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.

R.I.P. McKenzie...

I followed this baby's ups and downs through the facebook group page "Pray for McKenzie".
She is now in heaven, a real angel...

From the Tallahassee Newspaper:

2-year-old McKenzie Bailey dies after long battle with illness

McKenzie Bailey touched everyone that she met.

She was a 2-year-old that meant more to her family, friends, and doctors than she would she ever know.

McKenzie had neonatal Marfan syndrome, a disorder of the connective tissue. Her tissue was very flexible, which made her heart and lungs much larger than average. Her chest cavity was so large that her lungs have moved her heart to her lower right abdomen.

McKenzie died Wednesday afternoon at Shands Hospital in Gainesville after a rough few weeks of another hospital admittance.

She might have lost her battle, but those that knew the little girl that loved to play and give kisses will always have her in their heart.

"She has taught me to cherish every moment you have," said McKenzie's mother, Jennifer Bailey. "I have no regrets, I would do it all over again if I could."

"I am going to miss her smile and her kisses. She loved to give kisses," Jennifer said, who is now home with her family.

Jennifer and her husband, Ashley fought hard for their only child.

In January, the Baileys asked the Tallahassee community for help to find adequate transportation that would get McKenzie to Johns Hopkins, where there was a doctor willing to do the surgery she needed.

But McKenzie was never able to get to Baltimore. Her health was just too risky for transportation.

Since January, her health had its ups and downs with constant doctor and hospital visits.

Pictures From Storm

This is the shopping center I work at.. My salon is on the other side of shopping center.

At about 5:40 PM on Saturday I was working when that part of the roof fell- one of our stylists was inside at the time shopping with her daughter, but they were safely evacuated.



This is around the corner from work..



This is a home on Post Road just before Hillside Avenue (the road Greenwich High School is on)..


...And this is Hillside Road itself. No school today!

North Street, flooded..


Governer Jodi Rell declaring state of emergency, with our First Selectman Peter Tesei to her right.

Woman Killed by Falling Trees ID'd; Remembered by Church

[ARTICLE 2]

Greenwich Time- A Greenwich woman who was killed Saturday after being struck by falling trees was remembered Monday as a "wonderful person" who was active in her church and loved music.

Police identified the woman Monday as 61-year-old June Einhorn, of 19 Boulder Brook Road.

Einhorn was killed Saturday evening during the height of a fierce storm that ripped through Greenwich and caused major destruction in the backcountry, where Einhorn lived.

Police said Einhorn was out walking with her husband, Eric Einhorn, in their northeast Greenwich neighborhood when several trees struck her, causing a severe head injury.

It is believed the Einhorns were walking to a neighbor's house for dinner at the time of the incident. Officials believe she was killed instantly.

On Monday, news of Einhorn's passing shook the members of Christ Church Greenwich, where she had been an involved member for several years.

"She was always very active in a lot of our programs and our music department," said Susan Marks, communications director for the church.

"She was an amazing lady. Very talented. She could do everything, and this is such a loss, not just to Christ Church but to the whole community."

Marks, who described Einhorn as a good friend, said Einhorn was South African and had two children who both recently graduated from college. Her children were in the church choir, Marks said.

"They actually had just moved back to Greenwich," said Marks, noting that the Einhorns had moved out of town for a period. "She was just a wonderful person."

As of Monday afternoon, Marks believed there would be a memorial service at the church, but plans had not been discussed, she said. Einhorn's family could not be reached for comment at their home Monday.

According to online records, the Einhorns were one of numerous donors to a program called the Sekolo Project Inc., which works to help prevent HIV infection in Namibia. Marks said she was familiar with the project and the couple's involvement.

On Sunday, one of the Einhorns' neighbors described how the ordeal unfolded. Neighbor Gary Silberberg said he was outside checking on damage when he was approached by the woman's husband, asking him to help search for his wife.

After grabbing a flashlight from his home, Silberberg returned to find the woman had been lying on the road close to a tree.

"She was lying face down and we turned her over and I couldn't get a pulse and she had a gray pallor on her face," Silberberg said Sunday.

With the assistance of a neighbor, they used a tarpaulin to carry her to a nearby home where a doctor lived. However, Silberberg said there was nothing the doctor could do.

It took medics and police nearly two hours to get to the scene and even longer to get the woman to a hospital due to the damage in the area from falling trees and power lines. Police said the Einhorns arrived at Greenwich Hospital at approximately 11 p.m. Saturday. June Einhorn was pronounced dead at the hospital.

Ingrid McMenamin, president of the Northwest Greenwich Association, said the tragedy demonstrates how residents need to be wary of falling trees and stay indoors if they can.

"Our heart reaches out to the family," said McMenamin. "It is just tragic. It reinforces the need to stay in shelter when the weather is like this."