CHELSEA KING - 17 yo - Poway/Rancho Bernardo CA

A convicted sex offender charged with murdering a 17-year-old
California girl was repeatedly fined for drug and driving offenses
following his 2005 release from prison -- once while driving a car
similar to one later used during an attempted child kidnapping, records
show. Four incidents occurred while John Albert Gardner III was on parole,
including a misdemeanor citation for possessing marijuana.
It was not immediately clear if the marijuana violation could have sent
Gardner back to prison. The state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation could not be
reached for comment Friday. The media office was closed for a
state-mandated furlough day. Officers who stop sex offenders for minor violations may not be aware of
their status, authorities said. A few states include notification on
their driver's licenses that the holder is a sex offender, but
California licenses do not. Gardner served five years for beating and molesting a 13-year-old
neighbor in 2000. He was cited for marijuana possession in Escondido in June 2008, three
months before his parole ended. He had been off parole for two months
when he was fined $640 for a second drug citation in November. In the second case, Gardner and another registered sex offender were
found drinking beer and smoking marijuana in the bed of a truck at an
Oceanside park, law enforcement records show. The other man was sent
back to prison for violating parole. State law bars registered sex offenders from living near parks but not
from visiting them. Last June, Gardner was cited for driving without proof of insurance on a
freeway near Escondido. He was driving a gold 1999 Pontiac Grand Prix.
That October, a similar car was used by someone who unsuccessfully tried
to abduct a girl at gunpoint as she walked to school in the Riverside
County town of Lake Elsinore, authorities said. Authorities seized a similar car from an Escondido junkyard earlier this
month and took it to a city holding facility. Gardner has not been charged in that case, but a composite sketch of the
suspect resembles Gardner, who was living in Lake Elsinore when he was
arrested on Feb. 28 in the Chelsea King case. Gardner, 30, has pleaded not guilty to assaulting and murdering the
Poway teen, who vanished last month while running at a San Diego
wilderness park. Her body was found near the shore of Lake Hodges. Gardner also is under investigation but has not been charged in the
killing of 14-year-old Amber Dubois, who vanished last year while
walking to school in Escondido. Her bones were discovered earlier this
month north of San Diego. Records show that between his prison release and re-arrest, Gardner was
cited at least eight times for running a red light, speeding, lacking
proof of insurance, possessing marijuana and having an open container of
alcohol in a car. He was fined in seven cases, and one speeding ticket was dismissed after
he completed traffic school.

Hundreds of people, many dressed in blue or orange, headed out on a
run/walk along the shores of Lake Hodges Saturday to symbolically
complete the final act that slain Poway High School senior Chelsea King
set out to do — take a jog in the scenic park.
“Finish Chelsea’s Run” was intended as a show of devotion to the
memory of the 17-year-old straight-A student, and as a way for the
community to “take back” the open-space area where she was allegedly
raped and killed, organizers said. Participants began gathering at 7
a.m. near the lake at Rancho Bernardo Community Park, where a band
played on a stage flanked by giant posters of King.
Many people caught shuttles from a nearby mall to the site of the
3-mile run/walk, which began at 9 a.m. Pets on leashes and children were
welcome, according to organizers. Searchers found King’s body in a
shallow grave along an arroyo above Lake Hodges on March 2, five days
after the cross-country running team member went missing. A registered
sex offender has been charged with raping and murdering her and could
face the death penalty if convicted.
John Albert Gardner III, 30, also stands accused of attacking another
young jogger in the same park in late December, where the 22-year-old
victim escaped after elbowing her attacker in the face. Investigators
have described Gardner as a “focal point” of their investigation of the
apparent murder of 14-year-old Amber Dubois of Escondido, who vanished
while walking to school in February 2009.
The high school freshman’s skeletal remains were found on a hillside
in the Pala area four days after King’s body was found.

