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.