Chelsea King -- Found Deceased 3/2/10 -- UPDATE: John Albert Gardner III admits he murdered Chelsea

She was one brave lady!!! Bravo for fighting back!!!

Good for her, and it gives some insight as to how brutal he really was - he obviously had no problem w/ killing this lady to get what he wanted and told her so. I'm glad she escaped, it's a slam dunk for the prosecution to have a LIVE victim on the stand.

I didn't know that his mother worked in the mental health industry, that's a horse of a different color.... She might be charged with criminal negligence? and possibly harboring a fugitive if she knew afterwards what he did and didn't report it...

Hundreds vow to finish Chelsea King's run

Posted: Mar 17, 2010 10:49 AM EDT

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Hundreds of people have signed up to run through the San Diego park where Chelsea King was attacked in a tribute that's being called "Finish Chelsea's Run."

More than 250 people have said they'll attend Saturday's three-mile run at Rancho Bernardo Community Park. Organizers have posted information on Facebook.

The 9 a.m. event will take joggers around trails near Lake Hodges.

Chelsea, a 17-year-old Poway resident, never returned from a run at the park on Feb. 25. Her body was later found buried near the lake.

Convicted sex offender John Gardner has pleaded not guilty to her assault and to the attempted rape of another woman.

Authorities also say he's a suspect in last year's murder of 14-year-old Amber Dubois of Escondido.

http://www.cbs8.com/Global/story.asp?S=12155165

It is great that the the prosecution has a live witness. I'm glad Candace was able to get away. Here is a video from her appearance on Larry King last night.

Thank God she got away! How terrifying would that be? I was mugged in broad daylight and couldn't stop shaking for hours. I would be fine and then all of a sudden it would engulf me. It was very scary. I can't imagine going through what this young girl did. And kudos to her for taking her pit the next day. I would go anywhere if Bella was with me.

Finish Chelsea's Run sounds like an awesome event! I wish I lived closer. Her parents are pillars of strength. They remind me of the Harringtons. God bless them all.

Calif. rape suspect lived by school for 16 months

03/18/10 11:01 pm

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - A convicted sex offender charged with murdering a California teenager lived near a preschool for at least 16 months before parole agents forced him to move, according to state corrections records released Wednesday. A regional administrator let John Albert Gardner III continue living within 126 yards of the San Diego County preschool until his lease expired in 2006, a top corrections official told The Associated Press. But no one noticed he was still living there until a year later.

Assistant Secretary Oscar Hidalgo said there was confusion in part because of a change in parole agents.

Gardner pleaded not guilty earlier this month to murdering 17-year-old Chelsea King, whose presumed body was found in a park near her hometown of Poway north of San Diego. He also is charged with assaulting a woman in the same park last year and is under investigation in the death of 14-year-old Amber Dubois in Escondido in early 2009.

Parole and prison records released to the AP under a records request and made public Wednesday show Gardner was living little more than a football field's length from the preschool on the Miramar College campus after he was paroled from prison in 2005 after serving five years for molesting a 13-year-old girl.

That violated a condition of his parole that prohibited him from living within a half-mile of a school.

On May 2, 2006, the district administrator authorized Gardner to remain there until his lease expired on Aug. 1, 2006.

However, Gardner was never told he had to move, according to the parole records. A parole agent noticed he was still living there in September 2007, and he was moved to a sober living program within days.

"The supervisor gave him some time to finish the lease out," Hidalgo said. "A new agent said he's out of compliance and he had to move."

The new agent referred Gardner to the parole board for a violation that could have sent him back to prison. However, the board continued him on parole, where he had six other less serious potential violations before he was released from supervision in September 2008.

If Gardner had been sent back to prison, officials say he would have been evaluated for commitment to a state mental hospital as a sexually violent predator. He also would have qualified for wearing an electronic tracking device for the rest of his life.

Hidalgo said the department is reviewing its parole agents' actions, and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has asked for a review by an advisory panel made up of law enforcement, victims and treatment experts.

Hidalgo said there is a question whether Gardner violated state law by living near the preschool. State law at the time set the half-mile restriction for high-risk sex offenders, while Gardner was considered low- to moderate-risk. Regardless, records show his parole conditions specified the half-mile residency restriction.

http://www.abc3340.com/news/stories/0310/717139.html

3,500 finish route that Chelsea started
Slain girl’s mother cheers participants

By Kristina Davis, UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
Updated March 21, 2010 at 12:05 a.m.



The trails that had grown quiet after the killing of Poway teenager Chelsea King came back to life yesterday as thousands of people finished the run she never did.