The parents of a 17-year-old girl who was killed after vanishing in a
park began campaigning Tuesday for a law that aims to strengthen
oversight of child sex predators.Brent and Kelly King said in an
interview they will begin their effort in Sacramento by backing a state
bill being called Chelsea's Law in honor of their daughter.The
bill is expected to be introduced next month in the state Legislature.The
Kings also want to see changes in federal law. If that fails, they
intend to work state-by-state for heightened electronic monitoring and
other measures targeting sex offenders such as the one charged with the
murder of their daughter."If that's what it takes, that's what we
will do," Brent King said.The campaign comes less than a month
after Chelsea King failed to return from a run in a San Diego park, and
her body was found near a lake.John Albert Gardner III, a
convicted child molester, has pleaded not guilty to murdering Chelsea
and attempting to assault another woman in December. Gardner, 30, is
also a suspect but has not been charged in the death of a 14-year-old
Amber Dubois, who disappeared walking to school last year.The
Kings said they were educating themselves about the legal system while
staying focused on their priority of raising Tyler King, Chelsea's
younger brother."We're still in the very infancy of trying to
even breathe in the morning," Brent King said.They have met for
hours with Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher, a San Diego Republican who
intends to introduce Chelsea's Law.Fletcher appeared Tuesday with
the Kings at a news conference and spoke only in broad outlines about
the proposed legislation. He said it would include "an effective
one-strike provision" to send predators to jail, changes to the parole
system and closer monitoring of sex offenders.Fletcher said he
was also considering the possibility of lifetime parole with GPS
monitoring for sex offenders and having parole violators go before the
Board of Parole instead of lower-level corrections officials.Gardner,
he noted, repeatedly violated parole and was never sent back to prison.
Records showed one violation involved living too close to a daycare
center, while others were issued for letting the battery on his ankle
bracelet run low and missing a meeting with his parole officer.Gardner
served five years of a six-year sentence for molesting a 13-year-old
neighbor in San Diego in 2000 and was on parole for three years, until
September 2008."The unfortunate reality is this case has exposed a
broken system," Fletcher said.Brent King said he can't bear to
read about Gardner's history and has been infuriated by the news stories
he has seen.Since the death of their daughter, the Kings have
put their careers on hold. Brent King worked for years in mortgage
banking. Kelly King is a medical assistant in a dermatologist's office."We
are parents first, activists second, then everything else will sort
itself out after that," Brent King said.The couple has been
relying on a tight circle of friends and family for advice and support.
The have formed a nonprofit group, Chelsea's Light Foundation, to
promote legislative and educational initiatives to protect children from
sexual predators.Brent King said the days have blurred since
Chelsea vanished Feb. 25 in Rancho Bernardo Community Park in San Diego."It
feels like one terrible day that never ends," he said.Kelly King
said she has been sleeping only when her body won't allow her to stay
awake."Chelsea would be so upset if we didn't take care of
ourselves first, take care of Tyler first," she said.Meanwhile,
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger asked an expert panel to investigate why
Gardner wasn't classified as a high-risk sex offender or sexually
violent predator before he was released from prison.The
California Sex Offender Management Board should also review whether
Gardner's parole should have been revoked for violations including
living too close to the daycare center, Schwarzenegger said in a letter
to the board.He asked the board, made up of law enforcement,
victims and treatment providers, to recommend ways to better monitor sex
offenders.Schwarzenegger asked the board to review the Gardner
case earlier this month. He expanded on the request in Tuesday's letter.

The parents of slain Poway High School senior Chelsea
King and state Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher plan to host a two-hour
community forum Tuesday as part of their campaign for stricter sex
offender legislation.
Fletcher, R-San Diego, and the King family want to enact “Chelsea’s
Law,” which would mandate stricter sentencing for violent sex offenders
and more intensive monitoring of those who are released from prison.
Chelsea, a straight-A student, athlete and musician, went missing
Feb. 25 after she went for an after-school run near Lake Hodges. Her body
was discovered five days later in a shallow grave near the water’s
edge.

Convicted sex offender John Albert Gardner III is charged
with her rape and murder. Gardner, 30, was registered as a Lake
Elsinore resident but was staying with his mother in Rancho Bernardo,
near where Chelsea was slain.
Gardner pleaded guilty 10 years ago to sexually assaulting a
13-year-old neighbor girl at his mother’s home in Rancho Bernardo. A
psychiatrist recommended Gardner receive the maximum sentenced of 30
years in prison, but the District Attorney’s Office made a plea deal to
spare the victim from testifying at trial. Under that deal, Gardner
served five years of a six-year sentence.
Tuesday’s forum is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at Maranatha Chapel in 4S
Ranch.

