John Gardner pleads guilty in the deaths of Amber Dubois and Chelsea King and is sentenced to LIFE WITHOUT PAROLE

by Wrapitup Today at 4:47 pm Thanks for reporting this, BJ!

Thank raine1953. She was on it as it was happening!

It was a very peaceful feeling to me that Amber's remains were found on my birthday.
Thank God he confessed.

BJ in OR wrote:

by Wrapitup Today at 4:47 pm Thanks for reporting this, BJ!

Thank raine1953. She was on it as it was happening!

Thank you raine1953. It's so shocking to actually hear someone say, 'Yes, I did it.'

Prosecutor Kristen Spieler told the judge the victims' families agreed to the plea agreement. She was not immediately available for comment after the hearing.

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I just could not believe what I was hearing.
BJ I'm so glad that you saw what I wrote when I posted it, I wanted to get everyones attention and realized that I didn't know how.
I hope that Chelsea and Amber's families found a little bit of peace in the fact that they will not have to sit thru' a trial and hear what that monster did to their girls.

RIP Amber and Chelsea....

This is great news. :cheers:

I agree with you LM, This is great News that Justice will be served for these poor girls, but my heart goes out their families, as they will never get over the loss of their daughters

Confessing to save himself from the death penalty?
Well fine then.
I hope during his incarceration he is tortured mentally, physically and emotionally every day and night for the rest of his worthless life!

Wow - that is quite the turn of events! I am sure the parents of the teens are glad to get the trial over with quickly, although they probably wish he was still eligible for the death penalty. At least he won't be murdering any more young women anymore!! :clapping:

Yes, this is great news!! :clapping:

Even though the parents of the victims were most likely hoping for the DP, at least they can rest assured that he will not be murdering anymore young women! I'm sure the other inmates will make sure he "enjoys" his time in prison.

I hope this makes sense. He raped and killed two girls. Yet, he gets a plea of life w/out parole. In a strange way, he got a sentence that is two for the price of one.

Also, how many others has he raped or killed?

I suppose we should be happy he plead guilty and don't have to go through an entire trial, etc., on the chance he is found not guilty.

The only thing about a life sentence is it isn't really permanent....over the years ideas and ideals change, people change. Someday someone might feel sorry for him and argue what a great guy he has been while in prison or that he is too old to harm anyone again, etc. That old saying the only thing that stays the same is that everything changes, is very true. I argue for the dp in cases like these for the same reason people argue against it....the dp is permanent. I say feel sorry for him, he had a hard life, poor guy, so put him out of his misery, make it permanent. The only good thing about the plea deal is the tax payer money saved.

Speaking of tax payer dollars, isn't it "funny" how our justice system spares no expense for the defendants, but the victims have to ask the public for donations to help with their expenses. Expenses incured through no fault of their own.

What an excellent post, Laga! And, it's so true.

by Wrapitup on Sat Apr 17, 2010 3:30 pm
Also, how many others has he raped or killed?

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.

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Chelsea King no doubt died a terrible death.

Now her parents are trying to keep many of those details from the public, specifically the media, as they have retained an attorney to help keep some case documents secret.

Sara Muller, a spokeswoman for the family of the murdered Poway High student, said Tuesday the action was in response to efforts by the media to acquire records.

The Kings hired Pat Swan, a former federal criminal prosecutor, who in turn met with Judge David Danielsen and several other attorneys in private Tuesday to ask for an emergency order that would keep the details surrounding the Poway teen's death a secret.

According to the family, The Associated Press and other media have asked the San Diego County Superior Court to remove a gag order barring authorities from discussing the evidence and release records tied to search warrants. Chelsea's parents claim they want the records sealed to preserve her dignity.

Attorney Guylyn Cummings, who represents a couple of media outlets, attended the meeting and stated the argument would essentially take away the public's right to know.

"It's an interesting issue because when people are victims of crime, the details generally become public," Cummings noted.