They weren’t necessarily runners or even friends of Chelsea’s, but strangers once again drawn together by a tragedy that continues to resonate across the nation.

“This is a community thing,” said Dennis Caco, a member of a group called San Diego Running. “No runner is left behind.”

In a quintessential San Diego-style tribute, as many as 3,500 people resolutely walked and jogged the three-mile route, symbolically taking back the park as their own.

They said it’s what Chelsea would have wanted.

As they crossed the finish line at Rancho Bernardo Community Park, many were surprised to find Chelsea’s mother cheering them on.

“Thank you,” Kelly King told the many strangers who embraced her.

San Marcos resident Lori Balfour apologized for her perspiration before falling into King’s arms and breaking down into tears.

“I love this part,” King assured her. “Sweat is good!”

Balfour, a mother herself, said she felt anger and sadness during her jog through the trails south of Lake Hodges, where Chelsea, 17, had planned to run before disappearing Feb. 25. Her body was found in a shallow grave nearby five days later.

“It’s disheartening to be so wary of being in danger in a place so beautiful,” Balfour said, still wiping away tears after her talk with King. “Just to see her standing there greeting people and being so gracious is a true measure of strength. You can tell God is uplifting her and her family.”

The event yesterday morning was another opportunity for San Diegans to pay tribute collectively to the Poway High senior who ran cross-country and played French horn. In previous weeks, thousands joined in the search for her, and later mourned her death in a candlelight vigil and public memorial service.

Cross-country teams and running clubs wore their uniforms to honor their fallen competitor, while others did so by wearing orange, Chelsea’s favorite color, and blue, the color of her eyes.

Parents pushed children in strollers, mothers ran with their preteen daughters, and neighbors hit the trails with their dogs. Some carried yellow flowers to lay along the path.

Organizers accepted donations in exchange for powder-blue rubber bracelets with the words “Run for Chelsea.” All of the proceeds, more than $5,100, will go to Chelsea’s Light Foundation, the nonprofit organization started by her parents to strengthen laws against sex offenders.

“It’s an important thing to do this today as a team,” said Poway High junior Julie Gattenio, 17, who ran cross-country with Chelsea. “It’s important to remember that your team never leaves you. It’s always a part of who you are.

“We’re going to do everything we can so this doesn’t happen again, so people can run on our trails and be safe, so people can start a run and know they’re going to finish it.”

But it was too soon to return to the park for many of Chelsea’s teammates, said their coach, Dan Schaitel.

Schaitel is still sifting through the 100 or more letters on his desk from runners and alumni across the country who were stunned by the crime that brought an end to Chelsea’s bright future.

“She was idyllic. She was what every father would want for a daughter,” Schaitel said. “We feel like we’ve been violated. One of the most cherished parts of our lives has been violated.”

San Diego State University sociologist Jean Twenge, who studies the current generation of youth, said the response to the slaying of Chelsea, as well as the death of Escondido teen Amber Dubois, crosses generational barriers.

“In this case, Amber walked to school. Chelsea went for a run. They didn’t do anything wrong,” Twenge said. “I see the response as a human response.”

Amber vanished in February 2009, and her remains were found this month in Pala. A public memorial service for her is set for 1 p.m. Saturday at Escondido High School.

John Albert Gardner III, a registered sex offender, has been charged with rape and murder in Chelsea’s death and is the focus of the investigation into Amber’s slaying. He is also charged with assault with the intent to rape in an attack on a jogger in the Rancho Bernardo park in December.

Amber’s mother, Carrie McGonigle, walked the trail yesterday with a volunteer who had helped search for both girls when they disappeared.

The run grew in recent days from a small gathering into a community event. Dave Jewell, a designer of athletic apparel at Zoot Sports, suggested the run in an e-mail to Todd Velazquez, a friend who works at Roadrunner Sports, a running-shoe store. Velazquez ran on Poway High’s cross-country team in the late 1990s under Chelsea’s coach, and had briefly met Chelsea.

Word spread, and as the organizers realized they had a large event on their hands, Velazquez called friend Tommy Sablan, who had experience planning events as producer of the “Jeff and Jer” morning radio show. Soon they had a city permit, portable toilets, shuttle service and insurance for the run.

Sablan had helped search in Deer Springs hours before Chelsea’s body was discovered and attended her public memorial service. He said he was touched by the words of her father, Brent King.

“He said, ‘Let’s turn that anger into hope and with that hope do good things.’ I feel to finish this run is a good thing,” Sablan said. “It’s hope. It is to make a statement. We’re not going to take this anymore.”