The parents of slain Poway High School senior
Chelsea King joined Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher tonight to host a
community forum as part of their campaign for stricter sex offender
legislation. The meeting at Maranatha Chapel in 4S Ranch began
with a prayer, then a 10-minute video presentation that showed Chelsea
growing from a baby into a piano- and French horn-playing youngster to a
pretty teenager having lighthearted fun with friends, mugging for the
camera and enjoying family outings. Following the video,
Chelsea's parents, Brent and Kelly King, took the stage, and the father
explained the purpose of the nonprofit Chelsea's' Light Foundation,
which they created following their daughter's murder."Everyone of us in this audience
has a voice," Brent King said. "Moms have a voice; dads have a voice;
grandparents have a voice; men have a voice; women have a voice. A voice
gives us power. The only ones who don't have this power are children.
That's what Chelsea's Light is about. We will bring a voice to our
children." Fletcher, R-San Diego, and the King family want to
enact "Chelsea's Law," which would mandate stricter sentencing for
violent sex offenders and more intensive monitoring of those who are
released from prison. Chelsea, a straight-A student, athlete
and musician, went missing Feb. 25 after going for an after-school run
near Lake Hodges. Her body was discovered five days later in a shallow
grave near the water's edge. Convicted sex offender John Albert
Gardner III is charged with sexually assaulting and murdering the teen.
Gardner, 30, was registered as a Lake Elsinore resident but was staying
with his mother in Rancho Bernardo, near where Chelsea was slain.
Gardner pleaded guilty 10 years ago to sexually assaulting a
13-year-old neighbor girl at his mother's home in Rancho Bernardo.
A psychiatrist recommended Gardner receive the maximum sentenced of
30 years in prison, but the District Attorney's Office made a plea deal
to spare the victim from testifying at trial. Under that deal, Gardner
served five years of a six-year sentence.

From Cindy Adams at Examiner.com

Chelsea King news: Accused killer John Gardner had MySpace
page, violating parole rule
The convicted sex offender accused of raping and murdering San Diego
teen, Chelsea
King, maintained a MySpace page, violating one of his rules of
parole.
Chelsea, 17, disappeared near Lake Hodges on Feb. 25 and her body was
found several days later in a shallow grave near the lake. John Gardner
has been charged with her rape and murder, but pleaded not guilty at his
arraignment.
Read the entire article at: http://www.examiner.com/x-1168-Crime-Examiner~y2010m4d1-Chelsea-King-news-Accused-killer-John-Gardner-had-MySpace-page-violating-parole-rule

The social networking site MySpace
says it removed the profile of John Albert Gardner III, a convicted
child molester who is charged with killing a 17-year-old San Diego area
girl. The company said Thursday that Gardner used a false name, false hometown
and false birthday to register for the account. MySpace confirmed it
was his site by working with the FBI and San Diego County Sheriff's
Department. A copy of the profile uses the names Jason Stud and Energizer Bunny. It
lists Playboy Mansion as his hometown, uses sexually explicit language
to describe his interests, and lists ''CSI'' and ''Bones'' among his
favorite television shows. MySpace says Gardner set up the account in December 2007, nine months
before he ended parole.

Parole officers should have done a better job watching a paroled California sex offender, but closer scrutiny
may not have stopped the murder of one teenage girl and the assault of another
woman, a draft report released Thursday said.

