Amber Dubois' Dad to John Gardner III: "He Will Burn in Hell"

SAN DIEGO (CBS/AP) Amber Dubois' father minced no words with his daughter's killer.

"He will burn in hell for the acts he's committed," Maurice Dubois said during the sentencing of John Gardner III in a California court Friday.

Gardner was sentenced to three life sentences without possibility of parole for raping and killing Amber Dubois, 14, and Chelsea King, 17.

Chelsea's mother, Kelly King, demanded the killer's attention.

"Look at me," she said before describing her beloved daughter.

"Chelsea was a sweet, loving, and innocent soul who could not have fathomed the wretched piece of evil that ended her life that day," said Kelly King.

Tears streamed down Gardner's face.

"Chelsea was everything this man was not," said her father Brent King. "She was as good as this man is evil."

One by one, each parent came to the podium to address the man that stole their daughters.

"I truly hope he suffers a hundred times the amount of pain he caused our families," Amber Dubois' father said. "I just hope that day is an agonizingly long way away, and that he will have to suffer as much as we all have."

Superior Court Judge David Danielsen sentenced Gardner, 31, to two life terms without parole for the rape and murder of both Amber Dubois and Chelsea King, and a third life term for the attempted rape of Candice Moncayo, a jogger who managed to escape Gardner's attack by elbowing him in the nose.

Chelsea King, a straight A high school student, went missing Feb. 25, 2010 while running in a San Diego park. Her body was found five days later in a shallow grave by a lake. Amber Dubois went missing one year earlier almost to the day. Her skeletal remains were found soon after Chelsea King's.

Chelsea King-Amber Dubois Plea Deal for Killer John Gardner is Justice Served, Says Ex-Prosecutor

LOS ANGELES (CBS) The plea deal offered by the San Diego District Attorney's Office and accepted by John Gardner in the murders of 17-year-old Chelsea King and 14-year-old Amber Dubois has generated a lot of discussion, and dissatisfaction. In several online polls I have seen, up to 67% of the people were disappointed with the plea.

And while I can relate to the public's feeling that the plea was somewhat anti-climactic when compared to the shock of Gardner's crimes, I do believe that this was an excellent plea from the perspective of the prosecution.

John Gardner pled guilty Friday, April 16 to the murders and sexual assaults of Chelsea and Amber. He admitted to raping and strangling King in February of this year, and raping and stabbing Dubois in February 2009. By leading police to the body of Dubois and admitting to the murders, Gardner spared himself from the death penalty. He will now most likely spend the rest of his life in prison. His sentence is 33 years to life, without the possibility of parole.

These are two critical elements that give the plea deal a more robust legal force. Also, nothing in this plea bars the prosecutor from bringing new cases against Gardner should other victims come forward or be discovered.

After speaking with Carrie McGonigle, Amber Dubois' mom - and also hearing Brent King, Chelsea's father, at a press conference - I believe while there is no "happiness" in this plea for the families, there is a small amount of satisfaction. Satisfaction in the sense that the case has come to a resolution and it is one that will allow both families to start to move on, heal, find closure, and utilize this tragedy as a catalyst for change.

While many people have not come to grips that this case is essentially over, we should all recognize that the wheels of justice do not have to turn slower than molasses. As evidenced by the Gardner plea deal: a case like this can be investigated, filed, pled, and sentenced properly in a short time if all the people are doing their job.

In the Gardner case the police did their job, the prosecution did theirs, and thankfully the defendant did his as well.

Overriding the disappointment that there is no "reciprocal justice" for Gardner (i.e. death) may prove impossible. Regardless of how you feel about the morality or practicality of the death penalty in general, I'm sure we can all pause to sympathize with the specific grieving of the parents of raped and murdered children.

The fact that the monster who did this to these two girls will still breathe every day of his life in jail must be the most painful thing imaginable. Emotionally and psychologically speaking it may take years, if ever, for the families to gain true closure. But there is some bottom line "good news" in this case: legal justice has been served and served expeditiously to Gardner!

Sex Offender Pleads Guilty to Killing Two Teen Girls

LA Times- A 31-year-old registered sex offender pleaded guilty Friday to murdering two teenage girls in northern San Diego County in a deal that spares him from the death penalty.

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

Chelsea, an honor student at Poway High School, disappeared Feb. 25 while jogging near Lake Hodges. Gardner was arrested Feb. 28, and on March 2 law enforcement searchers found Chelsea’s body in a shallow grave 10 feet from the water's edge.