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/mar/21/3500-runners-walkers-finish-the-route-that/

Relative of Gardner’s mom comes to her defense
Nurse described as ‘kind,’ ‘generous,’ ‘levelheaded’

Monday, March 22, 2010 at 1:20 a.m.

The garage of the Rancho Bernardo townhouse where the suspect’s mother and stepfather live was repainted after a vandal wrote, “Chelseas blood is on you move out.”



In the early hours before John Albert Gardner III was arraigned on March 3, someone painted in red on his mother’s Rancho Bernardo townhouse, “Chelsea’s blood is on you move out.”

Catherine Osborn, Gardner’s mother, didn’t attend court that morning when her son pleaded not guilty to charges of raping and killing 17-year-old Chelsea King of Poway.

Bloggers and talk radio hosts have skewered Osborn for allowing her 30-year-old son, a convicted sex offender, to visit her home. Osborn lives less than a mile from where Chelsea’s body was found five days after the Poway High School senior went missing Feb. 25 while going for a run in Rancho Bernardo Community Park.

Others have slammed Osborn for her membership in a running group partial to beer, crass jokes and nicknames of a sexual nature. They say it raises questions about her judgment, especially because she is a registered nurse involved in the psychiatric profession.

Osborn has not responded to the criticisms or acknowledged requests for interviews. Her friends and family followed her lead until Friday, when a close relative said Osborn has been the subject of outrageously unfair attacks.

“She is the backbone of this family,” said the relative, who asked that her name not be used because she didn’t want to anger Osborn or the family’s attorney. “She’s kind, levelheaded and a generous, nurturing person, extraordinarily good in a crisis. She not only gives good advice, she follows up.

“John was there to get into rehab, and she was trying to help him find a location. At the same time, he’s an adult and he was a little resistant.”

Asked whether the rehab would be for drug, alcohol or psychiatric treatment, the relative said, “probably all three.”

Osborn is active professionally in helping the mentally ill. Last year, she chaired the legislative committee of the state’s American Psychiatric Nurses Association chapter. She authored an article in the group’s May newsletter, which included a photo of her in the annual walk hosted by the local chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness.

After Gardner’s arrest, Osborn went on leave from her job in a behavioral health unit at Scripps Mercy Hospital in Hillcrest.

“She has not been at work for about two weeks, but she is still employed. She has gone through a lot and she’s been on leave,” said Don Stanziano, spokesman for the Scripps Health system.

Osborn is on leave for an indefinite period, Stanziano said.

Some hospital workers said administrators scheduled and then canceled a March 11 meeting with employees who had called for Osborn’s ouster.

As for the running club, the relative said Osborn was a “moral, ethical” person, and the accusations against her are ludicrous. The group has a Web site with photos and newsletters detailing their runs.

“You won’t see any pictures of her holding a beer or not fully clothed,” the relative said.

A former relative defended Osborn on Friday in a brief telephone interview. The niece of one of Osborn’s three former husbands said she knew the family well and has stayed in touch with them.

“She’s a very good person,” the niece said.

Osborn, 54, grew up in Lawndale, a suburb of Los Angeles, the oldest of four children.

As a teenager, she had two daughters. Then, in 1980, at age 25, Osborn married Gardner’s father. She became licensed as a registered nurse in 1985 and divorced in 1989, when John Gardner III was 10.

The father lived in Palmdale when Osborn moved back to Lawndale and received full physical custody of her son. She worked as a nurse at the UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute earning about $36,000 a year at the time of the divorce.

Osborn remarried in 1990, lived in Running Springs near Lake Arrowhead and worked as a nurse at Community Hospital of San Bernardino. In 1996, she returned to court seeking back payment for the $70 a month in child support payments her son’s father had failed to pay. By that time, she was earning about $48,000 a year.

In her filings, Osborn said her son had been hospitalized three times for emotional problems. Other documents say Gardner was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and was prescribed lithium, although it was discontinued because of side effects. He also was treated for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Osborn listed the usual childhood expenses for Gardner that included braces, school supplies, bus passes, ski team, baseball and transportation for a law enforcement job-training program.

She said she was seeking the back child support because her son had been asking whether his father sent any money.

Osborn wrote to the court that if she did not pursue child support, “the messages I give to my son are: (1) He is not that important; (2) That responsibility is not that great of a commitment if you decide it’s too much or if the consequence is not that bad.”

At Rim of the World High School in Lake Arrowhead, Gardner got involved in sports and sang in the choir. He had girlfriends. Some who knew him said he was moody and got teased for being unpopular.