Even if suspect John Albert Gardner III had been sent back to prison for one
of his repeated parole violations, he would not have qualified as a sexually
violent predator, according to the report to the California Sex
Offender Management Board.
That contradicts previous statements from mental health officials who said
Gardner would have been strongly considered for commitment to a mental health
hospital.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger asked
the 18-member board of law enforcement officials, victims and treatment
providers to investigate why Gardner was classified as low-risk and not punished
for the seven parole violations.The board began discussing the report Thursday. Its final report to the
governor is due by the end of the month.
Gardner, 30, has pleaded not guilty to murdering 17-year-old Chelsea King of Poway, whose body was found in a park last month,
and to the attempted rape of another woman in December.
He is being investigated but has not been charged in the death of 14-year-old
Amber Dubois of Escondido, who disappeared in February
2009.
The report pointed out that those crimes occurred after Gardner has been
released from parole and was under no formal supervision.
Even while Gardner was on parole, "it is unlikely that a revocation would
have changed anything with respect to the crimes that Gardner is now charged
with committing," the report said.
However, it acknowledged that parole agents had failed to review whether
Gardner should have been reclassified as a high-risk offender after he was found
living too close to a school and daycare center while on parole.
They also should have immediately required him to move farther away instead
of letting him live nearby for nearly two years, the report said.
His location could have been enough to send Gardner back to prison, but the
parole board decided to keep him on parole for the remainder of his three-year
term, which ended in 2008.
Authorities also could have sought parole revocation after Gardner was cited
for possessing less than an ounce of marijuana in 2008, the report said.
"There was an opportunity to potentially violate his parole," said board
member Pamela King of the San
Bernardino County Public Defender's Office. "They had that opportunity for
an extended amount of time and they chose not to violate."
The report was prepared by Deputy Attorney General Janet Neeley and
Robert Ambroselli, director of the
state Division of Adult Parole Operations, which supervised Gardner for three
years after his release from prison in 2005. Gardner spent five years in prison
for molesting a 13-year-old neighbor girl in 2000.
Most of Gardner's parole violations were considered technical, including four
for letting the battery on his ankle bracelet run low and one for missing a
meeting with his parole officer.
Other violations surfaced later, including his use of a social networking Web
site.
The report called on the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to
devise new policies for deciding which offenders should be banned from the
Internet and better ways to track violations.
The 19-page draft report said Gardner would not likely have been classified
as a sexually violent predator and been sent to a state mental hospital because
the molestation he committed in 2000 involved a victim he knew, not a
stranger.
Still, the report said California should provide treatment to sex offenders
in prison and after their release, and follow the model of other states by
requiring sex offenders to periodically undergo polygraph tests.
In addition, there should be more money for local law enforcement to help
supervise offenders, and better communication with local agencies to catch
potential violations, several of which were missed in the Gardner case, the
report said.
It also questions whether tracking Gardner's movements with an electronic
device after he was released from parole supervision would have made a
difference. It cites research that GPS tracking can help solve crimes but rarely
prevents them.
"There is no crystal ball and you cannot prevent every crime from occurring,"
King said.

The parents of slain Poway High teenager Chelsea King – who
authorities contend was killed by a Lake Elsinore convicted sex offender
— and a state assemblyman unveiled a proposed law in Sacramento today
to strengthen penalties for forcible sex crimes and tighten monitoring
of offenders.
Chelsea, a cross-country runner, was out for an after-school run near
Lake Hodges Feb. 25 when she was allegedly raped and killed by
convicted sex offender John Albert Gardner III of Lake Elsinore.
Her parents, Kelly and Brent King, went to the state capital
accompanied by Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher, R-San Diego.
“Today is the day we start our race,” Brent King said at a news
conference before departing. “It’s a race Kelly and I didn’t choose to
run in. We were selected to run in it.”
Tonight, supporters will take a bus to join them. The 57-passenger
bus will leave from North County Fair at 7 p.m. and will return around 7
p.m. Tuesday, according to King family spokeswoman Sara Muller
Fraunces. The ride is free, but the King family is asking for donations
to tip the driver, she said.
On Tuesday, the Kings and their supporters are expected to carry more
than 1,000 sunflowers onto the east steps of the capitol. The 11:45
a.m. event, dubbed Sacramento Sunflower Ovation, was organized via
Facebook and timed to coincide with the formal introduction of Chelsea’s
Law.
Chelsea’s Law would mandate stricter sentencing guidelines for
violent sex offenders and institute more intensive monitoring of
parolees. The bill calls for mandatory life sentences for certain
violent attacks and life-long GPS tracking.
The measure would fill gaps in existing law, San Diego County Sheriff
William Gore said at the news conference.
“It allows us to hopefully deter these people from making further
crimes, but if they do it helps us make a quick apprehension.”
Chelsea — a straight-A student, athlete and musician — was found in a
shallow grave five days after she was reported missing.
Gardner, 30, had been staying with his mother in Rancho Bernardo,
near where Chelsea was slain.
Ten years ago, Gardner pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a
13-year-old neighbor girl at his mother’s home in Rancho Bernardo.
A psychiatrist recommended Gardner receive the maximum sentence of 30
years in prison, but the District Attorney’s Office made a plea deal to
spare the victim from testifying at trial. Under that deal, Gardner
served five years of a six-year sentence.
Since Gardner’s arrest in Chelsea’s case, state corrections officials
have revealed that Gardner racked up seven parole violations during the
three years he was on parole from the 2000 attack but none were
significant enough to send him back to prison.
Detectives are also looking at Gardner in the disappearance and
apparent murder of 14-year-old Amber Dubois, whose body was found March 6
— more than a year after she was reported missing after last being seen
walking to Escondido High School.
A preliminary hearing for Gardner in Chelsea’s killing is set for
Aug. 4.
The bill introduced by Fletcher calls for life imprisonment without
the possibility of parole for any forcible sex crime against minors that
include one or more aggravating factors, including the age of the
victim, whether a kidnapping substantially increased the risk of harm,
the perpetrator has a previous forcible sex crime conviction, and
whether he tied, bound or drugged the child.
The measure would also double the maximum penalty for a forcible sex
crime to 16 years in prison, prohibit a convicted sex offender from
entering a public park where children regularly congregate without prior
approval of a parole agent, double the period of parole to 10 years for
all forcible sex crimes, and establish lifetime parole and GPS
monitoring for offenders who
commit such crimes against children under 14 years old.