Sex offender John Gardner pleaded guilty April 16 to the murders of Chelsea and 14-year-old Amber Dubois of Escondido.

King went missing in late February after an after-school run at a Rancho Bernardo-area park. Her body was discovered days later. Amber's remains were found in March, more than a year after she disappeared, with Gardner reportedly leading authorities to her body.

The following statement was made public Tuesday on behalf of the King family:

"Attorney Swan will advocate for suppression of certain documents under victims' rights statutes. This action has become necessary in response to efforts by some media outlets to obtain the release of all records related to Chelsea's death, which runs counter to the King family's wishes to honor their daughter's memory, and to allow the community to heal."

With all due respect to the King family, and I mean that with all sincerity, the public should know as many details as possible.

It is not that we want to get some kind of reaction from the details, but the public should know what took place if for no other reason, to hopefully prevent something like this from ever happening again in San Diego or anywhere else for that matter.

Just as the public should have known that Gardner attacked another woman last December not far from where King was taken, the public should know as much as possible about this attack.

The hope is we can learn from it and make sure it never happens again to another one of our daughters, sisters, mothers, etc.

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Releasing the details of Chelsa death is wrong. The media is out of line. There was a gulity plea. We already know what went wrong and why this happened. Her family deserves some dignity and privacy.

The parents of Chelsea King plan to attend a hearing in San Diego in which a judge will consider their request to keep documents sealed pertaining to the murder of their 17-year-old daughter.
The family's proposed court order to be considered Thursday would prohibit the release the autopsy and other photos, reports or documents. The Kings have said they want to preserve their daughter's dignity and honor her memory.
News organizations including The Associated Press have asked the judge to lift restrictions on the release of information.
Also Thursday, a judge in El Cajon said he will rule Monday on a request by news organizations to unseal redacted search warrants in the case.
Sex offender John Gardner pleaded guilty last week to killing Chelsea.

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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.

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Apr 26, 2010 6:18 pm

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.

omg that is sooo scary! we should all be very attentive to our surroundings and carry pepper spray!

Did these utility workers not think of this incident when the reports of Amber's disappearance came out? It looks like they would have recognized her picture then if they remembered it last month? It was probably too late to save Amber, but they might have found her body sooner, and Gardner might have been locked up and unable to kill poor Chelsea.

Admitted killer John Gardner's sentencing for the murders of Chelsea King and Amber Dubois has been moved up a few weeks.

Originally scheduled for June 1, the district attorney's office now says the sentencing will take place May 14.

Gardner faces life in prison without the possibility of parole after pleading guilty to killing both teenagers.

No reason was given for the change.

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4:28 AM PDT, April 30, 2010

SAN DIEGO -- A man who pleaded guilty to raping and murdering two San Diego area teenage girls says he hates himself for what he did and took his anger out on "the wrong people."

In an interview aired Thursday on KFMB-TV in San Diego, John Gardner claims he was out of control when he murdered the teens.
"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," Gardner said on the recording.
"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.

Gardner refused to talk about the specific details of the killings, but says he would tell the girls' families.
"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.

When asked if he stalked his victims or if they were picked at random, Gardner responded, "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 was arrested on Sunday, Feb. 28 for Chelsea King'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.

After his arraignment, 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.

Gardner said his lawyers pushed for a plea bargain that spared him the death penalty and that he still doesn't care if he dies.
"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.

Asked by his interviewer if there are other victims, Gardner laughs and says, "Good try."

The 31-year-old sex offender is scheduled to be sentenced May 14 to life in prison without parole.

Meantime, newly unsealed documents suggest Gardner followed an 11-year-old girl home the day before the he abducted and murdered 17-year-old Chelsea King.

The search warrants, unsealed on Monday, indicate the girl told police on Feb. 24 that a man in a black car drove slowly past her as she walked alone. A woman saw the man and offered to follow the girl home. The man then drove away.