Gardner said later in a court document that his stepfather was an “awesome dad,” unlike his father, who had beaten him with a belt when he misbehaved.

By 1997, Osborn and Gardner had moved to a new home in Running Springs and she filed for divorce again. Gardner was 18 and had graduated from high school. Five days before Christmas, Osborn sent her son to serve the divorce papers on his stepfather.

The next year, she and her son moved to Rancho Bernardo.

In 2000, at age 21, Gardner pleaded guilty to molesting a 13-year-old neighbor in his mother’s townhouse. He had beaten and fondled the girl before she escaped and ran to a neighbor.

Gardner could have been sentenced to more than 10 years in prison. His former psychiatrist in San Bernardino, Dr. Divy J. Kikani, wrote to the sentencing judge, saying Gardner had been treated for bipolar disorder but had not been in therapy for five years. Kikani re-evaluated Gardner in August 2000 and recommended probation so that Gardner could receive inpatient psychiatric treatment and medication for 90 days, followed by outpatient therapy. Gardner also needed counseling related to anger management and impulse control, Kikani said.

Osborn also wrote to the judge to support Kikani’s recommendation.

“All of the research that I have done regarding persons who have engaged in this type of activity indicates that intense therapy is the best solution,” Osborn wrote. “I love my son, he is a good person. I also realize that accepting the consequences is an important part of learning. I hope that this tragedy can be one from which a positive outcome is possible. Through treatment, my son can be rehabilitated and contribute something meaningful back to society.”

The county’s psychiatrist, Dr. Matthew Carroll, made no reference to the diagnosis of bipolar disorder, but said Gardner showed no evidence of a psychotic disorder.

Carroll said Gardner had shown no remorse for the assault, was not a good candidate for therapy and should receive the maximum sentence because he would remain a danger to underage girls in the community.

Gardner was sentenced to six years in prison and was released after five. He was on parole for three years.

In 2004, while her son was in prison, Osborn remarried and the couple lived in her Rancho Bernardo townhouse. According to the résumé Osborn posted on her LinkedIn Web page, she earned a master’s degree in nursing from the University of Phoenix and began working at Scripps Mercy in August 2005.

When Gardner got out of prison in September 2005, he was required to register where he lived. Records show he moved between San Diego and Riverside counties, most recently listing his residence as his grandmother’s house in Lake Elsinore.

Osborn has been criticized for allowing Gardner to stay at times at her Rancho Bernardo home. It’s unclear how long his visits there were and whether he would be required to register at that address as a sex offender.

Former San Diego County District Attorney Paul Pfingst, who is now in private practice, rejected the notion that Osborn shouldn’t have allowed her son to visit or that she was responsible for ensuring he had followed the state’s registry law.

“It’s his responsibility, and it’s not expected that she would know what the law requires,” Pfingst said. “Why would the mother of someone who is 30 years old be expected to research that?”

When Gardner was released, the law required sex offenders to register with the local law enforcement agency within five days of moving their residence.

In 2007, the law was changed so that more than one address could be listed.

As for whether Osborn should have recognized Gardner could be a continuing danger, that’s a complex issue, said licensed clinical psychologist Jonathan Gale, who specializes in men’s issues and adolescents.

“Certainly, if she saw signs that indicated someone’s life was in danger, she should have done something, particularly if she’s in the (medical) field,” said Gale, who is in private practice in La Jolla.

Typically, parents invoke self-defense mechanisms because it can be so painful to believe their child is capable of a violent crime, Gale said.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/mar/22/relative-of-gardners-mother-comes-to-her-defense/

Chelsea King's parents back anti-sex offender law

By ELLIOT SPAGAT Associated Press Writer
Posted: 03/23/2010 11:17:09 AM PDT

SAN DIEGO—Parents of Chelsea King are backing a proposed California law to stiffen restrictions on sex predators after their 17-year-old daughter allegedly was kidnapped and killed by a convicted offender.

Brent and Kelly King said Tuesday that they support plans by Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher to introduce the so-called Chelsea's Law early next month.

Fletcher says he's still working on the law but preliminary discussions will focus on a "one-strike" provision, parole reform and better GPS tracking of registered sex offenders.

Convicted sex offender John Albert Gardner III has pleaded not guilty to assaulting and murdering Chelsea. The Poway girl never returned from a run at a San Diego park last month.