With two teary-eyed mothers looking on, sex offender John Albert
Gardner pleaded guilty Friday to murdering their teenage daughters after
prosecutors agreed not to seek the death penalty.Gardner, 31,
faces life in prison without parole for killing 14-year-old Amber Dubois
and 17-year-old Chelsea King in San Diego County.He also pleaded
guilty to attempting to rape another woman who was jogging in San Diego
and waived his right to an appeal.Gardner, wearing a dark blue
jail jumpsuit with his shackled arms hanging at his sides, said nothing
but "yes" repeatedly as the judge asked him for his pleas.Parents
Brent and Kelly King, and Maurice Dubois and Carrie McGonigle were in
the courtroom to hear the admissions. Kelly King and McGonigle were
teary-eyed throughout the proceeding. Sobbing could be heard when
Gardner entered his pleas.District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis said
Gardner led investigators to the skeletal remains of Dubois two days
after authorities charged him with the murder of King. He did so on the
condition that prosecutors not go public with the information or use it
against him in court."This was a somber decision," Dumanis said.
"To end the anguish of the unknown for the Dubois family and to bring
Amber home, we agreed."Officials, however, retained the ability
to use any evidence obtained from the crime scene to build their case.Escondido
police and crime lab technicians worked round-the-clock to find
evidence linking Gardner to the killing of Dubois, but Dumanis said they
did not succeed.Dubois vanished in February 2009, and the
investigation produced few solid leads until King disappeared Feb. 25
during an afternoon run in a San Diego park about 10 miles south of the
site where Dubois vanished.Gardner was arrested three days after
King disappeared. He initially pleaded not guilty to her killing.In
a surprising turn, Gardner admitted Friday to kidnapping, raping and
stabbing Dubois. He also admitted dragging King to a remote area where
he raped, strangled and buried her.Gardner offered to plead
guilty to both murders if prosecutors agreed to not seek the death
penalty."Accepting this plea has been an extremely difficult
decision," Dumanis said after the hearing. "We have the evidence to
pursue a murder charge against the defendant for Chelsea's murder, but
not for Amber's murder."Prosecutor Kristen Spieler told the judge
the victims' families agreed to the plea agreement.Brent King,
Chelsea's father, said his family wanted to spare their 13-year-old son
the drama of a protracted trial and appeals process, which prosecutors
said could drag on for decades."There's nothing satisfying about
this moment. It is only one more unbearably painful day that we will
have to carry in our memory as long as we live," Brent King said.The
Kings also wanted to help the grieving family of Dubois."While
our unequivocal first choice is the death penalty, we acknowledge that
in California that penalty has become an empty promise," he said.Later
he added: "The Dubois family has been through unthinkable hell the past
14 months. We couldn't imagine the confession to Amber's murder never
seeing the light of day, leaving an eternal question mark."Sentencing
was set for June 1.Defense attorneys left the courtroom without
talking to reporters.Chelsea King's body was discovered March 2
in a shallow lakeside grave after a massive search. Prosecutors said
Gardner was linked to the crime by DNA found on her clothing.The
bones of Dubois were discovered March 6 in a rugged, remote area north
of San Diego, a day after Gardner led authorities there. She vanished
with a $200 check to purchase a lamb she was going to raise for Future
Farmers of America. The check was never cashed.Gardner served
five years in prison after pleading guilty in 2000 to molesting a
13-year-old neighbor girl. Records show he later violated parole by
moving too close to a school but was allowed to remain free.Gardner's
history of parole violations has led to calls to strengthen
California's already stringent laws on sex predators.Brent and
Kelly King, the victim's mother, have traveled to Sacramento to announce
the introduction of "Chelsea's Law," which would send some child
molesters to prison for life after a first conviction and monitor others
with tracking technology until they die.

