warrants said authorities seized 11 shovels, three pickaxes and other digging tools from Gardner's home in Lake Elsinore along with a "Hard Rock Cafe Baghdad" T-shirt and other clothing.

They also found a tool case with black electrical and duct tape in a storage unit in suburban Escondido; black duct tape and a fast-food receipt from Feb. 25 in his girlfriend's car; and several "Hard Rock Cafe" shirts and a shovel at his mother's home in San Diego.

Gardner, 31, pleaded guilty April 16 to raping and murdering King and 14-year-old Amber Dubois, who was abducted while walking to school in Escondido in February 2009.

Gardner had served five years of a six-year prison sentence for molesting a 13-year-old San Diego neighbor in 2000.

The search warrants said the 11-year-old girl told San Diego police on Feb. 24 that a man in a black car slowly drove by and parked as she walked home alone from school in the Rancho Bernardo area. The driver made no effort to speak with her.

A woman then pulled up beside the girl, told her the man looked suspicious, and offered to follow her two blocks to her house. The man then made a U-turn and drove away.

The girl told a family member the man had stared at her before pulling forward, and that she later recognized Gardner from a photo published after his arrest in the death of King.

Investigators then asked her to identify the man from among six photos. She picked two of the pictures, and one was Gardner, according to the documents.

One of the women joggers told investigators she spoke with a man in a "Hard Rock Cafe" T-shirt who was drinking beer and smoking a cigarette when she went for an afternoon run on the day King was attacked.

After Gardner's arrest, she told authorities she was positive he was the man she saw along the running trail.

"The person told her to watch out for the snake and she noticed there was a rattlesnake," the affidavit reads.

The runner, identified as Cindi Jo Stock, spoke with the man again on her way back.

Another runner, Jacquelyn Maxton, also told authorities she saw Gardner that afternoon in a "Hard Rock Cafe Baghdad" T-shirt.

"She was 100 percent positive the person she saw on the trail was the person she saw on television because his haircut and eyes looked exactly the same," the affidavit reads.

The affidavits also describe a Dec. 27 attack on another jogger in the area. Gardner pleaded guilty to attempted rape in that case.

The jogger, Candice Moncayo, reported saying good morning to a man who returned the greeting then tackled her and began to climb on top of her, pinning her shoulders to the ground.

Moncayo screamed for help, believing she was going to be raped. The assailant told her to shut up and she responded, "You're going to have to kill me," according to the documents.

"That can be arranged," her assailant said.

Moncayo, who has spoken publicly about the attack, escaped after striking the man in the nose with her elbow. The affidavit said she felt the crunch of cartilage.

The court documents also said two utility workers saw a man with a girl in a remote area north of San Diego on the morning of Feb. 13, 2009, when Gardner raped and stabbed Dubois, leaving her dead body nearby.

The San Diego Gas & Electric Co. workers came forward after learning authorities were searching for the remains of Dubois near the town of Pala last month.

They recalled seeing a man matching Gardner's description with a girl who looked like Dubois on the day she disappeared. They were near a silver Ford Focus, the car that Gardner drove at the time.

Gardner led authorities to the remains of Dubois after his arrest in King's death. Her identity was confirmed through dental records.

The search warrants show Gardner was registered to live at six Southern California addresses since his release from prison in 2005, in addition to a three-month spell as a transient in 2008.

 ::MonkeyMad:: ::MonkeyMad:: this idiot should have never been out of jail!!

Gardner sentencing moved to May 14

Tuesday, April 27, 2010 at 4:17 p.m.

SAN DIEGO — Sentencing for John Albert Gardner III, the man convicted of raping and killing North County teenagers Chelsea King and Amber Dubois, has been changed to May 14.

Gardner, 31, pleaded guilty to both murders April 16 and agreed to be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. He also admitted he assaulted a jogger on Dec. 27 with the intent to rape her.

His sentencing hearing had been scheduled for June 1.

Paul Levikow, a spokesman for the District Attorney’s Office, said Tuesday afternoon that the hearing had been moved up, but he did not know the reason why. He said both the prosecution and the defense agreed to change the date.

Deputy District Attorney Kristen Spieler and Deputy Public Defender Michael Popkins did not immediately return calls seeking comment.

Amber’s father, Moe Dubois, said Tuesday that the District Attorney’s Office requested the date change and spoke to him and the King family.

“We told them the sooner the better,” Dubois said.

He said prosecutors were concerned about an apology from Gardner that was reported on KFMB/Channel 8 on Sunday and wanted to limit that kind of information as much as possible.

The television station reported that a source who did not want to be named gave them the apology from Gardner. It was unclear who the apology was for, but the station said it was intended for the families of the slain girls.

Gardner was arrested Feb. 28, just days after Chelsea, 17, of Poway disappeared after going for a run at Rancho Bernardo Community Park. Her body was found a short distance away from the park buried in a shallow grave near Lake Hodges.

Amber, 14, went missing in February 2009 while walking to school at Escondido High. Her remains were found March 6 in a remote area north of Pala.

Prosecutors revealed after Gardner pleaded guilty to both killings that he had led authorities to Amber’s remains.

The plea allowed Gardner to avoid facing the death penalty.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/apr/27/gardner-sentencing-moved-may-14/

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/apr/29/chelseas-law-foes-are-riding-into-wind/

Chelsea’s Law foes are riding into wind
Still, fiscal concerns may alter final bill

By Michael Gardner, U-T SACRAMENTO BUREAU

Thursday, April 29, 2010 at 12:04 a.m.

SACRAMENTO — They assembled a few feet across the table from Brent King, close enough to see the pain in his eyes and feel the grief in his voice as he testified for legislation sparked by his daughter’s rape and murder.

His belief, simply, is that violent sex offenders are incurable and should be put away for life so they don’t have the chance that John Albert Gardner III was given to offend again — killing King’s daughter Chelsea, 17, of Poway on Feb. 25.

Opponents of the proposed law say that treatment, research and sentences based on better risk assessments — rather than a blanket approach — are more effective and won’t further prison crowding.

But arguing that in front of King is another matter.

“This isn’t to diminish the pain and suffering of victims of crime. However, theirs should not be the only concern the Legislature should have,” said David Warren, representing Taxpayers for Improving Public Safety, a Sacramento lobby that urges alternatives to building more prisons and extending sentences.

“An advocate for the most despicable is just as important to a democratic society as an advocate who is a white knight,” he said.

The opponents are not carrying the day in Sacramento. Chelsea’s Law enjoys support from the Democratic Assembly speaker and the Republican governor and passed its first committee without opposition last week.

But objections and concerns raised by opponents may ultimately help shape the measure, especially when it’s viewed through the lens of the state’s battered budget.

Through a spokeswoman, the Kings declined to comment for this story.

Robert Coombs is director of public affairs for the California Coalition Against Sexual Assault, which has not yet signed on to support Chelsea’s Law because of many similar concerns. He met privately for nearly two hours with Brent King after the Assembly Public Safety Committee unanimously approved Chelsea’s Law.

“It is incredibly heart-wrenching to speak with someone who lost so much so recently,” Coombs said. “My heart goes out to Mr. King so much that it becomes difficult to get past the looming grief and into the substantive issues,” he said.

Coombs credits King for putting him at ease. “He entered with a very gracious heart,” Coombs said.

Chelsea’s Law would add a one-strike, life-behind-bars sentence for the worst crimes against the youngest victims under 14. Assembly Bill 1844 also strengthens the penalties for other forcible sex crimes against children, depending on the age of the victim and whether serious physical harm was inflicted.

Also, registered sex offenders on parole would be banned from parks without permission of authorities.

A previously convicted child molester, Gardner, 31, is to be sentenced May 14 to two life terms after pleading guilty to killing Chelsea and Amber Dubois, 14, of Escondido.

The Gardner case revealed shortcomings in the state system, from prisons to parole. In response, Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher, R-San Diego, introduced Chelsea’s Law with her parents, Brent and Kelly King, by his side.

Opponents include Francisco Lobaco, legislative director of the American Civil Liberties Union in Sacramento, a 20-year veteran of taking unpopular stands.

“When emotions run high, that’s when it is particularly important to make sure civil liberties and basic constitutional rights are protected,” he said.

Lobaco said he must set aside sympathies for families, particularly when it comes to analyzing legislation and raising points that otherwise could be ignored.

“In this particular case, it’s just to make sure that sentencing policy is rational and proportionate,” Lobaco said.

Coombs says that with some work, the measure could evolve into valuable policy.

But for now, unless the legislation is amended or companion bills are forthcoming, Chelsea’s Law overly emphasizes penalties, he said.

“It’s clearly a bill about punishment, but there will be a huge fiscal impact,” said Coombs, also an appointee of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to the state’s Sex Offender Management Board, which is making recommendations for reform in response to the Gardner case.