Gardner also is under investigation in the death of 14-year-old Amber Dubois of Escondido.

http://www.orovillemr.com/news/ci_14740527

Resources lacking for parole probe

Published By Daily Democrat
Created: 03/30/2010 02:32:07 AM PDT


SAN DIEGO (AP) -- A state board examining why the accused killer of a teenager wasn't returned to prison for parole violations before the slaying occurred has no formal budget and minimal staff, a member said.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger ordered the Sex Offender Management Board on March 12 to review the case of John Albert Gardner III, who spent time in prison for molesting a 13-year-old girl and committed seven parole violations in 2007 and 2008 that could have put him back behind bars.


Gardner has pleaded not guilty to murdering 17-year-old Chelsea King of Poway who disappeared on Feb. 25.


The 17-seat board was unable to get a quorum for a meeting this month, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported Monday.


Its lack of resources makes it uncertain when it will complete its review involving Gardner, even though Vice Chairman Tom Tobin has told the governor the work should be completed by May 1.


"We have the expertise, but not the resources, staff, power and ability to devote the energy to do something like this in a very rapid way," said Tobin, a San Francisco psychologist.


The volunteer board is comprised of experts, including psychologists, judges and probation officers. It was formed to devise a comprehensive state plan to manage sex offenders and was supposed to disband earlier this year, but the state Legislature instead made it permanent.


The board has operated without a formal budget since July and has only one staffer, who works part-time.

Schwarzenegger told the board to review why Gardner was not classified as a high-risk sex offender when he was released from prison in 2005 and whether his parole restrictions and violations were properly handled.


"The goal here is to look at this case and learn from this case," said Rachel Arrezola, a spokeswoman for Schwarzenegger. "The governor is not saying that this is the panacea for all things. He encourages and welcomes the Legislature and others to review the case as well."


The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and the state Office of the Inspector General are planning their own investigations.

http://www.dailydemocrat.com/news/ci_14784164

MySpace removes link to SoCal child sex predator


By ELLIOT SPAGAT
Associated Press Writer
SAN DIEGO —

The social networking site MySpace said Thursday that it removed the profile of a registered sex offender who is charged with murdering a 17-year-old girl.

The company said it worked with the FBI and the San Diego County Sheriff's Department to confirm the profile belonged to John Albert Gardner III, who used a false name, birthday and hometown to register for the account. It removed the profile Wednesday night.

A copy of the profile obtained by The Associated Press uses the names Jason Stud and Energizer Bunny. It uses sexually explicit language to describe his interests, names Playboy Mansion as his hometown and lists "CSI" and "Bones" among his favorite television shows.

Gardner, 30, has pleaded not guilty to murdering Chelsea King, whose body was found five days after she vanished Feb. 25 on a run in a San Diego park. He is a suspect, but has not been charged, in the death of 14-year-old Amber Dubois, whose remains were found March 6 in a remote area north of San Diego, more than a year after she disappeared walking to school.

MySpace said the account was set up on Dec. 22, 2007, more than nine months before Gardner ended parole on a conviction in 2000 for molesting a 13-year-old neighbor. The account would violate terms of his parole, which prohibited him from using a computer to connect to the Internet or communicate with others.

The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has not independently confirmed that the MySpace profile was created or used by Gardner, or that he used the site while on parole, said spokesman Oscar Hidalgo. He said the California Sex Offender Management Board, a panel made up law enforcement, victims and treatment experts, would investigate.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has asked the board to investigate how the corrections department handled the case.

My Space said it was alerted to the account by law enforcement officials.

"MySpace has a zero tolerance policy against registered sex offenders and uses cutting edge technology to identify and delete such profiles from our site," said Hemanshu Nigam, chief security officer of MySpace and parent company News Corp. "For the past several years, MySpace has advocated and testified in favor of federal and state legislation that would empower Web sites to block sex offenders who utilize false identities, like John Gardner, from their communities."

The San Diego Union-Tribune first reported on Gardner's MySpace profile late Wednesday. It said the link was discovered by Robert Scott, a Los Angeles private investigator who operates an online data retrieval service called Skip Smasher.

Scott said he plugged Gardner's name into his search engines to get an e-mail account registered to the suspect.

"It was remarkably simple," he said Thursday.

Gardner's attorney, public defender Michael Popkins, declined to comment Thursday night. A judge has issued a gag order to bar attorneys from discussing the case publicly.

Gardner served five years of a six-year sentence for child molestation and was on parole for three years until September 2008.

MySpace said Gardner was an infrequent user who had two friends. A posting on the profile in May 2008 read: "I'm poor, homeless and living in my truck."

Another posting said "love is just one big ugly compromise of two people pretending not to know what the other is doing."