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, media outlets
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."

A man who pleaded guilty to raping and murdering two San Diego-area
teenage girls said in his first interview since his arrest Thursday that
he was overcome by rage and couldn't control himself.
John Albert Gardner III also sidestepped a question from
a reporter on whether he targeted others, laughing off the
question as a "good try" .
Gardner pleaded guilty April 16 to murdering 17-year-old Chelsea King and
14-year-old Amber Dubois in a deal with prosecutors that spared him the
death penalty. He is scheduled to be sentenced May 14 to life in prison
without parole."I was aware of what I was doing, and I
could not stop myself," he said in a telephone interview that aired
Thursday. "I was in a major rage and pissed off at my whole life and
everyone who had hurt me and hurt the wrong people."Gardner,
31, said his lawyers pushed for the plea agreement and that he never
cared about being sentenced to die."I hate myself, I
really do," he said. "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."Chelsea's body was found March 2 in a
shallow, lakeside grave, five days after she was attacked running in a
San Diego park. Gardner was arrested three days after Chelsea
disappeared, linked to the crime by semen found on her clothing.Gardner
led authorities March 5 to Amber's remains in a remote, rugged area
north of San Diego, more than 13 months after he abducted her while she
was walking to school in suburban Escondido."I had no
promises and I showed them where Amber was because I felt bad," Gardner
said. "I had no promise of any deal when I did that."San
Diego District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis has said Gardner led authorities
to Amber's remains on condition that the information not be used against
him in court. Investigators were unable to link Gardner to the crime
independently, a major reason that Dumanis agreed to take the death
penalty off the table in exchange for his admission of guilt.Gardner
said he would discuss details of how he killed his victims only with
their families, if they ask.Gardner served five years of a
six-year prison sentence for molesting a 13-year-old San Diego neighbor in 2000.