The records also reveal that two women joggers recalled seeing Gardner on the afternoon of Feb. 25 drinking beer and walking the trails near Rancho Bernardo Community Park.
One woman told investigators she passed Gardner on a trail between 1 p.m. and 1:30 p.m.
She said he was sitting on the trail surrounded by beer cans.
As she approached, he warned her about a rattlesnake nearby.
When she passed him again, the snake and Gardner were still there.
She told authorities it was coiled and rattling.
Another woman told detectives that she saw Gardner wearing a Hard Rock Cafe-type shirt walking the trail about 3 p.m.
She believes she saw Chelsea shortly after that at the fork in the trail, she told authorities.

Gardner pleaded guilty April 16 to the abduction and murder of Chelsea and 14-year-old Amber Dubois.

He also pleaded guilty to assault with intent to rape in connection with the Dec. 27 attack on a jogger, Candice Moncayo, near Lake Hodges.

He is set to be sentenced June 1 to life in prison without parole and an additional 33 years to life.

Chelsea disappeared on February 25 while jogging in Rancho Bernardo Park. Her body was found in a shallow grave on the banks of Lake Hodges, after a massive five-day search.
Amber's remains were found on March 6th near the Pala Reservation, just over a year after she disappeared while walking to school in Escondido.

A decade-old probation report paints a disturbing picture of Gardner who was convicted 10 years ago of molesting a neighbor girl.
The report contained a psychiatrist's conclusion that Gardner had "significant predatory traits toward underage girls and should be kept in prison for as long as possible."
"The defendant does not suffer from a psychotic disorder," a probation officer quoted Dr. Matthew F. Carroll. "He is simply a bad guy who is inordinately interested in young girls."
Carroll further said Gardner's "predilection toward younger girls is a problem. He manifests significant predatory traits and is a danger to the community," the officer wrote.

The report was prepared in 2000 for the sentencing of the then-21-year-old Gardner after he pleaded guilty to committing lewd and lascivious acts on a 13-year-old neighbor girl.
The victim was also punched repeatedly before she was able to escape.
Gardner pleaded guilty in May 2000 to two counts of forcible lewd acts on a child and false imprisonment.
He was sentenced to six-years in prison and served five before being paroled.

In what is probably one of the more ridiculous excuses from a psychopath to have been uttered, John Gardner has blames the murders of Amber DuBois and Chelsea King on anger over “state budget cuts”.
According to Gardner, he was angry over budgets cuts in the state of California, and that it caused him to stalk, attack, and then kill the two girls He even blamed school cuts on DuBois even having been walking for him to abduct, assault and then kill in the first place.
“I was in a major rage and pissed off — pissed off at my whole life and everybody that’s hurt me and blew up, and I 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.”
But his remorse can’t be that strong. ABC reports that when they asked him after this statement if there were other victims, he started laughing.
He has also not explained how his rage over those cuts related to the attempted assault on 23-year-old Candice Moncayo, or his 2000 molestation of a 13-year-old girl.
A 16-year-old girl has also come forward and named Gardner as the man who tried to abduct her in 2009, and police believe there is be several other victims or attempted victims.
But it is all the recessions fault, eh Gardner?

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psychopath is right!!!

Can you say FREAK? I think you can.

Budget cuts?!? Now I've heard everything!! I guess it doesn't matter what he says anyways... he ain't going nowhere!!

(I didn't know where to post this, sorry if it's in the wrong place .. ), I feel sooo bad for Amber's Mom....

Amber Dubois' mother confronts John Gardner'a mother
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Raine, it's not loading. You put it in the right place though.

Quote: Raine, it's not loading. You put it in the right place though.
by Wrapitup Today at 3:15 am

Wrap, I edited and tried the link, seems to work now.

It does. Thanks. I don't like John Gardner's mother at all. And, my heart goes out to Amber's mom!!

I did not like what his Mom did either, in fact I cannot imagine her not allowing Amber's Mom to take her place to visit/speak w/ Gardner. As far as I know, Gardner's Mom has not uttered a word of apology to either Amber or Chelsea's parents and at the very least she owes them that.
But then again, I think that Gardner's Mom (& step-dad I think) made it real easy for John to find another victim, so I don't feel sorry for her.

