John Albert Gardner#Murders

Gardner was born in Culver City, California. His parents divorced and Gardner frequently relocated around Southern California as a child (including Lawndale, California, and Palmdale, California) and lived in Running Springs, California, as a teenager.{{cite news|last=Figueroa|first=Teri|title=Old report offers peek into Gardner's past|url=http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/sdcounty/region-old-report-offers-peek-into-gardner-s-past/article_e2393e7e-fd8c-5335-a8f9-f198cb13c364.html|accessdate=November 17, 2012|newspaper=North County Times|date=March 9, 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120630193456/http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/sdcounty/region-old-report-offers-peek-into-gardner-s-past/article_e2393e7e-fd8c-5335-a8f9-f198cb13c364.html|archive-date=June 30, 2012}} Gardner later said his father was an abusive alcoholic who beat him. His mother, Cathy Osborn, was a psychiatric nurse, and Gardner was put on psychiatric medication starting at age 6. He was held in a psychiatric hospital for 60 days at age 10 (in 1989).{{cite news| author = Tony Perry| title =Review: 'Lost Girls' by Caitlin Rother is a close look at a killer| newspaper =Los Angeles Times| date =October 14, 2012| url =https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-xpm-2012-oct-14-la-ca-caitlin-rother-20121014-story.html

| access-date =April 23, 2015}}

As a student, Gardner was labeled "seriously emotionally disturbed."{{cite news| author =Matthew T. Hall and Jeff McDonald| title =Picture emerges of suspect as deeply troubled| newspaper =U-T San Diego| date =March 6, 2010| url = http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2010/mar/06/deeply-troubled-picture-emerges-of-suspects-life/| accessdate =April 23, 2015}} He graduated from Rim of the World High School in Lake Arrowhead, California, in 1997 with a 3.2 grade point average and IQ of 113.{{cite news|last=Marosi|first=Richard|title=A chilling early view of an accused killer|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2010-mar-10-la-me-gardner10-2010mar10-story.html|access-date=November 17, 2012|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=March 10, 2010}}{{cite web|last=Musa |first=Jennifer |title=Sex Offender John Gardner's Former Friend Speaks Out |url=http://www.ktla.com/news/landing/ktla-gardner-friends,0,590035.story |publisher=KSWB |accessdate=November 17, 2012 }}{{dead link|date=April 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} He was also diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

While in high school, Gardner worked odd jobs including as a lifeguard at a resort in Lake Arrowhead. As a teenager, he was convicted of trespassing at a high school. After graduating from high school, Gardner moved to San Diego and worked at a Big 5 Sporting Goods store.

Gardner had been convicted in 2000 of molesting a 13-year-old female neighbor. He spent five years in prison and completed his parole in 2008{{cite web

| author=Search for Chelsea King: Monday | url= http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/feb/28/lake-elsinore-man-arrested-poway-teens-disappearan/

| title=Search for Chelsea King focuses on Lake Hodges area

| work=The San Diego Union-Tribune |accessdate=2010-03-12

}} although it was determined that he had violated the terms of his parole seven times,{{cite web

| last=Gardner | first=Michael |url= http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/mar/13/gardner-not-kept-short-leash/

| title=Gardner not kept on short leash, documents show

| work=The San Diego Union-Tribune |date=2010-03-13

| accessdate=2010-04-17

}} including living too close to a school in 2007. Gardner was also investigated by his parole officer for possession of marijuana but this incident was dismissed.{{cite news

| agency=Associated Press |url= http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2010/03/12/2010-03-12_convicted_sex_offender_john_albert_gardner_iii_violated_parole_before_allegedly_.html?ref=rss

| title=Convicted sex offender John Albert Gardner III violated parole before allegedly committing murder