Coombs said the state’s priority should be to better identify the risk of offenders to repeat their crimes. He also favors better psychological exams, rehabilitation programs, polygraph tests and increased supervision while on parole.

“These are the things we should be investing in instead of taking the easy route,” Coombs said.

Coombs, Lobaco, Warren and Liberty Sanchez, a lobbyist for the California Public Defenders Association, have been out in front in raising objections, from financial to philosophical. Sanchez did not respond to requests for comment.

Theirs has been a losing cause. But they may have more success as fiscal considerations come into play.

Warren said tougher penalties increase prison costs that, in turn, rob other vital public services, such as schools, libraries, health care and other areas of law enforcement.

He urged rehabilitation while offenders are behind bars and more tools to identify the root causes of crimes against children.

“What we should be doing is treating them before, not punishing them after,” Warren said.

The bill is progressing quickly but is likely to face challenges — for instance, at the Senate Public Safety Committee, which has a long-standing aversion to measures that aggravate prison overcrowding.

The committee chairman, Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, understands that the panel’s policy has cast him as a villain to some victims’ rights advocates.

Leno said the mix of “politics and emotions” over many bills poses a challenge as he makes decisions contrary to the wishes of victims’ family members, such as Brent King.

“What I have come to learn is if one approaches any issue with respect, and constituents believe they are honestly heard, some of the sting is removed,” Leno said.

http://www.cbs8.com/

NEWS 8 EXCLUSIVE: He's confessed to two of the most notorious crimes in San Diego County history. Now, John Albert Gardner talks EXCLUSIVELY to News 8. For the first time, Confessed Killer John Gardner: In His Own Words - Thursday, April 29 on News 8 at 5PM, 6:30PM and 11PM.

http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local-beat/Plea-Deal-Wasnt-Gardners-Idea-Report-92449524.html

Plea Deal Wasn't Gardner's Idea: Report
Updated 2:20 PM PDT, Thu, Apr 29, 2010

Taking life in prison instead of facing the death penalty was not John Gardner’s idea according to a published report.

Gardner, the man who pleaded guilty to raping and murdering Poway teenager Chelsea King in March and Escondido teenager Amber Dubois in February 2009, told a local television station that he had been willing to go to death row.

Amber’s mother Carrie McGonigle, talked with the North County Times Thursday after listening to seven minutes of a recent telephone interview between Gardner and a reporter with KFMB.

She said Gardner told the reporter that the plea deal that kept him from possible execution was not his idea, but was the brainchild of his attorneys.

McGonigle told North County Times reporter Teri Figueroa that she listened to seven minutes of the interview Wednesday evening.

"I think he's trying to get sympathy, playing the victim," McGonigle said. "But he's not a victim."

McGonigle said a news producer at the station told her Gardner, 31, called the station from jail.

McGonigle said Gardner refused to give details of the crimes during the interview; he said he would only share those details with the family.

Amber, 14, disappeared as she walked to Escondido High School about 7 a.m. on Feb. 13, 2009. Her whereabouts remained a mystery for more than a year.

Then on Feb. 25, 2010, Poway High School senior Chelsea King, 17, disappeared during a run on a trail near Lake Hodges.

Authorities arrested Gardner and charged him with killing Chelsea, whose body was found in a shallow grave near a lake tributary on March 2. He was linked to her slaying through DNA.

After his arrest, Gardner confessed to killing Amber as well and led authorities to a shallow grave in Pala where he had buried her.

He pleaded guilty April 16 to the rapes and murders of both North County teens.

John Gardner: In His Own Words, Pt. 1 (with audio recording)

SAN DIEGO, Calif. (CBS  - The man who admitted to raping and murdering Chelsea King and Amber Dubois broke his silence in an extended interview with News 8. John Gardner is making stunning allegations and offers new, behind-the-scenes details into his brutal crimes and the plea deal that saved his life.

For more than two hours, News 8 spoke to John Gardner in a recorded telephone interview. We realize this is a very sensitive issue for the families involved, and we did notify them in advance of airing this story.

News 8 got a response from Amber Dubois' mother, and will not be reporting graphic details of the attacks on Chelsea and Amber.

In our interview, Gardner speaks intelligently about the murder case against him, and for the first time he offers to sit down with the families of his victims.

"I was aware of what I was doing, and I could not stop myself. I was in a major rage and pissed off at my whole life and everyone who had hurt me and blew up and hurt the wrong people.

"I hate myself, I really do. There is no taking back what I did, and if I could, yes I would, are you kidding me? But I was out of control. If I was able to stop myself in the middle of it, I would have, and I could not. I was out of control," Gardner said.

Never in our two and a half hour conversation does Gardner go into detail about how he killed his victims. Those answers, he says, will be given only to the girl's families upon their request.

"I'm only answering questions to the family in regards to that stuff, anything involving those two and how things happened and whatever, I will not comment on any of that. I will answer questions to them and them only," he said.

Amber Dubois disappeared on Feb. 13, 2009 at around 7 a.m. as she walked to Escondido High School. Gardner says nothing about his interaction with Amber, but in a passing remark about protecting children by putting more money into schools, he says Amber would still be here if there was a bus schedule.

"If there was a bus schedule still, would amber still be here? Yeah, she would have, if there was a bus, so why don't they put that money toward the schools?" he said.

Gardner would not say if he offered Amber a ride to school. Another question we asked him is if he stalked his victims or if they were picked at random.

"It wasn't about their age with me. I actually didn't go out and look for them. I did not sit and wait for them. I go out and go for walks to calm myself. I'll go for a walk or go for a drive just to calm down," Gardner said.

It's what witnesses say Gardner was doing on Feb. 25, the day he attacked Poway teen Chelsea King near Lake Hodges. DNA tied Gardner to the scene, and he was arrested on Sunday, Feb. 28 for Chelsea's rape and murder. As the search continued for Chelsea's body, Gardner claims he was ready to confess to the murders of both girls.

"On Monday I was trying to get a hold of the attorney, I was going to tell them where she, where Chelsea was, and I was going to tell them where Amber was," he said.

On Tuesday, March 2, search teams found Chelsea's body in a shallow grave. The next day Gardner was arraigned in court for Chelsea's murder.

"As soon as I went to court on Wednesday, I had public defenders in that little box that they always put me in, and when they came after court -- because you have to plead not guilty for some reason to everything before you can even plead guilty, I guess -- I was telling them I just want to plead guilty and want everyone to know how bad that I felt," Gardner said.

Gardner adds that he didn't care if he received the death penalty.

After his arraignment Wednesday, Gardner says he told his public defenders he killed Amber and days later he led investigators to her remains in a remote area of Pala.

"The whole deal of 'Oh we'll take the death penalty off', that was all up on the lawyers and the DA and all that. I told them I don't give a [expletive]. I told them with no promise of taking life off. I had no promises and I showed them where Amber was because I felt bad. I had no promise of any deal when I did that," Gardner said.

But the district attorney says there was an agreement: Gardner taking authorities to Amber's remains would not be held against him in court.

In the following weeks, investigators looked for anything to tie Gardner to the crime scene, but the DA says nothing was found. In the meantime, Gardner says he was becoming increasingly frustrated that Amber's parents had not been told he was the killer.

"They were withholding information of the fact that I showed where she was, and they didn't even let the family know yet. And I was pissed they didn't let the family know.

"The reason why they waited so long to announce anything and to do the plea deal was because they had to give investigators time to try and build a case against me so that they did not have to make a deal. And I said, 'Well that's [expletive]. Let's just go into court and I'll plead guilty and then you guys figure out what you want to do later," Gardner said.

Gardner says he eventually called the state attorney general's office to report everything that was happening behind the scenes.

"I had some issues with what was going on in my case. I was pissed. I was calling the attorney general and they all came down here. My attorneys, both of them, showed up that day that I called the attorney general to report them and they showed up and said, 'What the [expletive] are you doing, blah blah blah. We had the DA call us to tell us to get you to shut the [expletive] up,'" Gardner said.

District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis declined to comment on Gardner's allegations. But former DA Paul Pfingst says Gardner's statements raise major issues.

"It's not the job of the DA to stand between him and law enforcement. It's the job of his defense team, not the prosecution team.

"If John Gardner called up the AG's office and confessed to killing Amber Dubois, and confessed that now he was a serial killer, the chances of him receiving the death penalty would go from high, to extraordinarily high," Pfingst said. "What the public would have to ask is 'Is this what we're having law enforcement do now? Telling serial killers not to talk to us?'"

As far as we know, Gardner never spoke at length with the attorney general's office, and in the end the plea deal went through.

"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.

The death penalty was dropped in exchange for Gardner's confession, something Gardner says he was willing to do from the beginning.

"I showed them where everything was. I showed them where [Amber] was before they made a deal," Gardner said.

John Gardner faces life in prison without the possibility of parole, but it doesn't mean he can't face future prosecution.

News 8 asked Gardner if there were any other victims.

"Ha ha, good try," he said.

We showed our full report to Amber's mother Carrie McGonigle in advance of it airing. McGonigle says she does plan on meeting with Gardner in private to get some of her questions answered.

"I was surprised he did an interview so close to sentencing, but he says he'll give us answers and I want answers.

"I find what he says kind of surprising. Like, did he really just want to have the death penalty? He murdered my child, he murdered Chelsea. He could have gotten help, he could have gotten help and he could have come forward, and you know what? Chelsea may still be alive if he would have felt guilty," she said.

Other family members had no comment on our report.


http://www.cbs8.com/Global/story.asp?S=12401580

John Gardner: In His Own Words, Pt. 2

SAN DIEGO, Calif. (CBS 8) - John Gardner says he was never trying to avoid the death penalty, in an exclusive interview with News 8.

Gardner showed remorse for his victims, and thumbed his nose at the death penalty when he spoke to News 8 from his jail cell. And for the first time, we're learning more about the plea deal that saved his life.

News 8 asked Gardner why he admitted to killing Chelsea King and Amber Dubois.

"Why would I drag it out? Why would I put those families through going through court and looking at all the evidence, and having them sit there and having the DA's, my lawyer, throw it up in their face?" Gardner said.

Gardner never goes into detail about how he killed 14-year-old Amber Dubois or 17-year-old Chelsea King, but he does say that as soon as he was arrested for Chelsea's murder he was ready to confess his involvement in Amber's death so her parents could also have closure.

"They sat wondering for a year. It just ate me up every single day. I have nightmares of them, and I'm sitting here feeling all this guilt for so long and it finally just caught up.

"I was telling them that I just wanted to plead guilty and I want everyone to know I have, how bad I felt and everything, and that I tried to get help beforehand," Gardner said.

When District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis came clean about who led investigators to Amber's remains, she said an agreement was made: Gardner shows investigators where the body is, and it won't be held against him in court. Despite more than a month of investigation, Dumanis told reporters they were unable to prove Gardner murdered Amber.

"There was no DNA and no evidence obtained in the search warrants that connected him to Amber's murder," Dumanis said.

But Gardner says all the evidence they needed was already behind bars, waiting to talk. He was willing to confess before the backroom deal was made.

"The whole deal of 'Oh we'll take the death penalty off', that was all up on the lawyers and the DA and all that. I told them I don't give a [expletive]. I told them with no promise of taking life off. I had no promises and I showed them where Amber was because I felt bad. I had no promise of any deal when I did that," Gardner said.

Gardner also claims that a large-scale search at Kit Carson Park in Escondido was a ruse so the media wouldn't find out he was leading detectives to Amber's body near Pala.

"You guys were given a false report to supposedly go to Kit Carson Park, so all of the media was trying to scour over Kit Carson Park when we went up there," he said. "I was en route, I saw your helicopters."

Gardner now faces life in prison, instead of the death penalty, but he's still not convinced that's the best option.

"If I got the death penalty I would be sitting in a single cell for 25 to 30 years before they ever decided to give me the death penalty. Now, with the sentence I have I'm going to be dead within the next five years," he said.

Out of respect for the families, we did tell Chelsea and Amber's parents about our interview with John Gardner. The Kings had no comment, and neither did Amber's father Maurice Dubois. But Amber's mother asked to watch our story before it aired, and gave her reaction.

"I was surprised he did an interview so close to sentencing, but he says he'll give us answers and I want answers," she said. "He said he wanted us to know, why did he wait 13 months? Because he got caught. He could have called the anonymous tip line if he felt so bad and given us some closure. So I found that hard to believe that he felt so bad, because he watched us suffer for a year and I'm sure he watched us."

http://www.cbs8.com/Global/story.asp?S=12401882

http://interceder.net/news/chelsea-king  good link to go to for news articles, videos.

Here is another traffic stop...searching the different counties in CA now. 

Case LL015123JG Defendant 2510431 GARDNER III, JOHN ALBERT

Filed Charges
Count    Charge    Severity    Description    Violation Date    Plea    Status
1    VC I21453(A)    I    VEHICLE STOP ON RED SIGNAL    12/12/2006    GUILTY    CONVICTED

They just showed on Foxnews national that the sentencing will be today.   It showed Amber's mom confronting Gardner's mother about seeing him before his sentencing....lordie.

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Media/amber-dubois-mom-talk-killer-john-gardner-gave/story?id=10646423&page=1

This monster isnt feeling an guilt whatsoever, not judging by that smirk on his face - he just spared his own life by admitting to his heinous acts & being anger his whole life....boo friggin boo hoo

FYI Klaas is posting screen shots and updates on the sentancing in the Amber Dubois thread.

Prayers for you today Chelsea, RIP, I am so relieved to know today you will be awarded justice.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/may/14/victim-families-say-gardner-will-burn-hell/

Victim families: Gardner will 'burn in hell'
Judge sentences the killer to three life sentences

By Matthew T. Hall, UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

Friday, May 14, 2010 at 3:09 p.m.

John Albert Gardner III’s victims had their say in court today, reading prepared statements that were heavy on loss and anger.

Six people in all tried to articulate the toll Gardner’s violence took on their lives, many of them saying he would burn in hell as part of his punishment and criticizing the system that let such heinous crimes take place.

Brent and Kelly King, the parents of murdered Poway 17-year-old Chelsea King, also directed some of their anger at Gardner’s father, largely absent from his life, and his mother, who they said should have acted to protect the community during the year between Amber’s disappearance and Chelsea’s death.

“Your mother, Cathy Osborne, knew what you were capable of and did nothing to protect us from you,” Brent King said. “She knew who you were after you violently beat and tried to rape that poor 13-year-old girl a decade ago.”

Gardner served five years in prison for that 2000 beating and molesting of a former Rancho Bernardo neighbor and spent three years on parole.

Carrie McGonigle, mother of murdered Escondido 14-year-old Amber Dubois, said she wished she could have traded places with her daughter the morning of her abduction so she could have fought off Gardner.

Gardner largely cast his eyes downward and sat grim-faced, taking deep breaths throughout the hourlong hearing in which he was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

But he reacted twice to what was said to him, once when the mother of murder victim Chelsea King, 17, of Poway, urged him to “Look at me” and once when a woman he assaulted prompted his only words of the day.

Candice Moncayo, the 22-year-old jogger who was assaulted by Gardner in December but escaped after elbowing him in the face, ended her tearful remarks, saying, “I came here today ... finally, to ask him how his nose is.”

Gardner immediately appeared agitated and while whispering to his attorney said, “She did it for publicity.”

Gardner was formally sentenced to serve three consecutive life terms in prison without parole, plus an additional 24 years, for raping and killing Amber in February 2009 and Chelsea a year later, and for assaulting Moncayo. No one spoke on his behalf.

Amber’s father, Moe Dubois, said he hopes Gardner suffers for a long time and also used his statement to criticize the system.

“It’s obvious the legal system failed us here, with all of the missed opportunities that ultimately allowed this monster to stalk our streets and harm our loved ones,” he said.

“He will burn in hell for the acts he has committed,” he said. “I just hope that day is an agonizingly long way away and that he will have to suffer as much as well have, actually more.”

David Cave, McGonigle’s former boyfriend, also spoke on Amber’s behalf, decrying the selfish acts and savage actions of Gardner that affected so many. Echoing other speakers, he said Amber inspires him still.

That was a running theme through the comments of Kelly King, Chelsea’s mother.

“I miss and mourn for Chelsea more deeply than one can ever imagine except for my son and husband,” Kelly King said. “The three of us, and millions of others, will never let Chelsea’s light go out.”

The last to speak, she concluded, “You no longer exist. My daughter will always exist. While your name will be quickly forgotten, hers won’t. You have not defeated me. I will carry on my daughter’s beautiful spirit with pride and purpose.”

This is from facebook....sorry if it has already been psoted


Chelsea's Light Victim Impact Statements:

Brent: http://tinyurl.com/35kpmqb
Kelly: http://tinyurl.com/2f357e2

Thank-you  ::MonkeyAngel:: Both parents were wonderful, but Mrs King was awesome. May the family get some peace, though I'm very sure there is no way how to  ::MonkeyNoNo:: Makes me ill the way that monster sat there, doesn't even deserve to waste the air of decent people.

Panel answers questions on Chelsee King case        5.17.10

Lt. Dennis Brugos started the panel discussion today, and answered questions regarding the events surrounding Chelsea King.

Although many questions were answered with no comment, there was some information that came to light.

Brugos said that during an extensive search on February 26, that a pair of underwear and a sock was found with a small amount of blood on it. The clothing was later identified to belong to Chelsea King. The clothing was brought to the lab and through DNA they were able to match it to convicted sex offender John Gardner.

Contrary to what Gardner said during a phone interview with a local TV station, the search at Kit Carson Park was not a ruse to keep the media away while the police went to the other location.

Brugos said that deputies were driving Gardner to identify the locate where Amber was buries at the same time that Escondido police were searching for a body that was reported in a bag in the pond at Kit Carson Park. No body was ever discovered.

http://www.examiner.com/x-18953-San-Diego-Headlines-Examiner~y2010m5d17-Panel-answers-questions-on-Chelsee-King-case

I think I'll start a thread in Unsolved Crimes RE: Possible John Gardner Victims...that way we won't clog Chelsea's and Amber's thread with 'possible crimes'...I'll be back to post the link.

Topic: John Albert Gardner III ... More Victims??? 

http://scaredmonkeys.net/index.php?topic=7869.new#new

Thanks  ::MonkeyAngel::

CHELSEA'S LAW

I was just down at my local grocer store.  There were people with a petition for Chelsea's Law which of course I signed.  I happened to run into my aunt there and told her to sign too.  I'm not crazy about being stopped going into the grocery store to sign a petition but this time it didn't bother me at all.

Chelsea King's Family Moving Back to Illinois

Last Update: 6/18 11:36 pm
POWAY, Calif. (AP) -- The family of slain California teen Chelsea King says they are moving back to Illinois.

In a letter posted Friday on the website chelseaslight.org, Brent and Kelly King and their 13-year-old son Tyler said they will move next month to Naperville, Illinois, where they lived for 10 years before coming to the San Diego suburb of Poway in 2007.

Brent King wrote that after the emotional turmoil that followed 17-year-old Chelsea's murder the family wanted to return to a place where Tyler could have both familiar surroundings and anonymity.

Convicted sex offender John Albert Gardner III has pleaded guilty to the murders of Chelsea and 14-year-old Amber Dubois. He was sentenced to life in prison.
http://www.sandiego6.com/news/local/story/Chelsea-Kings-Family-Moving-Back-to-Illinois/d-ZQlgQa9km2s2jPGqm3bQ.cspx

Bless the King family, and I hope they will know peace in their lives again.  Not only was Chelsea a victim of John Gardner, the entire family has been victimized by this monster.  This has got to be unbelievably difficult for Tyler.  Prayers for the King Family. 

http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/local/inland_empire&id=7577895
(With Video)
Riverside bolsters tracking of sex offenders
July 27, 2010
RIVERSIDE, Calif. (KABC) -- Riverside County supervisors on Tuesday approved an enhanced plan to track all registered sex offenders before they strike again. Residents will now be notified when a sex offender moves nearby.

The idea for the plan came in the wake of the Amber Dubois and Chelsea King cases.

Residents who sign up for the program will receive an e-mail or postcard when a sex offender moves into their neighborhood.

The program is called SPIRIT, which stands for Sexual Predator Identification in Riverside County through Internet Tracking. It was spearheaded by Supervisor Jeff Stone.

"Anybody that's going to come here is going to face the scrutiny of our county district attorney, our Sheriff's department, our code enforcement, and we're going to be monitoring them," Stone said.

Spirit will be run through the district attorney's office and goes much further than the current Megan's Law system, supporters said. It will list the exact address of every sex offender in the county.

Some of the new rules state that a sex offender:

Cannot live within 2,000 feet of a school, park or child care center.
Cannot loiter within 300 feet of a school, park, or child care center.
Cannot live with one or more sex offenders in a home or apartment.
The district attorney's office will now maintain an online map pinpointing the homes of convicted sex offenders.

Moe Dubois, father of Amber Dubois, spoke in favor of the changes.

"Riverside County is on the forefront of their policies, their procedures, their SAFE team task force," he said. "It's cutting edge as far as what we have in this state."

Last week, the community of Good Hope was in uproar over the possibility of convicted murdered Donald Schmidt being moved to a halfway house in the area. The 37-year-old was convicted of sodomizing and drowning a 3-year-old girl in a bathtub in the 1980s.


Schmidt would not have had to register as a sex offender because the sex crime was later overturned.

The D.A.'s office, along with the board of supervisors, fought the possibility of Schmidt moving there. It apparently worked because he will not be moving into the area.

Sex offenders are still a hot-button issue in Riverside County, especially after the body of missing Moreno Valley teen Norma Lopez was found. One of the theories is that she was attacked by a sex predator.

http://articles.sfgate.com/2010-08-02/news/22007139_1_offender-management-board-child-molesters-crimes
California lawmakers to take up Chelsea's Law
August 2, 2010

(snip)
Elected leaders, wary of accusations that they were being soft on sexual predators, have historically stayed clear of reforming such laws, except to make them harsher.

But this week, Sacramento lawmakers will take up a measure that has been greatly revised since its introduction earlier this year to include provisions such as ongoing treatment for sex offenders and sentences tailored to the severity of a crime.
(snip)
ackers say the changes to AB1844 would focus the state's limited resources on the worst child molesters and will make great strides toward fixing how California deals with people found guilty of sex crimes - even if, at first glance, some of its provisions appear to ease restrictions for some convicted criminals. Perhaps just as unusual - the revised bill is the result of a rare bipartisan collaboration.

The proposal is called Chelsea's Law, after a San Diego teen killed by a registered sex offender in February. Like many legislative responses to horrific crimes against children, it began as a punitive measure that would have increased the sentences and parole terms given to child molesters.

The changes made last month include tailoring those sentencing and parole requirements to specific crimes, instead of taking a one-size-fits-all approach. It would match treatment approaches to ongoing assessments of offenders, and it would use polygraph tests for parolees.

The measure still doesn't tackle what many experts consider one of the biggest failures of current sex offender law: restrictions on how close convicted sex offenders can live to places like parks and schools. That restriction has forced thousands of parolees into homelessness, which critics say actually hurts public safety because the offenders become harder to track.

However, the newly proposed changes do conform with many of the other recommendations that the state's own experts - the California Sex Offender Management Board - have made for years.
(snip)

BLOCKED WEBSITE

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/aug/11/lawmakers-clear-bill-to-seal-child-autopsies/
Lawmakers clear bill to seal child autopsies
Homicide victims' privacy cited
August 11, 2010

SAN DIEGO | The privacy rights of parents of slain children won over the rights of the public to review autopsies in a landslide vote Wednesday in the California state Senate.

The Deceased Child Victims' Protection and Privacy Act, authored by Sen. Dennis Hollingsworth, San Diego Republican, is marked "urgent" and has moved rapidly through the Senate since the slayings of two teenage girls from the San Diego area. The bill won Senate approval in a 29-1 vote Wednesday and now heads for the Assembly.

The bill was introduced after the deaths of 17-year-old Chelsea King of Poway and 14-year-old Amber Dubois of Escondido, whose remains were discovered in March. Registered sex offender John Albert Gardner III was convicted of the murders and sentenced in May to life without parole.

"I believe we have found a fitting balance between protecting the privacy of families while creating a necessary system of checks and balances," Mr. Hollingsworth said.

"I am very pleased the bill has received strong support and that my colleagues have listened to the families of these murdered children."
Sen. Leland Yee, a Democrat who represents San Francisco and San Mateo counties, was the lone vote against it, and eight senators did not vote.

Mr. Yee is the Senate's assistant president pro tem and co-authored San Francisco's open government and sunshine ordinance.

"If the public really understood this issue, they would understand his perspective," said Yee spokesman Adam Keigwin.

"Sen. Yee is one of the strongest supporters of open government. He sympathizes with the parents, but the alternative is potentially more harmful.

If this bill passes, the press won't be able to provide any scrutiny of autopsies. There could be a parent involved in the death of a child and they could be trying to hide that autopsy information," he said.
Senate Bill 982 would allow biological or adoptive parents, spouses or legal guardians of anyone younger than 18 statewide to seal autopsies and related evidence from public inspection in cases of homicide.

That evidence could include writings, DVDs or computer information collected during autopsies.

The bill allows for certain family members to ask for a court hearing if they oppose the information being sealed.

The measure would not cover children who are dependents of the court and would be applied only after someone has been sentenced in the killing.
(snip)

http://caivn.org/article/2010/08/11/amending-chelseas-law-make-it-more-cost-effective
Amending Chelsea's Law to make it more cost-effective
August 11, 2010

(snip)
To save on corrections spending, the bill has been amended to say that most offenders convicted of a repeat petty theft would be guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in county jail. They would have to be convicted of petty theft four times before they could be sent to state prison for a longer sentence."

The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation estimated that reclassifying the penalty for petty theft to a lesser, misdemeanor charge would have kept more than 940 thieves out of prison over a recent 12-month period. This would have saved the state close to $50 million.

Karen Pank, spokeswoman for the California State Sheriff's Association said her organization is worried that these changes might worsen county jail overcrowding. Despite these concerns, the association still supports Fletcher's bill.

Recommendations from the state's Sex Offender Management Board have also been included in the bill. Stipulations such as the routine use of polygraph exams and a risk assessment approach to individual cases have been inserted to improve the monitoring of paroled sex offenders.

The hope is that such reforms will cut corrections costs by reducing the number of re-offenders.

Chelsea's Law takes its name from Chelsea King, a 17-year-old Poway girl who was raped and murdered earlier this year. John Gardner, a convicted child molester, confessed to killing King and another San Diego County resident, 14-year-old Amber Dubois. Gardner is currently serving a life sentence.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/aug/13/calif-senate-take-chelseas-law/
Calif. Senate to take up 'Chelsea's Law'
Law would put worst sex offenders behind bars for life
August 13, 2010

SAN DIEGO – "Chelsea's Law," which would incarcerate California's worse sex offenders for life without parole, heads to the state senate floor next week after the measure unanimously passed in a state Senate committee Thursday.

Authored by San Diego Republican Nathan Fletcher, Assembly Bill 1844 would also increase parole terms for offenders who target children younger than 14 and provide a containment model and risk assessment that could keep mentally disordered offenders in prison longer if deemed necessary.
(snip)

http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/2598828,CST-NWS-chelsea15.article
Murdered girl's family returns to Naperville
After Calif. tragedy, 'It was like walking into a great big hug'
August 14, 2010

The parents of Chelsea King, a former Naperville teen who was murdered in the San Diego area by a paroled sex offender, have returned to DuPage County to raise their son.

Kelly and Brent King moved from Naperville to San Diego in 2007.

They said they returned to their old neighborhood in Naperville mostly for their son, Tyler, 14. The heavy media attention after Chelsea was killed in California took a toll on them there, they said.

"I can't imagine raising my children anywhere else," Kelly King said of Naperville.

"It was like walking into a great big hug. [Tyler] is probably the happiest we've seen him in a very long time," she said.

"We wanted to immerse Tyler back in his area of safety," Brent King added.

The murder of their 17-year-old daughter is the driving force behind Chelsea's Law, a proposal that includes a one-strike provision for the most violent sex offenders; lengthier prison terms for forcible sex crimes, and restrictions on sex offenders' ability to enter parks.

The Kings' five-month campaign to toughen legislation governing convicted sex offenders advanced significantly last week when the bill passed out of a California state Senate committee. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has endorse the bill.

The Kings plan to lobby for similar legislation elsewhere, envisioning Chelsea's Law in all 50 states.

Before Chelsea was killed, Kelly King said she took it for granted that the law would protect her family.

"Be aware. Don't be comfortable," she advised parents. "This happened to us in a community where no one thought it could happen."

The couple are painfully aware that Chelsea's friends are headed off to college soon.

Whenever he is around people Chelsea's age, Brent King says, he feels hurt -- but he also gets a little bit of his daughter back.

"I'll trade the pain for that joy," he said.

http://www.10news.com/news/24937886/detail.html

Gov. Schwarzenegger To Sign Chelsea's Law Today
Governor Will Sign Bill In Balboa Park

POSTED: 4:56 am PDT September 9, 2010
UPDATED: 9:50 am PDT September 9, 2010
SAN DIEGO -- A special 5-mile-long message in honor of slain Poway High teenager Chelsea King will appear briefly high in the sky above the Inland Corridor Thursday.

At 3:30 p.m., Worldwide Sky Advertising will write out a message that "celebrates the love the San Diego community has shown for Chelsea, and the King family's love for the San Diego community," said family spokeswoman Sara Muller Fraunces.

The message comes the same day Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will be at Spreckels Organ Pavilion in Balboa Park to sign legislation named for Chelsea. Brent and Kelly King, Chelsea's parents, will be present for the morning signing event, along with the bill's author, Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher, R-San Diego.

Assembly Bill 1844, also known as Chelsea's Law, requires a life sentence without the possibility of parole for forcible sex acts against minors. It would also tighten sex offense parole guidelines and require lifelong tracking of certain sex offenders.

Today's skywriting message was arranged by Padres announcer Mark Grant and friends of the King family, and underwritten by an anonymous donor, according to the spokeswoman. It will for sure be visible from Poway High School, where Chelsea would have graduated last June had she not been raped and murdered by sex offender John Albert Gardner III on Feb. 25.

The Kings and their extended family planned to view today's skywriting privately from a hilltop spot somewhere in Poway.

Pilot Greg Stinis will spend about 10 minutes writing out the message over 5 miles, Fraunces said, adding that each character will be as tall as the Empire State Building.

Gardner, 31, was sentenced in May to two life terms without parole for murdering and sexually assaulting Chelsea and for abducting, raping and fatally stabbing 14-year-old Amber Dubois of Escondido a year earlier.

A package of bills promoted by Amber's father that are intended to improve law enforcement handling of missing person cases also await the governor's signature.

Thought we already knew this, but it is dated today

Chelsea's Law parents spread idea for 'one-strike' sex law
9.26.10

ESCONDIDO, Calif. | As the first case to be prosecuted under California's new "one-strike" sex offender law is processed, the parents of slain San Diego County teen Chelsea King are beginning to work toward passage of similar laws in Colorado, Florida, Ohio and Texas.

Chelsea's Law, named after their daughter, places greater restrictions on paroled offenders and keeps behind bars for life those who have committed violent crimes against children under age 14. It swept through the legislature in about three months during budget season this year in a rare display of fervent bipartisan support.

California Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher, author of Chelsea's Law, is co-chairman of an exploratory committee evaluating other states to see whether they are "a good fit" for similar measures.

"Some states may have some parts of Chelsea's Law already in place," said Mr. Fletcher. "When we put together Chelsea's Law we looked around the country to see what other states were doing so we could come up with the best piece of legislation we could. We're looking for willing legislators."

Since the law took effect earlier this month, a 55-year-old Lakeside man has been charged with the one-strike offense and felony counts of lewd acts against a 9-year-old boy. If convicted, the man could receive 25 years to life in prison.

Several other bills related to the deaths of Chelsea and 14-year-old Amber Dubois are awaiting Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's signature. Together, the bills would provide a quicker response when children go missing, allow for more specialized training for law enforcement who work on such cases, and offer parents of slain children an opportunity to seal autopsy-related information.

Two dozen media outlets asked for the autopsy results of both girls. Amber didn't arrive at school on Feb. 13, 2009. Her remains were found on an isolated hillside in Pala in March. Chelsea went jogging in a Rancho Bernardo park in February, and the 17-year-old's body was found along a nearby lakeshore a few days later. John Gardner was convicted in both slayings.

A gag order was in place during the investigations, pending a possible trial but the cases were later concluded with confessions and a plea bargain that let Gardner avoid the death penalty.

After the judge lifted the gag order, law enforcement stayed silent until after Gardner was sentenced in May. A press conference held a few days later still didn't provide the information reporters wanted, such as what exactly happened on the day Gardner reportedly led investigators to Amber's remains.

"We were asked not to talk about the case," Sheriff Bill Gore said at the press conference. A spokesman for District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis said that after the gag order was lifted, Ms. Dumanis asked law enforcement to respect the victims' privacy.

Escondido Police Department, which investigated Amber's disappearance as part of a task force of agencies, has said that during the time it was under a gag order, it was not able to dispel reported and rumored "myths" about the case.

Among the "myths," said spokesman Capt. Bob Benton, was that Amber was investigated as a runaway. A police report on Amber shows that she was listed as a missing juvenile at risk, with unknown circumstances.

One controversial aspect of the case was a canine search conducted by a volunteer team called VK9, an organization based in Virginia. In August 2009, the dogs appeared to lead their handlers 20 miles north of Amber's home to Pala, less than two miles away from where Amber's remains were eventually found. Escondido police followed up by having another organization take their bloodhounds to Pala but those dogs were not able to verify the VK9 efforts.

Interviews conducted by The Washington Times with several law enforcement agencies in other states who have used VK9's dogs indicate that the team's work is considered highly credible in a variety of aged scent and vehicle trail situations, although none of the trails referenced was as old as Amber's would have been.

Also on the Escondido Police Department's list of "myths" is that Amber's mother, Carrie McGonigle, had a live-in boyfriend at the time, Dave Cave, who was a suspect in the crime.

"We can never say that we suspect or don't suspect a family," Capt. Benton said. "In any investigation, we have to keep an open mind all the way through."

Though it was reported initially that the two passed polygraph tests, police later reworded their response and said that Mr. Cave's polygraphs were "inconclusive" at first, then later deemed not to "show any signs of deception," Capt. Benton said.

Public access to some information in the cases has been denied by San Diego County under the California Public Records Act. The county also is referencing a state constitutional amendment, known as Marsy's Law, which is intended to reduce the number of parole hearings of convicted murderers, but which the county is interpreting more broadly.

"Marsy's Law is designed to preserve and protect a victim's rights to justice and to be treated with fairness and respect for his or her privacy and dignity and to be free from intimidation, harassment and abuse throughout the criminal justice process," said Ms. Dumanis.

But Terry Francke, general counsel for Cal-Aware, a First Amendment issues organization, disagreed, saying, "As terribly sad as their lives may have been made, the survivors of homicide victims do not own the facts about the crime any more than the government does. It is particularly cynical and cruel of the law enforcement bureaucracy to suggest to the families that their 'dignity' somehow depends on keeping the rest of the community in the dark."

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/sep/26/chelseas-law-parents-idea-one-strike-sex-law/

did anyone see either Dateline or 20/20 over the weekend about Chelsea and Amber and John Gardner? It was really good! Amber's mother went face to face with Gardner and wanted to know facts of what happened to her daughter..She is a warrior that is for sure....Brave woman!

http://gltnewsnow.com/2010/10/01/governor-signs-kehoe%E2%80%99s-bill-to-allow-self-defense-training-for-teenagers/
Governor signs Kehoe’s bill to allow self-defense training for teenagers
October 1, 2010

SAN DIEGO – Sen. Christine Kehoe (D-San Diego) announced today that the governor signed into law her bill to allow self-defense training for California middle and high school students, in response to the abduction and death of San Diego teenagers Chelsea King and Amber Dubois.

“Despite the progress women and girls have made over the last 30 years, they remain targets of sexual assault and other acts of brutality – as illustrated by the deaths of Chelsea and Amber,” Kehoe said.  “The reality is that women and girls must always be vigilant in protecting themselves, and this new law will help train them to ward off potential attackers.”

The law, SB 1290, allows school districts to provide self-defense training as part of the standard physical education curriculum for students in grades 7-12.  Previous state law permitted such instruction for students only in grades 10-12.  The new law is neither a mandate for school districts nor does it stipulate how the course must be taught.  SB 1290 enjoys the support of San Diego Unified School District .

In December 2009, a young woman trained in self-defense fought off John Gardner, the man convicted of killing King and Dubois, in the same area in San Diego where King was later murdered.

http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/sdcounty/article_1e96649c-f1ff-55c2-aaa9-ec0e316d7c12.html
REGION: Governor OKs law to seal murdered children's records

Legislation prompted by Amber Dubois, Chelsea King cases
September 28, 2010

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill Monday that allows families to request that the autopsy reports of their murdered children be sealed.

The bill was sponsored by Sen. Dennis Hollingsworth, R-Murrieta, at the request of San Diego County District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis on behalf of the families of Chelsea King and Amber Dubois.

The two North County teens were raped and murdered by convicted sex offender John Albert Gardner III, who was sentenced in May to two life terms without the possibility of parole.

Hollingsworth said the law would spare families the pain of having their children's autopsy records released to the public. He said 22 separate public records requests had been made to release the records for Chelsea King. All were denied.

"These families who have endured such horrific tragedies shouldn't be victimized a second time by the public airing of these autopsy reports," Hollingsworth said in a written statement.

Terry Francke, legislative counsel for the nonprofit First Amendment group Californians Aware, said the law was unnecessary because authorities already are allowed to seal autopsy records when they are part of a homicide investigation.

"I think it's an instance of elected politicians exploiting a very sad situation and identifying a problem that doesn't exist and coming up with a cure," Francke said.

Amber Dubois, 14, was abducted by Gardner as she walked to Escondido High School in February 2009. Her body was found a year later in a shallow grave near the Pala Indian Reservation.

This past February, Gardner grabbed Chelsea King as she jogged at a Rancho Bernardo park. He stashed the 17-year-old Poway girl's body near Lake Hodges.

In Senate committee hearings held in July, attorneys for media advocacy organizations, such as the California Newspaper Publishers Association, argued for disclosure of the records because the material is prepared by public employees at taxpayers' expense.

Public access also is needed so the media can do its job in holding the justice system and criminals accountable, said Tom Newton, general counsel for the CNPA.

In some cases, child killers are family members, meaning the law could be used to keep investigative records secret as a way to protect relatives, he said.

Hollingsworth, however, said the media could do its job by examining other court and criminal records that would remain public.

The new law, which takes effect immediately, makes exemptions for law enforcement officials. The records also could not be kept secret if the victim was a ward of the juvenile justice or Child Protective Service systems.

Earlier this month, the governor also signed Chelsea's Law, a bill sponsored by the girl's parents, and three other bills sponsored by Moe Dubois, Amber's father.

http://www.10news.com/news/25192479/detail.html
Board Supports Naming Roads After Dubois, King
Amber Dubois, Chelsea King Killed By Sex Offender John Gardner
September 28, 2010

SAN DIEGO -- The San Diego County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to support state legislation to name a highway and bridge after slain North County teens Amber Dubois and Chelsea King.
(snip)

http://www.news10.net/news/story.aspx?storyid=101902&catid=2&GID=MVDcMyEMfPpLVMh4zzGsc93kpyc9nj4PG63g4swn+no%3D

Calif. board rejects claim by slain teen's father

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- A board that considers compensation for California crime victims has rejected a claim by the father of a San Diego teenager killed by a paroled sex offender.

Thursday's action clears the way for Brent King to sue the state over the Feb. 25 murder of his 17-year-old daughter, Chelsea.

Janice Mackey, a spokeswoman for the Victim Compensation and Government Claims Board, says board members decided the claim would be better handled by the courts.

King's attorney and a family spokeswoman did not return telephone messages Thursday. Last month, King said he had not decided if he will file a lawsuit.

He sought more than $25,000, claiming his daughter would be alive if parole agents had done a better job tracking John Gardner, who has since pleaded guilty to the murder.



The Associated Press
Copyright 2010 / All Rights Reserved

God Bless you Chelsea, Merry Christmas.

Many prayers to the Chelsea's family and friends today.

King's Parents Will Not Sue the State in Daughter's DeathThe parents of 17-year-old Chelsea King, who was murdered in February 2010, announced Friday that they will not sue the state.

Brent and Kelly King, the parents of slain Poway High School teen Chelsea, announced Friday that they will not sue the state in connection with their daughter's death.

The Kings made the announcement Friday morning at the Courtyard Marriott Hotel in Rancho Bernardo, accompanied by Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher, who authored sexual predator legislation in their daughter's name.

The California Victim Compensation Board recently rejected a $25,000 claim by the Kings stating that the state failed to properly track John Gardner, which ultimately led to the death of Chelsea on Feb. 25, 2010.

"We've decided not to purse any legal action against the state," Brent King said, adding that any money received in a lawsuit would just serve as a constant reminder of the pain from the family's loss.

"What do you do with the money that comes from the loss of your daughter?" Brent King said.

Fletcher said his goal is to ensure that Chelsea's Law, which toughens penalties for sexual predators, is properly enacted. The Kings said they expect to announce soon in which states they will next pursue new laws to better protect children from sexual predators.

Gardner—who pleaded guilty to killing King, 17, in February 2010 and Amber Dubois, 14, of Escondido in February 2009—was arrested on Feb. 28, 2010. He was sentenced in May to two life terms without parole. He also was sentenced to an additional 33 years to life in prison for assaulting Candice Moncayo near Lake Hodges in December 2009. Moncayo, a college student, was able to escape Gardner.

FBI officers found King's body on March 2, 2010, near the lake. Dubois' body was found on March 6, 2010, on a Pala reservation.

At the time of his arrest, Gardner, then 30, was a convicted sex offender on parole with a 10-year criminal record. He had recently spent six years in prison for beating and sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl.

The Kings, who have moved to Naperville, IL, are visiting the area to meet with members of the Chelsea's Light Foundation. The organization's mission is to create awareness about sexual predators and promote legislative change to protect children. In March, the foundation will host the first annual "Finish Chelsea's Run" in an effort to raise money for its Sunflower Scholarship.

http://lajolla.patch.com/articles/kings-parents-will-not-sue-the-state-in-daughters-death-3

http://poway.patch.com/articles/san-diegos-kristi-krause-advances-to-next-round-in-american-idol
San Diego's Kristi Krause Advances to Next Round in American Idol
Kristi Krause, who wrote a song in honor of Poway's Chelsea King, heads to Hollywood after three auditions.
February 10, 2011

Local teen Kristi Krause advanced to the Hollywood round of American Idol after Wednesday night's San Francisco tryouts.

Krause, who wrote a song in honor of Poway's Chelsea King and who attends Rancho Bernardo High School, endured three rounds of auditions before coming out with the "golden ticket."

 ::snipping2::

http://www.10news.com/news/26823094/detail.html
King Family Prepares For 'Finish Chelsea's Run'
5K Run/Walk In Honor Of Chelsea King Set For March 5
February 10, 2011

SAN DIEGO -- The parents of Chelsea King are continuing preparations for next month's inaugural Finish Chelsea's 5K Run/Walk.

Brent and Kelly King, and 14-year-old son Tyler, now reside in Naperville, Illinois, but the family returns to San Diego monthly to work on the Chelsea's Light Foundation.
 ::snipping2::
Organizers said 1,600 people have already signed up for the run, which will be held March 5 at 7:30 a.m. in Balboa Park.

http://www.capitolweekly.net/article.php?_c=zijbmtm3yw1sc1&xid=zihge4ggy9haz2&done=.zijbmtm3ywnsc1
SF lawmaker urges tiered registration of sex offenders
February 23, 2011

"Sex offender” is a scary term. But in California, it can mean anyone from a multiple-count rapist of children to someone who exposed themselves once while drunk.

Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco, wants to change that. The chair of the Assembly Public Safety Committee has introduced legislation that would create a tiered system for registering and monitoring sex offenders.

So far, AB 625, also known as the “Sex Offender Registration Act,” is just a placeholder that announces the intention “to establish a tiered sex offender registration law.” Ammiano argues that the bill will increase public safety while saving the state money.
 ::snipping2::
California is also one of only four states — Alabama, Florida and South Carolina are the others — that require lifetime registration and monitoring for all sex offenders, regardless of offense.

The office of Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher, R-San Diego, said they were “keeping an eye” on the bill, but declined to comment until they see more details. Fletcher was the author of Chelsea’s Law, AB 1844, which passed easily last year. It puts new penalties and post-release restrictions on numerous sex offenses. The law was named for 17-year-old Chelsea King, a San Diego girl who was raped and murdered a year ago.

Her killer, John Albert Gardiner III, was a convicted sex offender, but was not classified as a sexually violent predator. He was convicted of molesting a 13-year-old girl when he was 21. He also committed another widely-reported-on murder, the 2009 slaying of 14 year-old-Amber Dubois, for whom the Amber Alert is named.
 ::snipping2::

http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/Chelsea-Kings-Parents-116921123.html
Chelsea's Legacy Has Just Begun: Kings
February 25, 2011

One year ago today, 17-year old Chelsea King left Poway High School and drove to the Rancho Bernardo-Glassman Recreation Center. She parked her car and hit the trails for a jog. She never returned home.
 ::snipping2::
Chelsea King's body was found Mar. 2 after an extensive search around Lake Hodges. Registered sex offender John Gardner was later sentence to life in prison for her death and the murder of 14-year-old Amber Dubois.
 ::snipping2::
In the year that has passed, Chelsea's parents have been determined to reform sex offender laws. Chelsea's Law was established last September. It asserts that any person convicted of certain sexual offenses against a child will receive life in prison without the possibility of parole.

The parents remain determined to apply pressure and hold lawmakers accountable.
 ::snipping2::
The Kings, who now live in Illinois, devote most of their time and energy to the Chelsea's Light Foundation. On Mar. 5, the foundation will hold it's first official fundraiser, "Finish Chelsea's Run," at Balboa Park. Money raised will fund local scholarships.

 ::snipping2::

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032600/

Dateline NBC Do you remember the missing California girls, Amber Dubois and Chelsea King? Keith Morrison reports their connected stories this Friday at 9pm/8c...4/8/11

Preview: 'In Broad Daylight'
www.msnbc.msn.com
Amber Dubois vanished in San Diego County, a search turned up nothing. Then, a year later, Chelsea King disappeared in a neighboring town. Were the two connected? Keith Morrison reports on the exhaustive searches and how detectives tracked down their suspect

http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/sdcounty/article_f921901b-c527-5548-a467-abec2ac3a7da.html
REGION: These triathletes sweat for lesser-known causes
August 21, 2011
 ::snipping2::
TriN for a Cause got its start in mid-2010 as TriN for Chelsea, an all-female team that blended athletes and newbies alike who wanted to compete to draw awareness and raise money for Chelsea's Light Foundation. That foundation was created in the name of Chelsea King, a Poway teen who was murdered in early 2010 while on an afternoon jog around Lake Hodges.

A triathlon is a race that calls for swimming, cycling, and then running. The multifaceted sport is offered at various distances, from shorter "sprint" triathlons to lengthier ventures such as the Ironman, which demands a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike and 26.2-mile run.

Many who signed up for the TriN for Chelsea team had never raced before and completed several short-distance races in 2010.

After about a year of raising thousands of dollars for Chelsea's Light, and racing alongside relatives of Chelsea King, the team's organizers decided to shift the focus to small nonprofits.

"Chelsea's Light became very high profile and that inspired us," Wintersteen said. "Now we are looking for the mom and pop operations."

The team has also gone coed, more than doubling its members to nearly 100 athletes, each of whom pay $25 a year to attend training events, to listen to race seminars led by the sport's most notable athletes, and to wear the TriN for a Cause jersey.
 ::snipping2::
The team, meanwhile, doesn't collect money; its members refer you to the nonprofit they are supporting through find-raising pages. The team is planning to select one nonprofit a year and race to create awareness for that cause.

TriN for a Cause does have an application and selection process, she said.

Details are available through its Facebook page: www.facebook .com/trinforacause.
 ::snipping2::

http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2012/01/27/slain-teens-dad-wants-tough-law-against-violent-sex-offenders-in-illinois/
Slain Teen’s Dad Wants Tough Law Against Violent Sex Offenders In Illinois
January 27, 2012

NAPERVILLE, Ill. (CBS) — The FBI is honoring a Naperville man Friday, presenting him with the Director’s Community Leadership Award for taking a tragedy and using it as a vehicle for change.

As WBBM Newsradio’s Steve Miller reports, two years ago, Chelsea King was about to start her life as a young adult.
 ::snipping2::
The FBI says Brent King worked to help find his daughter’s killer, who turned out to be a registered sex offender. John Gardner had been imprisoned a decade ago for molesting his 13-year-old neighbor, but served only five years, despite a psychiatrist’s warning that he was still a dangerous predator, CBS News reported.
After confessing to the attack on Chelsea, Gardner also led authorities to the body of 14-year-old Amber Dubois, who had been missing since 2009. He is now serving a life sentence for the murders.

Afterward, Brent King and his wife, Kelly, successfully pushed for Chelsea’s Law in California.

Then-California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the law in September 2010.

But King says part of that law, which calls for monitoring convicted sexual predators once they’re out of prison, is not being funded.

“(California) Governor (Jerry) Brown is finding a way to fund a bullet train for a billion dollars, and he can’t find a way to fund this law this year,” King said.

King says he’d like to work to bring something similar to Chelsea’s Law to Illinois.
More...

Video at Link
 (In article) LISTEN: WBBM Newsradio’s Steve Miller reports

http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/escondido/escondido-vigil-held-for-amber-dubois-on-rd-anniversary-of/article_3ffbebaf-1d4b-51fa-a8ba-3a65d8d4c339.html
ESCONDIDO: Vigil held for Amber Dubois on 3rd anniversary of murder
February 13, 2012

ESCONDIDO ---- Three years to the day after Amber Dubois was kidnapped and killed by a stranger, her family held a candlelight vigil in her honor in Escondido.

The vigil was on Stanley Avenue, the site from which registered sex offender cornered Amber, 14, and ordered her into his car as she walked to school Feb. 13, 2009.
 ::snipping2::

http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2012/mar/04/tp-flowers-power-chelseas-run/
FLOWERS POWER CHELSEA’S RUN
Nearly 6,000 join scholarship fundraiser in memory of slain Poway High senior
Written by Karla Peterson
March 4, 2012

 ::snipping2::
On Saturday, Balboa Park was awash in bright flowers and even brighter spirits, as thousands of people poured in for Finish Chelsea’s Run, the 5K Run/Walk dedicated to the memory of Poway teen Chelsea King.

According to estimates from organizers, close to 6,000 people participated in the charity run, which benefits the Chelsea’s Light Foundation and its Sunflower Scholarship Fund. And from the scholarships to the booth selling sunflowers (Chelsea’s favorite) and the racing-bib numbers laced with ready-to-plant wildflower seeds, the day was filled with the promise of renewal. It was also a tribute to the legacy of a girl whose spirit was as buoyant as the cheery flowers she loved.
 ::snipping2::

I found this article after the race, but thought it newsworthy. 

http://poway.patch.com/articles/dad-says-family-would-never-miss-run-to-honor-chelsea-king
Dad Says Family 'Would Never Miss' Run to Honor Chelsea King
The second annual Finish Chelsea's Run takes place Saturday, March 3, at Balboa Park.
February 28, 2012

For Chelsea King’s family, Feb. 25 is a day to forget. But just as much as that fateful day in 2010 can’t be undone, the King family has worked equally hard to create something good out of the tragic event that ended their daughter’s life.

And so Finish Chelsea’s Run was born—a 5K run/walk hosted by Chelsea’s Light Foundation, an organization that provides academic assistance to notable students through its Sunflower Scholarship Fund. 