I find it hard to feel any kind of sympathy for his mother. Not only do I think that she protected and enabled his crimes I think her own promiscuous behavior may have help trigger his desire to attack and kill.
just my O.

My heart goes out to Amber's mother - I don't understand why she isn't allowed to speak with Gardner? Shouldn't she be given the opportunity, as the mother of the victim?

I'm sure that Gardner is desperately avoiding speaking with her (he is probably telling his mom not to let them in), but he should not have a choice in the matter, IMO!! This mother has the right to have her questions answered... and he needs to start answering them & quit being a coward!!

In all reality, it is probably a good thing that Gardner is not wanting to speak to her. I doubt very seriously Mrs. DuBois would get the answer she is seeking, sad to say.

Nite, I completely agree with your summation of Mrs. Garnder.

Amber's Mom was able to meet with Gardner today, I have the link below (in case it doesn't work, People is where to read it). I can't believe she did it, I truly hope that this doesn't mess her up more but if it's what she needed, I hope it helps her a bit.
I wonder if it was Gardner's sister who had the influence over him to get the visit granted?

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Thanks for posting that link raine! I'm glad to hear that she was finally able to meet with him. Although, I'm sure it must have been painful to hear what happened... I hope it helped to give her some closure (is there such a thing when your child is brutally murdered?).

I heard her interviewed on the local news tonight and she said that she had closure and that in time, she would share with the public what they talked about.
I guess everyone seeks out something different when
such a horrific tragedy strikes.... IDK....I'm glad she got what she needed but I don't think I would be strong enough to hear what he had to hear and I don't think I could be near him because I doubt that anyone could control me. I don't know how these parents do it...

If anyone deserves the DP, it is him. I am disappointed that it was not his sentence.

TerryRose wrote:If anyone deserves the DP, it is him. I am disappointed that it was not his sentence.

I agree with you TerryRose, here in CA one waits a life sentence on death row anyway. He's an awful person to say the least. Anyone catch it today when the girl who survived his attack last year taunted Gardner and he got so angry so fast?

The John Gardner sentencing hearing concluded today (Friday) with the now infamous California murderer being slapped with a life sentence without the possibility of parole.
But before his sentence was handed down, families of John Albert Gardner III's two teenage victims (and a victim who managed to escape) took the stand. A packed courtroom was raw with emotion as members of 14 year old Amber Dubois' family and 17 year old Chelsea King's described how their lives had been destroyed by Gardner, 30. Both families played home video honoring the bright lives cut short by the murderer who sat just feet away with tears streaming down his face.


Chelsea King disappeared in February 2010 when she never returned from a run. Her body was discovered a few days later in a shallow grave at the park where she went missing. A week after that, in early March, Amber Dubois' remains were found. The high school freshman had disappeared in February 2009, but her case went cold until Gardner was arrested for King's rape and murder. On April 16 of this year, Gardner pleaded guilty to killing both girls.
The murders of Amber DuBois (left) and Chelsea King (right) made national headlines and caused a public outcry over current sex offender laws. John A. Gardner III was registered as a sex offender from January 2008 until January of this year after serving five years of a six year sentence for molesting a 13 year old neighbor. According to the Associated Press, police admit there were gaps between 2008 and 2010 when Gardner was not registered as a sex offender.

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Those were such touching tributes to two beautiful young ladies... who are now angels in heaven~

In contrast, that picture of Gardner makes him look like the evil villain that he is! I hope that he will spend his time in prison being tortured by the memory of the beautiful smiling faces of the two lives that he heartlessly snuffed out.

By ELLIOT SPAGAT, Associated Press Writer Elliot Spagat, Associated Press Writer – Fri May 14, 10:15 pm ET

SAN DIEGO – Parents of two teenage girls who were raped and murdered by a sex offender took turns at the podium of a California courtroom giving loving descriptions about their daughters.