Amber's skeletal remains were found four days later buried in the rugged Pala area northeast of Escondido. She had disappeared Feb. 13, 2009, while walking to class at Escondido High School.

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

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

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

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

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

Gardner and his attorney declined the judge's offer to comment on why Gardner agreed to plead guilty. He had pleaded not guilty to the murder and rape of Chelsea on March 3. The discovery of Amber's remains, which followed months of search efforts by hundreds of volunteers, so soon after Gardner's arrest had led to speculation that he had led authorities to her body, but until Friday his indictment for her killing was not public.

Gardner's arrest has sparked widespread public criticism over allegedly sloppy supervision of sex offenders.

Documents indicate that Gardner, who was released from prison in 2005, could have been sent back to prison for violating parole on several occasions, including for living too close to a school and missing meetings with his parole officer.

Other documents indicate that Gardner has long been diagnosed as having bipolar disorder and been prescribed mood-stabilizing drugs.

This week, accompanied by Chelsea's parents, Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher (R-San Diego) said he would introduce Chelsea’s Law, a bill that would allow for life sentences for first-time child molesters and for lifetime use of global positioning system monitoring of all sex offenders.

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

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

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

Schwarzenegger Orders Review of Sex Offender Case

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger ordered a review Friday of the way the state handled a molestation case involving a man who is now charged with murdering one California teenager and under investigation in another killing.

The order came a day after The Associated Press disclosed John Albert Gardner III could have been sent back to prison in 2007 for parole violations and evaluated for possible commitment to a state mental hospital as a sexually violent predator.

"We must learn from what happened in this case to make sure the public is protected from sexual predators," Schwarzenegger said in a statement detailing his order to the state Sex Offender Management Board.

Gardner, 30, has pleaded not guilty to the murder of 17-year-old Chelsea King in San Diego County. He also is a suspect but has not been charged in the killing of 14-year-old Amber Dubois, who disappeared as she walked to school in Escondido in early 2009.

The 17-member board includes law enforcement officials, crime victims, treatment experts and others who advise the governor and Legislature on sex offender policies.

Gardner pleaded guilty in 2000 to molesting a 13-year-old neighbor. He spent five years in prison and three years on parole before being released from supervision in September 2008.

Parole records independently obtained by the AP showed Gardner could have been sent back to prison in 2007 and 2008 for violations that included living too close to a college daycare center.

The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has said it was trying to determine if actions regarding Gardner's parole were consistent with policy and law.

"We are taking every appropriate step to review these case factors to determine if these potential infractions warranted a return to prison on their merits," Corrections Secretary Matthew Cate said in a statement.

Oscar Hidalgo, spokesman for the department, previously said Gardner was considered to be a low- or moderate-risk sex offender, based on the assessment in use at the time.

He wasn't sent back to prison in September 2007 because he corrected the residency violation by moving away from the daycare center, Hidalgo said.

Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher, R-San Diego, called for an investigation of the department and intends to hold public hearings before proposing legislation to increase penalties and oversight of sex offenders.

Assemblyman Pedro Nava, D-Santa Barbara, said he would amend one of his existing bills now in the state Senate to increase the penalty for a first offense of raping a minor to a mandatory 25 years to life in prison.

The current punishment is 15 years to life and also depends on the age of the victim. Nava is a former prosecutor who is running for attorney general.

Nava's bill also proposes creating a system to call the cell phones of residents in a specific area letting them know when a sex crime has been committed in their neighborhood.

Let Us Not Forget Amber, Either..

Dubois vanished Feb. 13 on her way to Escondido High School about 7:15am.

Amber was an excellent student with no history of running away from home or behavioural problems. Her case is not classified as a runaway, endangered person or the victim of an abduction. What?

Escondido Lt. Craig Carter told reporters yesterday that detectives would meet with Dubois mother, Carrie McGonigle. Earlier this week McGonigle demanded detectives seek outside help from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children and FBI experts. McGonigle said her daughters investigation cannot wait another day.

"I want the experts to go through the case from the beginning to see what the police have missed...I feel they haven't even had a chance to go back through the case all the way through, and they are not experts on missing children," said teen's mother. "There was stuff they didn't touch, things they didn't do, mistakes they made."