Police believe a registered sex offender stalked a young woman about a
year before his arrest and guilty pleas in the rapes and murders of two
Southern California teenage girls, according to search warrants
unsealed Wednesday.A police officer in Escondido identified John
Albert Gardner III as the driver of a gray vehicle that followed a woman
on April 2, 2009, the documents state.The woman, perhaps 20
years old, had flagged down the officer for help and said the driver had
been following her all day for no reason.The woman left the area
before the officer could ask more questions. She has never been
identified."The officer quickly contacted the vehicle as it tried
to depart the area and identified the driver as Gardner," the warrant
said without elaborating.The warrants also said there were other
incidents involving Gardner and his "association" with teenage females,
including one in Escondido, perhaps in February, the same month Gardner
killed 17-year-old Chelsea King.The documents did not elaborate
further on that issue.Gardner, 31, will be sentenced to life in
prison without parole on May 14 after pleading guilty to raping and
murdering King and 14-year-old Amber Dubois, who vanished while walking
to school in Escondido in February 2009.Lt. Craig Carter, a
spokesman for Escondido police, did not immediately respond to a request
for comment.Gardner was registered to live in the north San
Diego suburb from August 2008 to January 2010. He was released from
prison in 2005 after serving five years of a six-year sentence for
molesting a 13-year-old San Diego neighbor. He completed parole in
September 2008, seven months before the alleged stalking incident.Marc
Carlos, a San Diego criminal defense attorney, said the suspected
stalker could potentially have been charged, or at least detained, if
the victim identified him. Without that, prosecutors would be unable to
link him to the crime."It was a missed opportunity not because of
the police but because the female didn't stay around," Carlos said.
"What proof do they have that it was him?"The warrants — unsealed
by Superior Court Judge Richard Whitney on a request by news
organizations including The Associated Press — said investigators turned
up no evidence in a search of Gardner's phone records after King
disappeared Feb. 25 while running in a San Diego park.A search
warrant unsealed last week said an 11-year-old girl told San Diego
police a man followed her home from school the day before Gardner killed
King.Gardner, in an interview that aired last week on KFMB-TV,
sidestepped a question on whether he targeted other victims."Good
try," he said and laughed.The newly unsealed warrants said
Gardner worked from August 2007 to October 2009 for Can-Do Electric
Inc., an El Cajon company.Bob Cantrell, president of the company,
said Gardner worked as an electrician and was well-liked by his
co-workers. He was hardworking, spoke up at training sessions and
improved his skills during his time at the company."Our hearts
are broken over the entire situation," Cantrell said. "We're praying for
the families of the girls and for John and hoping the healing can get
started."

A sex offender who admitted murdering two teenage
girls was sentenced to life in prison without parole Friday after crying
as the victims' families denounced him, the legal system and his
mother.
John Albert Gardner III received two consecutive 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. Gardner, 31, breathed heavily and cried at times
during emotional statements by the girls' parents and Moncayo before
Superior Court Judge David Danielsen pronounced the sentence.
Carrie McGonigle, Amber's mother, said there were not enough words to
describe her "minute-by-minute agony." "I've thought often about
her final moments," she said of her daughter. "Was she scared? Was she
calling my name?" Addressing Gardner, she said: "Most of all I'm
confident that you'll never make it to heaven." Gardner avoided
the death penalty by reaching a plea deal with prosecutors. His guilty
plea last month has sparked a far-reaching review of how California
deals with sex predators, a campaign that advocates hope to take to
Washington and state capitals. Calls to stiffen penalties for
child sex offenders began almost the moment Gardner was arrested Feb.
28, three days after he attacked Chelsea while she was on an afternoon
run in San Diego, strangled her, and buried her in a shallow, lakeside
grave. Amid their anger, the girls' parents spoke lovingly of
their daughters on Friday. "Chelsea was everything this man was
not," said her father, Brent King. "She was as good as this man is
evil." Impact statements from the families also faulted the
justice system for not keeping Gardner confined after an earlier assault
on a girl, despite a dire warning in a psychological report. Family
members also blamed his mother, Catherine Osborn, who was seated in
court. "She knew what you were capable of and did nothing," said
Kelly King, Chelsea's mother. Gardner served five years of a
six-year prison sentence for beating and molesting a 13-year-old girl in
San Diego in 2000. He faced a maximum of nearly 11 years in prison, 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 the report by psychiatrist Matthew Carroll during
his impact statement. 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? The case has put California's parole
system under the microscope. 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. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has ordered a state board to review the
parole system. Brent and Kelly King 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. Chelsea was a
straight-A student who ran on the cross-country team in suburban Poway,
played French horn in a youth symphony and was active in her school's
peer counseling program. 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 the Future Farmers of
America member disappeared walking to school in suburban Escondido in
February 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.
Gardner also pleaded guilty to attempting to rape the jogger on Dec. 27,
near the spot where he attacked Chelsea.

Authorities are set to speak publicly about the sex
offender who raped and murdered two teenage girls and the
investigation that led to his capture and conviction.San Diego County's district attorney, sheriff and
other law enforcement officials are holding a news conference Monday to
answer questions about John
Albert Gardner III, three days after he was sentenced to life in
prison.The officials have remained largely silent about the case
so far, even after a judge lifted an order that had prohibited them from
discussing it publicly.

On Friday, the 31-year-old Gardner received two life terms without
possibility of parole for murdering 17-year-old Chelsea
King and 14-year-old Amber Dubois. He got 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.