Their audience Friday included John Albert Gardner III, who was minutes away from being sentenced to life in prison for the crimes.

"Chelsea was everything this man was not," said Brent King, the father of one of the victims. "She was as good as this man is evil."

Gardner, 31, breathed heavily and cried at times during the emotional statements, delivered by family members just before Superior Court Judge David Danielsen pronounced the sentence.

Gardner received two life terms without possibility of parole for murdering Chelsea King, 17, and Amber Dubois, 14, and a third life term with a 25-year minimum for the attempted rape of Candice Moncayo, a jogger who escaped by smashing him in the nose with an elbow.

Dubois devoured books, adored animals and stood in pouring rain because she loved nature, said her mother, Carrie McGonigle.

Amber's backpack was filled with Valentine's Day cards for friends on the day she was abducted while walking to school in suburban Escondido in February 2009, McGonigle said. The Future Farmers of America member was also carrying a check to buy a lamb, she said.

Brent King said it was especially bittersweet to receive acceptance letters recently from all 11 colleges to which Chelsea had applied before her death in February.

He said he loved changing his daughter's diapers and, years later, talking with her about global issues, competition, life's pressures and her dreams. They marveled at the beauty of plants and animals and joked about God's sense of humor in creating the platypus, he said.

Gardner, who reached a plea deal last month that spared him the death penalty, cried during a video of Amber's life. He showed a flash of anger when Moncayo, asked about his smashed nose, veering from her prepared remarks.

Moncayo said she came to ask "to remove this man from our world, to make us a little safer by locking him up permanently and to finally free us from the nightmare he created."

Gardner raised his head when Kelly King, Chelsea's mother, demanded that she look at him. He refused when she asked him a second time.

"Why am I not surprised?" she said.

Gardner's crimes have sparked a far-reaching review of how California deals with sex predators, a campaign that advocates hope to take to Washington, D.C., and to state legislatures.

Chelsea's parents are leading a campaign for "Chelsea's Law" to allow life sentences for some convicted child molesters in California and lifetime electronic monitoring of others. The bill, which cleared its first legislative committee last month, would also ban sex offenders from parks.

The Kings on Friday also blamed Gardner's mother, Catherine Osborn, for failing to stop her son, who served five years of a six-year prison sentence for molesting a 13-year-old neighbor in 2000.

Brent King, turning to address her in her front-row seat, said she would always bear "our pain on your soul."

"She knew what you were capable of and did nothing," Kelly King said. "She lacked the humanity and human decency to do the right thing ... Your mother will always be intertwined with your horrific crime because she did nothing."

Osborn dabbed her face with tissue as McGonigle described her devastating loss. McGonigle said she often obsessed about her daughter's final moments.

"Was she scared? Was she calling my name? No one can appreciate the horror that is my life until they can appreciate the joy that was my Amber," she said.

Calls to stiffen penalties for child sex offenders began almost the moment Gardner was arrested Feb. 28, three days after he attacked Chelsea on an afternoon run in San Diego, strangled her, and buried her in a shallow, lakeside grave.

Gardner faced a maximum of nearly 11 years in prison for molesting his neighbor in 2000, but prosecutors called for six years. A court-appointed psychiatrist urged the maximum sentence allowed by law. He said in court documents that Gardner was a "continued danger to underage girls" and "an extremely poor candidate" for treatment.

Maurice Dubois, Amber's father, read from psychiatrist Matthew Carroll's report during his statement in court Friday.

He likened his daughter's killer to a mountain lion whose instincts are to stalk and attack. If the zookeeper frees the lion from captivity, he asked, who is responsible for the killings that come after?

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

The case has also put California's parole system under the microscope, and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has ordered a state board to review the system.

Gardner lived little more than a football field's length from a San Diego preschool for at least 16 months while on parole from 2005 to 2008. That violated a condition of parole that prohibited him from living within a half-mile of a school.

A corrections department official let him stay until his lease expired in 2006 but no one noticed he was still living there until a year later. The parole board could have sent him back to prison but kept him on parole, where he had six other less serious potential violations.