Lt. Carter met with Amber's parents Wednesday morning. Carter said police decided to invite the FBI and the nonprofit National Center for Missing & Exploited Children to review about 15 binders of documents. Detectives are hoping the FBI and the national center missing-child experts will find clues overlooked in early stages of investigation.

"It makes sense, we have no issue with that," Carter said. "We will reach out to both those agencies."

The reward is $55,000 for anyone with information leading to Dubois safe return and an additional $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of anyone responsible for her disappearance.

Authorities Are Asking For Your Help

Escondido police are requesting the public's help in identifying the red truck seen in surveillance video near the place where Amber Dubois disappeared on Feb 13.

The footage was taped minutes before the girl vanished. The marooon or burgundy-colored pickup is seen entering the school parking lot, where it parked for three minutes before leaving the driveway, onto North Broadway, Lt. Bob Benton said.

The pickup is a late-model crew-cab model with four doors, is equipped with chrome parts, including wheels, running boards and bed rails, said Benton.

"Also, it appears from the video the tailgate is either missing or (modified) to accommodate a fifth-wheel trailer, Benton said, There is no further information such as license-plate or driver description."

Investigators have identified all other vehicles which belong to employees.

Click here to watch the red truck at 7:10 am on 02/13/2009 enter and then leave at about 7:13 am.

Amber's mother, Carrie McGonigle belives the two people inside the truck, may have waited for her daughter to walk by prior to abducting the teen.

"Police are looking for a break and so are we...Maybe one said something to Amber, had some kind of weapon and the other guy was the driver," McGonigle said.

If you have any information please call 760-743-TIPS. Callers may remain anonymous. You could also contact charlie@crimesearchersonline.com

The reward for Amber is $60,000. Fifty thousand dollars is offered for information leading her safe return while $10,000 is offered for information leading to the arrest of the person responsible for her disappearance.

Police Wait For Amber's Computer History Overseas

The 14-year-old Escondido High School freshman, Amber Dubois disappeared Feb. 13th, 2009. Police say there has been no leads or developments in the case for weeks.

Amber's family believes she was abducted but investigators say they have no evidence to support either a runaway or abduction theory.

"This has been a very frustrating and perplexing case for our investigators. To have a 14-year-old girl missing is a huge concern for all of us involved ... we all know Amber, obviously not as well as the family. She is very dear to us. We'll do anything to find her," Escondido police Lt. Bob Benton said.

So far, the search warrant's of Amber's e-mail and online chat history has shown nothing "out of the ordinary," said Benton. The challenge is accessing Amber's computer history, on both her Yahoo! e-mail account and from several social networking sites. Investigators say this is slow process because much of the data is stored on servers overseas.

One of the "unsolved questions of the case" said Benton is the identity of the young male seen walking with Amber on the west side of Broadway the morning she vanished?

Search Warrants Reveal Bump in Web Activity

In court documents obtained Friday by the North County Times, Escondido police state that two of Amber's friends told a police detective Feb. 19 that the teenager had told each of them she had been spending time online talking to boys.

One of her friends told officers she tried to dissuade Amber from doing so, "due to her type of conversations that Amber stated she was talking about and the dangers associated with this behavior," according to the search warrant affidavit from Escondido police Officer Damon Vander Vorst.

Amber's parents each said they were surprised to hear the revelation. Both raised doubts and concerns about what their daughter's friends had said...

"It makes me nervous about Internet predators," he said, adding that he was unaware that his daughter could have been taking part in online chats with boys. He said he routinely checked her computer communications when she was with him at his Orange County home.

Amber's mother, Carrie McGonigle, echoed those concerns and said she also monitored her daughter's Internet activity. She said Amber could have been lured by someone she may have known or somehow had been acquainted with.

The warrant affidavit also states that a probe of the computer revealed Internet activity on it had increased the week prior to her disappearance and that activity stopped after Amber went missing.

The warrant obtained by police last week allows them to search the content and subscriber information of Amber's Yahoo account, on which she used the online name "wolfintheend."

With no solid leads, police said they are putting out feelers everywhere they can, looking into everything they can including obtaining warrants to search Amber's Internet records.

The law requires that each social networking site, as well as Internet content providers like Yahoo, must be individually served with a search warrant in order for police to probe Amber's activity on those sites. (source)

Come Home, Amber..

Amber,

Hello my sweetheart, this is Dad. It's late Friday night and I wanted to write you this letter since you are not here with me. This was supposed to be our weekend together and this afternoon at about the time I should be picking you up from the train station, I was thinking about what I could do to talk to you like we would be doing right now. So I decided that tonight I would write you this letter and get it out where you might get a chance to read it.

One of your friends brought over a CD with pictures of you and your friends at their birthday beach party. Some cool pictures of you guys, one is of you running in the water at night by the pier with a cool sunset behind you. It reminds me of our midnight grunion run while camping last summer and all the fun we had that night catching all those darn fish with our hands. I guarantee on our next run, I will catch more than you!!!

Your Teacher Mr. Reyburn is keeping your lamb, ( Nénette ) for you till you get back. You can bet your Mom is looking as hard as she can for you since she will be doing your barn clean-up duties until you return.

This is still my weekend, so I will be waiting to hear from you so I can come get you. Next Friday is the 13th again and it will be a month that you have been away, I don't want to wait that long before I get my next hug from you. Well, I really just wanted to say we all miss you and love you very much. I hope you get to read this, or better yet I hope you are back in my arms soon, so I can tell you in person. Don't lose hope in our finding you. I will never lose hope in our search for you.

Always Loving You,

DAD xoxo

Moe Dubois released letter to the media, hoping that daughter will read or hear about it.

Click here to read the disappearance of Amber Dubois

Could It REALLY BE A Friday 13th Prank??

I've been following tids and bits of the Amber Dubois case, and remember hearing on Nancy Grace this week that it was suspected that Amber's dissapearance on the 13th of Febuary could be a prank of some sort by fellow classmates.. Nancy threw that theory out the window saying it was unsubstantialized and stupid, and I did at first, but then I read this:

New Lead In Missing Amber Dubois Case

Escondido police are looking into new tip Saturday evening. Tipster said Amber was seen walking with a tall boy on the day she went missing.
"They are thinking it was a high school student. They want to make sure. They want to talk to him and no one has come forward yet," Amber's mother said. (source)
Three teens reported in area were offered a ride home from school by a man in a small white compact vehicle, said Lt. Bob Benton.
In all three cases, the man approached the teen girls just after 3 p.m., he said
Benton said "it is too early to know if these incidents are connected to the disappearance the Amber Dubois".
One girl was in the 1400 block of Oakhill Street, and another was at Boyle and Rose Street, he said. The third location was unavailable.
When the girls declined a ride, the man drove off, Benton said.
The may be a Honda or Toyota, he said. The partial license plate is"5W00" or "5WWM," Benton said.
The man was described as a white man in his early 20s, with eye glasses and short dark hair, Benton said (source)

Runaway or Foul Play? Where Is Amber?

Amber DuBois was getting ready for school the last time her family saw her 11 days ago.

The dark-haired, 14-year-old was sitting at the kitchen table Feb. 13, excited about a baby lamb she was going to purchase for her California high school's Future Farmers of America project. She spoke with a friend on the phone and prepared to head to school.
She never made it.

More than a week later, dozens of community members have continued their search of the Escondido, Calif., area, and the teen's family has hired a private investigator to help with the search, frustrated, they say, that police treated Amber as a runaway -- which officials deny.
"Unfortunately, in my mind, I'm about 98 percent positive she was in the wrong place at the wrong time and got abducted by a stranger," her father, Maurice "Moe" DuBois, told ABCNews.com.

The theories of what exactly happened to Amber are numerous. Police have reported sightings of the teen after her disappearance, while the private investigator says her friends may know more than they're letting on.

Lt. Robert Benton of the Escondido Police Department said it never classified Amber as a runaway but are still considering that as an option, along with foul play. So far, he said, police have gotten several hundred leads.

The FBI has been called in to help with out-of-jurisdiction interviews and technology, including cell phone and text message records.

At this point," Benton said, "we still don't know."

"Our biggest concern is that she's 14. She's very young. It's not that she's street smart."

DuBois described his only daughter as a "nerd" who got good grades and loved to read, calling her his "angel."

"She's read more books in the last two months than I have in my entire life," he said.

And, above all, Amber was happy. She had talked about getting the lamb since she was in junior high and was very excited that the day had finally arrived, DuBois said, adding that Amber had planned to take several Valentine's Day gifts to school that day for her friends.

"Friday was such an important day for her," Amber's mother, Carrie McGonigle, said. " I'm afraid she just got in to a bad situation."

"I'm convinced she was abducted. I know she's not a runaway."