The profile's last login was on Feb. 24, the day before Chelsea went missing.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2011504232_apusmissingteen.html

More Gardner parole issues found

Sex offender lived near school longer than previously known

By Matthew T. Hall, UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
Thursday, April 8, 2010 at 2:56 a.m

Convicted sex offender John Albert Gardner III lived for just under two years in a Mira Mesa apartment complex, 700 yards from Walker Elementary School.

That’s seven months longer than previously known — a timeline now acknowledged by state parole officials, though not apparent from incomplete records previously released. Gardner’s special conditions of parole barred him from living within 880 yards of such a school.

A review by The San Diego Union-Tribune shows the violation was apparently unrecognized for seven months, excused for three more, then ignored or forgotten for 13 more — until a new parole agent took over Gardner’s supervision.

Gardner served five years in prison for beating and molesting a 13-year-old Rancho Bernardo girl in 2000, and was on parole from September 2005 to September 2008. The handling of his parole has drawn criticism since he was accused last month of raping and killing Chelsea King, 17, of Poway.

While on parole, records show, Gardner committed seven violations that could have been used to send him back to prison and subjected him to tougher post-release monitoring under Jessica’s Law, which passed in 2006. The most serious was the residency issue.

Parole official Margarita Perez was asked about it at a legislative hearing in Poway last week.

“It’s important to understand he was approximately 2,100 feet away,” Perez said. “It’s not like he was across the street.”

Still, the distance was too close for Martha Mattson, a parent who says so many children cluster on city streets near Miramar College, Wangenheim Middle School and Walker Elementary that it’s a predator’s paradise.

“That they allowed him to be there is just unbelievable,” said Mattson, whose sons, now grown, went to the area’s public schools. “It seems unconscionable that he was there, steps away from vulnerable girls.”

Gardner, 30, who has pleaded not guilty in the Chelsea case, is also a focus of an investigation into the slaying of Amber Dubois, 14, of Escondido.

He was released from prison Sept. 26, 2005, and lived first at the scene of his 2000 assault, his mother’s townhouse in Rancho Bernardo. It was 437 feet from Westwood Elementary School, a parole violation that his agent did not let stand.

After 11 days, he moved into the Mira Monte apartments on Maya Linda Road. It’s unclear whether he moved with approval — and housing assistance — from parole officials. A public records request with the agency is pending.

Parole records released so far show a district administrator gave him approval in May 2006 to remain in his apartment for three more months until his lease expired, but he stayed 16 more.

Riverside County parole agent Tifani LaDuke said it was not uncommon at the time for an administrator to use discretion because state law on sex offender residency was undergoing a series of changes.

Ryken Grattet, a sociology professor at University of California Davis who has studied state parole violations, said sex offender residency issues aren’t as simple as the public might expect.

He said parole agents must balance the “blunt instruments” of distance requirements against housing stability or staying close to family or work.

“The trade-off is sometimes between keeping a person where they are even though they’re in violation or having them be homeless, which I think is even scarier,” Grattet said.

In 2007, the year after Jessica’s Law barred sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of any school or park, 88 sex offenders were registered as homeless. In less than two years, that figure shot past 2,000.

At Miramar College, campus police Detective Cornelius Ashton said knowing where sex offenders live can be of limited use because they move around as much as anyone else.

“Anyone could be a victim of crime at any time,” he said.

To help guard against this, Ashton tracks the 46 sex offenders taking classes at Miramar College and other San Diego Community College District locations and also tries to keep track of sex offenders living near district sites.

One lives in the same complex that Gardner called home in Mira Mesa, according to California’s sex offender registry.

Gardner was still living there in August 2007, when his parole agent noted on a report that he was clear of parole violations and had “maintained a stable residence.”

Six days later, he got a new agent who flagged the residency issue. Gardner was forced to move the next month because he was living 125 yards from Miramar College’s preschool and 356 yards from Scripps Ranch High School. His proximity to the elementary school and an adjacent middle school was not mentioned on the charge report.

Officials with the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation at last week’s legislative hearing said they cannot answer why Gardner was allowed to stay in Mira Mesa or how many parole agents he had because they destroyed some of his records — a practice Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has ordered halted.

The officials repeatedly called Gardner’s residency a parole offense only — not a more serious violation of state residency laws for sex offenders, as the agent had alleged.

Scott Kernan, the corrections department’s undersecretary of operations, said the second agent erred at the time. Perez, deputy director of the state’s Division of Adult Parole Operations, said the relevant law — Penal Code section 3003(g) — applied only to high-risk sex offenders, not those deemed low risks like Gardner.

Kernan said heavy caseloads and the complexities of changing laws make the jobs of parole agents difficult. He emphasized that parole conditions are assigned at the department’s discretion, and that any violation would be weighed against the conditions that are being followed.

“I don’t know how instructive it is for us to try to explain or justify why they misapplied these laws,” Kernan said.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/apr/08/more-gardner-parole-issues-found/

Today We Start Our Race: The Kings

By R. STICKNEY, NICOLE WARD and PAUL KRUEGER
Updated 1:38 PM PDT, Mon, Apr 12, 2010

Choking back tears, Chelsea King's mother urged Californians to help pass a tough new law aimed at sex offenders who target children.

The proposed law was introduced just hours ago in Sacramento by Brent and Kelly King, whose daughter, Chelsea, was murdered last month near Lake Hodges, in northern San Diego.

It’s an important day for Brent and Kelly King. The couple packed their luggage Monday and headed to Lindbergh Field before 7 a.m. to catch the flight to the state capital.

“Today’s the day that we start our race. It’s a race that Kelly and I didn’t choose to run in. We were selected to run in it,” Brent King said to members of the media assembled at the airport.

“With the community’s strength and with Chelsea’s will and drive, we’re going to run this race and we’re going to run it hard and we’re going to run it to completion with all of your support,” he said.

As outlined by State Assemblymember Nathan Fletcher, "Chelsea’s Law" would:

• Create a new penalty of life in prison without parole for violent sex crimes against victims under 18 years old. The current law imposes sentences of 15 years-to-life or 25-years-to life for the worst of those crimes, and experts say in California, those "indeterminate sentences" are, in reality, a life term. But "Chelsea's Law" would change the wording of that penal code section to formalize a life in prison sentence." Criminals who commit violent, forcible sex crimes on victims under 14 years-old would be more like to get the life term.
  
• Require life-time supervision, with GPS monitoring, for certain violent sex offenders who are released from prison.
  
• Create "safe-zones" for children, that would be "off-limits" to paroled sex offenders. Those "safe-zones" would include parks that are popular with children and families. Any registered sex offender could be charged with a misdemeanor, and could have their parole revoked, if they are found in such a park. The sex offender's GPS device would alert law enforcement that the sex offender had entered the park.

"What it does, it allows us to take our serious violent sexual offenders -- those that commit violent sexual offenses against our children, and place them on lifetime parole,” said San Diego County Sheriff Bill Gore.

The threat of lifetime tracking would hopefully be enough to discourage parolees from re-offending, Gore said, and at the same time would help law enforcement catch them quickly if they do.

“The legislators who are responsible for putting better and stronger laws on our books will know what we already know in our hearts is the right thing to do,” said Kelly King. “We're ready for it and we appreciate your support."

Convicted sex offender John Albert Gardner III has pleaded not guilty to charges of attempted rape of a woman in December 2009 and charges of murder in the death of Chelsea King.

Law enforcement officials have also said Gardner is a focus in the investigation into the death of 14-year-old Amber Dubois of Escondido, who disappeared in February 2009. The teen's skeletal remains were found near Pala in a remote North County canyon shortly after Chelsea's body was discovered in Rancho Bernardo Community Park.

Parole officers should have done a better job watching Gardner, according to a report released two weeks ago but closer scrutiny may not have stopped the alleged attacks.

Assemblyman Fletcher acknowledged that the cost of this proposed crack-down on violent sex offenders could be a problem for the state, but said he will refine his proposal to minimize those costs, and will identify other parts of the state budget that can be cut to provide money for enforcement of "Chelsea's Law," if it is approved by the state legislature and signed by the governor.

"Chelsea's Law," as summarized at Monday's news conference, would not establish treatment programs for sex offenders in state prisons.

At least two of the speakers said violent sex offenders cannot be treated or rehabilitated, but some experts disagree with that position, and have urged the state to establish prison treatment programs for sex offenders, especially those who will eventually be paroled.

"We can say with almost certainty now that the treated sex
offender is less likely than the untreated offender to commit a new sexual crime," says James Reavis, a sex offender treatment expert who counsels hard-core offenders and pedophiles.

The proposed law will be introduced to the Assembly Public Safety Committee next week.

A rally is scheduled in Sacramento Tuesday at 11:45 a.m. for parents and other concerned citizens to show their support for the proposed legislation.

According to the Chelsea's Light Facebook page, there will be a bus leaving San Diego Monday night and returning Tuesday night that will allow San Diegans to travel along with the Kings to support them. Little Tommy from the Jeff and Jer Showgram is hosting the 57-seat bus. For more details and to reserve your seat, email Little Tommy at littletommy@san.rr.com.