The discovery of Chelsea's semen-stained clothing during a massive search quickly led authorities to Gardner. Days later, he led investigators to Amber's remains in a remote, mountainous area north of San Diego.

The investigation into Amber's disappearance had gone nowhere since she disappeared in early 2009.

Gardner led authorities to Amber's remains on condition that the information not be used in court. Investigators were unable to independently link him to the crime, and his guilty plea to that murder was a big reason why the death penalty was dropped.

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John Albert Gardner III wept openly in court Friday as he was verbally skewered by the parents of two San Diego area teens he'd confessed to raping and murdering.

Gardner was sentenced to two consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole for killing Chelsea King, 17, and Amber Dubois, 14. He also got a 25-year minimum for the attempted rape of Candice Moncayo, a jogger who was able to escape by smashing him in the nose with her elbow.

"You now have to spend the rest of your life, an eternity in the worst and deepest parts of hell," said Kelly King, Chelsea's mother, in a statement typical of what Gardner heard from the families whose lives he shattered.

In recent telephone statements to CBS affiliate KFMB in San Diego, Gardner asked, "Do you think that I don't have guilt and I don't hate myself for what I did? I was not in control." He also predicted he'd be killed by fellow inmates within five years.

But criminal profiler Pat Brown was having none of that on "The Early Show on Saturday Morning."

"For some families," she told co-anchor Betty Nguyen, "just the ability to be able to get that rage out, to get it out to the public as well as to the person who victimized their children, it feels good for them to do that. But they don't want to make a mistake to believe that he actually gives a darn.

"Everything that John Gardner did in that courtroom is an act. He doesn't care what they say to him. He's not feeling bad about what they say to him. He doesn't feel bad about what he did to their children. In the words of the serial killer Clifford Olson, 'If I gave a damn about the parents, I wouldn't have killed their children.' John Gardner does not care. He's looking for sympathy. And that's what his whole game in the courtroom was -- a sympathy ploy.

"That sobbing," Brown continued, "think about it -- this is a man who brutally murdered two beautiful little girls and, while they were looking up at him, screaming, 'No, don't do this to me. I want my mommy,' he didn't care one bit. Do you think he really feels bad for them now? No, no, no, he feels bad for himself, and he wants everyone out there to realize he's a victim, too. (He wants people to think) he's suffering, too, and he's going to have as to go to prison and he might get killed in prison. Feel sorry for me. Ladies, you can write me in prison, you can help me out."

Brown said Gardner "absolutely" enjoys the limelight. "He knows he's caught," Brown observed. "He knows he's not going to be outside anymore. So this is his new game. He's going to prison, and he's going to get as much sympathy (as he can) on the way.

"He's (acting as if he's) a victim of society, he's a victim of his raging chemicals in his brain. He feels bad about what he did, so everyone have some pity on me. So now, he's gonna play his new game in prison and he will get lots of letters from ladies. I can guarantee you. (He) may get a girlfriend. May get married. He's gonna have his fun in prison, and that's the sad part about it all. Don't feel sorry for John Gardner. He doesn't feel sorry for anything he's done."

Can confronting their daughters' killer help bring closure to the parents?

"There's really no such thing as closure," Brown replied. "It's a really silly word in a sense. You don't close the door on your child who's been murdered. What you have are answers and a level of acceptance. ... But when you wake up in the morning, your daughter's not there, and you still have to live with it and all you can hope is at they find some way to deal with this, maybe to help other families and fight against the criminal justice system and keep guys like this behind bars (Gardner served five years of a six-year sentence for beating and molesting a 13-year-old San Diego girl in 2000) ... So maybe they'll get some good, positive feelings from that. But it's a long road and closure never really happens."

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I agree with that article! It did seem as though he was trying to squeeze the tears out, and if he was genuinely sad... it was most likely at the thought of going to prison for the rest of his life! I really don't think his tears were for the victims & their families.