| work=Daily News|location=New York | date=2010-03-12

| accessdate=2010-04-17 }}

Gardner was also being tracked by a GPS anklet up until four months before the murder of Amber Dubois. Gardner totaled 168 parole violations while wearing the anklet. According to GPS data, Gardner spent time close to several schools, in front of a daycare center, on prison grounds (where he was suspected of delivering contraband to a prisoner) and in remote locations where the remains of Amber Dubois were later discovered.{{Cite web|url=https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sdut-parolees-gps-alert-backlog-targeted-2010jun16-htmlstory.html|title=Parolees' GPS alert backlog targeted|date=Jun 16, 2010|website=The San Diego Union-Tribune|accessdate=Oct 18, 2019}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Amber DuBois

| birth_name = Amber Leeanne DuBois

| birth_date = {{birth date|1994|10|25}}{{sfn|Rother|2012|p=155}}

| birth_place = Escondido, California, U.S.{{sfn|Rother|2012|p=155}}

| death_place = Pala, California, U.S.

| death_cause = Homicide by stabbing

| death_date = {{death date and age|2009|2|13|1994|10|25}}

}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Chelsea King

| birth_name = Chelsea Alexandra King

| birth_date = {{birth date|1992|7|1}}{{sfn|Rother|2012|p=8}}

| birth_place = Poway, California, U.S.{{sfn|Rother|2012|p=8}}

| death_place = Rancho Bernardo, California, U.S.

| death_cause = Homicide by strangulation

| death_date = {{death date and age|2010|2|25|1992|7|1}}

}}

Gardner's first murder victim was 14-year-old Amber Dubois, who disappeared in February 2009. Her skeletal remains were later recovered by police in March 2010, after the police had questioned Gardner about her murder. Gardner had been arrested on February 28, 2010, in the Del Dios district of Escondido, California, when his DNA matched a DNA sample taken from the discarded clothing of Chelsea King, a senior from nearby Poway High School.{{cite news

| title=Chelsea King: Official Says DNA Found in Clothes Links Sex Offender

| author=Edecio Martinez | publisher=CBS News | date=2010-03-04

| url=http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-6266274-504083.html

| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100307094154/http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-6266274-504083.html

| url-status=dead

| archive-date=March 7, 2010

}} King had disappeared on February 25, 2010, while she was jogging in the early evening at the Rancho Bernardo Community Park, near Lake Hodges. FBI divers found her body five days later (on March 2, 2010) buried in a shallow grave on the southeast corner of the lake's inlet, where some of her clothes had been found.{{cite web

| last=Gustafson | first=Craig |url= http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/mar/02/reports-body-found-lake-hodges/

| title=Thousands of mourners gather for Chelsea King

| work=The San Diego Union-Tribune |date=2010-03-02

| accessdate=2010-03-12}}

DNA evidence from King's clothing, along with a December 2009 attempted attack on a female jogger who managed to fight him off, led Escondido and San Diego police to patrol the area for a man fitting Gardner's description. He was arrested on February 28 at a bar and restaurant in Del Dios on the western shore of Lake Hodges in Escondido. A witness has indicated that Gardner revisited the park subsequent to King's disappearance.{{cite web

| url=http://www.cbs8.com/global/story.asp?s=12093983

| title=Woman describes encounter with Gardner at RB park

| publisher=cbs8.com KFMB Channel 8

| accessdate=2010-03-12

| archive-date=2010-03-09

| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100309111845/http://www.cbs8.com/global/story.asp?s=12093983

| url-status=dead

}}

On April 16, 2010, Gardner pleaded guilty to the murder and rape of both Dubois (who disappeared on February 13, 2009, and whose skeletal remains were found near the northern border of the Pala California Indian Reservation on March 6, 2010){{Cite web|url=http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/03/07/california.amber.dubois/index.html|title=Police: Remains of California teen Amber DuBois found |publisher=CNN|accessdate=Oct 18, 2019}} and King in 2010 after the prosecutors agreed not to seek the death penalty. He admitted to kidnapping, raping, and stabbing Dubois. He also admitted to dragging King to a remote area where he raped and strangled her, and then buried the body. In addition, Gardner also admitted and pleaded guilty to attempting to rape Candice Moncayo in December 2009, who was able to fight back and escape.{{cite news

| url=http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1003/16/lkl.01.html