“We would never miss it,’ said Brent King of this year’s event on March 3 to honor his daughter. “It’s actually a really positive event in our life because we see so many people who want to be involved and make it better.”

Speaking from his Illinois home where he lives with wife Kelly and son Tyler, he added: “The hard part is the weekend we just went through. Then after the race it’s, ‘Boy, we want to do that again.”
 ::snipping2::

http://blog.sfgate.com/djsaunders/2012/04/24/death-penalty-foes-oppose-plea-bargains-for-killers/
Death penalty foes oppose plea bargains for killers


The SAFE folks, who are pushing a ballot measure to end California’s death penalty, had a conference call yesterday in which former L.A. D.A.s Gil Garcetti and John Van de Kamp participated.

During the question period, I asked the former prosecutors what they thought the effect would be of eliminating the death penalty as leverage to attain plea bargains with murderers.

Garcetti railed that using the death penalty to win a plea bargain would be “an unethical thing to do,” and L.A. would never do it. Van de Kamp agreed: “That is extortion,” he intoned, and “totally unethical.” (Yes, this is the same Van de Kamp who did not want to try Hillside Strangler Angelo Bueno, citing insufficient evidence to try. See story here.) The implication, a reporter who heard their answer later told me, was that iI watched too much TV.
Today I chatted with the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation’s Michael Rushford who rattled off some information plea bargains which prosecutors made with murderers.

John Gardner, a 31-year-old sex offender convicted of killing two teenage girls in San Diego County, was given three consecutive life sentences without parole after his victims’ families confronted him in court for his crimes. ABC reports: Gardner reached a plea deal last month that spared him a possible death penalty. He admitted to the rape and murders of Amber Dubois, 14, and 17-year-old Chelsea King.

According to an anti-death penalty web site, the Department of Justice, 210 of 411 federal defendants facing capital murder charges “avoided trial by negotiated plea when the government dropped its request for the death penalty without a plea agreement, dismissed charges entirely or the judge barred the death penalty.”
 ::snipping2::

http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2012/apr/25/king-family-joins-criticism-saldana/
Chelsea King's family joins criticism of Saldaña
April 25, 2012

The family of slain 17-year-old Chelsea King on Wednesday joined in the criticism of former Assemblywoman Lori Saldaña for failing to support state legislation named for the Poway teen that established harsher penalties and better tracking of violent sexual offenders.

Saldaña, locked in a tough congressional campaign, said she supported the direction of the bill, but was concerned about a lack of a specific funding source.

The King family’s statement comes a week after Saldaña’s Democratic rival, Port Commissioner Scott Peters, demanded she justify being the only local lawmaker not to vote for Chelsea’s Law, which became effective Sept. 9, 2010.
 ::snipping2::
Last week, Saldaña told U-T San Diego that she was concerned the bill had yet to be fully implemented.

“I didn’t vote against it because I strongly support the bill’s intent,” she said. “But, in good conscience, I couldn’t vote for it because I think it would have been wrong to give false hope to victims of these violent sexual predators.”

In January, Brent King complained about a “setback” in his attempt to work with Gov. Jerry Brown’s team to develop a funding plan to implement a key component of Chelsea’s Law.

The governor’s proposed 2012-’13 budget delays for two years funding for the “containment model” approach that leans on extensive monitoring, interviews, analyses and polygraph tests to determine whether a sex offender is likely to strike again.
More...

http://www.nctimes.com/news/national/govt-and-politics/region-chelsea-s-law-escapes-budget-ax/article_d9910adb-7bc3-50d6-ac49-615f933ee253.html
REGION: 'Chelsea's Law' escapes budget ax
By Mark Walker
May 16, 2012

State budget woes apparently won't get in the way of counties fully implementing "Chelsea's Law," a measure that imposes tough requirements on sex offenders.

Gov. Jerry Brown's revised budget released Monday removed a provision that gave counties authority to delay requiring sex offenders on probation to participate in a management program and be under strict monitoring.

State Assemblyman and San Diego mayoral candidate Nathan Fletcher hailed the governor's action. But in a statement released Wednesday, his spokeswoman said more needs to be done to fully implement the law.
 ::snipping2::
The law is named after Poway's Chelsea King, a 17-year-old who in 2010 was kidnapped, raped and murdered by previously convicted sex offender John Albert Gardner III.

Gardner admitted doing the same to 14-year-old Amber Dubois of Escondido a year earlier. He is serving a life prison sentence.

http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2012/may/15/chelseas-law-back-on-track/
Chelsea’s Law back on track
Teen's father, Assemblyman Fletcher lobby for change
By Michael Gardner
May 15, 2012

http://www.myvalleynews.com/story/63978/
AAU hosts second annual Home Run for Chelsea Baseball Tournament
By JP Raineri
May 18th, 2012, Issue 20, Volume 18

ORTH COUNTY – Two years ago, residents from the surrounding areas were stunned and in disbelief when 17-year-old Poway High School senior, Chelsea King, was kidnapped and murdered by Lake Elsinore resident John Gardner, who also admitted to killing 14-year-old Escondido High School freshmen, Amber Dubois, in 2009.

In the wake of their daughter’s death, Chelsea’s parents, Brent and Kelly, launched Chelsea’s Light Foundation. The non-profit organization, according to its Facebook page, "aims to unite and lead people who are passionate about protecting children and inspiring positive change in their communities."

The group has helped organize many events in the teen’s honor and created service scholarships for students. In its first year, the organization awarded $65,000 to college-bound seniors, established a peer counseling program and developed an outreach and support initiative for the victims of sexual assault.

Many patrons are still coming together time and time again to make sure the memory of these young girls stays alive, and for the second year in a row, the event organizers from the local chapter of Southern California’s American Athletic Union (AAU) along with the Chelsea’s Light foundation will be putting on a one-day baseball tournament that will take place on May 20.
 ::snipping2::
In total, more than 1,000 youth will be playing simultaneous baseball on 10 fields with about 65 volunteer umpires.

To find out more information about the upcoming tournament "Home Run for Chelsea" as well as more about the Southern California Amateur Athletic Union, visit the website at www.socalaaubaseball.com. To make a donation to the Chelsea’s Light Foundation, go to www.chelseaslight.org.  

http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/Amber-Dubois-Mother-Confronts-Lost-Girls-Author-161531275.html (http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/Amber-Dubois-Mother-Confronts-Lost-Girls-Author-161531275.html)


Amber Dubois' Mother Confronts 'Lost Girls' Author
Carrie McGonigle, mother of murdered teenager Amber Dubois, came face-to-face Thursday with the author of a new book that details her daughter’s death and the murder of Chelsea King
By Tony Shin, Monica Garske and Lauren Steussy
|  Friday, Jul 6, 2012

The mother of murdered North County teenager Amber Dubois confronted the author of a new book Thursday that details the death of her daughter, as well as the murder of teenager Chelsea King.

Author Caitlin Rother released “Lost Girls” Tuesday, a book detailing the murders of the two local teenage girls. The book was written without the permission of the families and includes a 15-page interview with the man who killed the teens, John Gardner.

Dubois,14, went missing in February 2009. Her remains were not found until March 2010, after Gardner was arrested and questioned following the rape and murder of Poway High School senior Chelsea King. King and Dubois were both kidnapped, raped and murdered by Gardner.

On Thursday, Rother held a book signing at a Barnes & Noble in Mira Mesa. In front of an audience, Rother explained why she wrote the book and took questions from the crowd.

“Let's try to fix these flaws -- the corrections system, the mental health system, the parole system. There were problems with all of them,” Rother told the crowd.

One question came from Amber Dubois’ mother, Carrie McGonigle, who was in the audience.

 ::snipping2::

WOW.  Did you read the comments?  Even the book author joined in.

http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2012/jul/09/tp-honor-for-slain-girls-stalls-in-legislature/
HONOR FOR SLAIN GIRLS STALLS IN LEGISLATURE
By J. Harry Jones
July 9, 2012

A few months after the conviction of John Gardner for the rape and murders of Chelsea King and Amber Dubois in 2010, it was suggested that two highway segments be named in the girls’ honor.

The county Board of Supervisors passed a resolution urging the Legislature to approve naming the Interstate 15 bridge over Lake Hodges “The Chelsea King Memorial Bridge,” and a segment of state Route 78 near the San Diego Zoo Safari Park as “Amber Dubois Highway.”

Chelsea, 17, of Poway, was killed on the banks of Lake Hodges. Amber, 14, of Escondido, loved animals.

It was thought that Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher of San Diego would push the legislation through. Nothing happened, however, and apparently nothing will.

Fletcher’s office said the focus has been and continues to be getting the various provisions of Chelsea’s Law passed and strengthened. The law, authored by Fletcher, includes enhanced sentencing for predators who commit forcible sex crimes against children.

The highway designations and the accompanying memorial signs never came to be.
More...