Source: Today We Start Our Race: The Kings | NBC San Diego

http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/politics/Today-We-Start-Our-Race-The-Kings-90627939.html

Gardner pleads guilty to murders of Chelsea, Amber
By Dana Littlefield, UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
Friday, April 16, 2010 at 2:29 p.m.

John Albert Gardner III pleaded guilty Friday to the murders 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 life in prison without the possibility of parole.

San Diego Superior Court Judge David Danielsen accepted the plea Friday afternoon.

The high-profile Gardner case has drawn intense media coverage and captured the public’s attention since his Feb. 28 arrest in the disappearance of 17-year-old Chelsea King of Poway.

Thousands of volunteers and law enforcement officials searched for the girl over five days before her body was discovered in a shallow grave near Lake Hodges on March 2.

Gardner was 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 the skeletal remains of 14-year-old Amber Dubois of Escondido, who had been missing for 13 months.

Escondido police said Gardner was a focus in the investigation into Amber’s death, but would not discuss any further details. Amber disappeared Feb. 13, 2009 while she was walking to Escondido High School.

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.

Gardner was also charged with assault in connection with a Dec. 27 attack on a jogger near Lake Hodges.

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

Thanks for the update pi-girl. I was surprised to hear this, but they must have had too much evidence against him. I'm glad there won't be a long, drawn out trial.

Here is the link to the 10News Live Stream. They are covering this story right now.

http://mfile.akamai.com/12922/live/reflector:21158.asx

Thanks, J4A for the link. I'm watching now and wondering what is going through his little mind.

He Killed Both of Them

John Albert Gardner III admits he murdered Chelsea King and Amber Dubois.

By MICHELLE WAYLAND, R. STICKNEY and PAUL KRUEGER
Updated 3:31 PM PDT, Fri, Apr 16, 2010



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

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 San Diego Superior Court Judge David Danielsen 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.

He also pleaded guilty to attempting to rape another woman who was jogging in Rancho Bernardo Community Park on Dec. 27, 2009 last year.

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.

Click here for details about the charges

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

Charges against Gardner and his admission.

CHARGES

COUNT 1 - MURDER

On or about February 25, 2010, JOHN ALBERT GARDNER did unlawfully murder Chelsea K., a human being, in violation of PENAL CODE SECTION 187(a).

SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCE

And it is further alleged that the murder of Chelsea K. was committed by defendant JOHN ALBERT GARDNER while the said defendant was engaged in the commission and attempted commission of the crime of Rape, in violation of Penal Code Section 261, within the meaning of PENAL CODE SECTION 190.2(a)(17).

COUNT 2 - ASSAULT WITH INTENT TO COMMIT A SPECIFIC FELONY

On or about December 27, 2009, JOHN ALBERT GARDNER did unlawfully assault Candice M., with the intent to commit rape, in violation of PENAL CODE SECTION 220(a).

COUNT 3 - MURDER

On or about February 13, 2009, JOHN ALBERT GARDNER did unlawfully murder Amber D., a human being, in violation of PENAL CODE SECTION 187(a).

SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCE

And it is further alleged that the murder of Amber D. was committed by defendant JOHN ALBERT GARDNER while the said defendant was engaged in the commission and attempted commission of the crime of Rape, in violation of Penal Code Section 261, within the meaning of PENAL CODE SECTION 190.2(a)(17).

Gardner’s Admission

As to Count One, I admit that on February 25, 2010, I attacked Chelsea King while she was running. I dragged her to a remote area where I raped and strangled her. I then buried her in a shallow grave. I admit that this killing was done with premeditation and deliberation. I further admit that this murder occurred during the course of a rape, within the meaning of Penal Code Section 190.2(a)(17). This murder took place within an hour of my initial contact with Chelsea King.

As to Count Two, I admit that on December 27, 2009, I attacked Candice Moncayo while she was running and unlawfully assaulted her with the intent to rape her.

As to Count Three, I admit that on February 13, 2009, I took Amber Dubois to a remote area of Pala where I raped and stabbed her. I then buried her in a shallow grave. I admit that this killing was done with premeditation and deliberation. I further admit that this murder occurred during the course of a rape, within the meaning of Penal Code section 190.2(a)(17). This murder took place within an hour and a half of my initial contact with Amber Dubois.

Kings Tortured Over Plea Deal

By R. STICKNEY
Updated 5:21 PM PDT, Fri, Apr 16, 2010



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.

Video: 'Nothing Satisfying About This Moment': Brent 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.”

http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local-beat/Kings-Tortured-Over-Plea-Deal-91109344.html