| publisher=CNN

| title=CNN.com

}} On May 15, 2010, Gardner was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.{{cite news

| author= Monica Garske

| url=https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/john-gardner-prison-life-2014-murders-of-chelsea-king-amber-dubois/1979944/?amp=1

| title= John Gardner's Life in Prison, 4 Years Later

| publisher=NBC San Diego | date=2014-08-01 |accessdate=2025-02-13

}}Amber's parents, Chelsea's parents, and surviving victim Candice Moncayo all made impact statements prior to sentencing. In their statements, they described the impact Gardner's crimes had on their lives and their determination to see to it that Chelsea's Law, which was introduced by Assemblymen Nathan Fletcher, was passed. The bill, designed to help prevent similar crimes in the future, was signed into California state law by then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on September 9, 2010.{{cite news| url=https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Chelsea-s-Law-signed-by-governor-3253601.php | work=The San Francisco Chronicle | first=Marisa | last=Lagos | title=Today in History | date=2010-09-10}} As signed, Chelsea's Law mandates that some of the worst child molester offenders face lifetime prison sentences - a punishment previously reserved in California for murderers. In addition, some paroled child molesters deemed at risk of re-offending are barred from parks. For Gardner's trial, the Kings retained Michael Fell, a California criminal lawyer and former prosecutor, who specializes in representing victims under Marsy's Law, the state constitutional amendment that guarantees legal rights for victims of crime.{{Cite web |url=http://ag.ca.gov/victimservices/content/bill_of_rights.php |title=Victims? Bill of Rights - Office of Victims' Services - California Dept. Of Justice - Office of the Attorney General |access-date=2011-08-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111026044421/http://ag.ca.gov/victimservices/content/bill_of_rights.php |archive-date=2011-10-26 |url-status=dead }}

On May 14, 2010, Judge David Danielsen sentenced Gardner to life imprisonment with no possibility of parole, two terms of life imprisonment without parole for the rape and murder of Chelsea King and Amber Dubois, another term of 25 years to life for assault with attempt to commit a rape, and an additional 24 years of imprisonment for prior convictions. Since he entered the plea agreement, Gardner waived his right to appeal.{{cite news

| author= Elliot Spagat, Associated Press Writer

| url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=10654449

| title=Killer of 2 California girls gets life in prison

| publisher=ABC News | date=2010-05-15 |accessdate=2010-11-07

}}

{{cite web | author= Joseph Peña, SDNN | url= http://www.sdnn.com/sandiego/2010-05-14/local-county-news/confessed-killer-gardner-sentenced-to-two-life-terms | title= Confessed killer John Gardner sentenced to life for Chelsea and Amber's murders | publisher= Sdnn.com | accessdate= 2010-05-15 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120224175107/http://www.sdnn.com/sandiego/2010-05-14/local-county-news/confessed-killer-gardner-sentenced-to-two-life-terms | archive-date= 2012-02-24 | url-status= dead }}

Gardner is currently incarcerated at Mule Creek State Prison.

{{Reflist|2}}

• {{cite book|title=Lost Girls|last=Rother|first=Caitlin|year=2012|publisher=Pinnacle Books|isbn=978-0-786-03057-6}}

{{wikinews|Body of missing teenager Amber Dubois found}}

• [http://womenincrimeink.blogspot.com/2010/04/profile-of-accused-killer-who-is-john.html Women in Crime Ink, "Accused Killer: Just Who is John Gardner?," by Cathy Scott], April 9, 2010

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gardner, John Albert}}

Category:1979 births

Category:Living people

Category:21st-century American criminals

Category:American male criminals

Category:American murderers of children

Category:American people convicted of murder

Category:American people convicted of child sexual abuse

Category:American people convicted of rape

Category:American people with disabilities

Category:American prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment

Category:Male murderers

Category:People convicted of murder by California

Category:People from Culver City, California

Category:People from San Bernardino County, California

Category:Criminals from San Diego

Category:People from Palmdale, California

Category:Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by California

Category:People with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder