John Gardner III extends a shackled right hand during
Friday's court hearing. Photo: AP pool, Earnie Grafton
In a move that spares the relatives of teenage murder victim Chelsea King a public recounting of the lurid details and high-profile, lengthy court proceedings, convicted sex offender John Albert Gardner III admitted on Friday to raping and killing her.
Gardner also admitting raping and killing Amber Dubois, officially solving her mysterious death and disappearance from the streets of Escondido.
He'll serve consecutive life prison terms for their murders.
The plea agreement also spares Gardner, 31, the strong possibility of the death penalty if convicted at trial. Prosecutors could have made a strong case to a jury for capital punishment for King's murder, given the special circumstances charged in the case and his prior convictions.
The guilty pleas were entered during an afternoon hearing in a San Diego County courtroom. The hearing was initially intended as a "status conference," in the King case, typically a routine date on a court calender where attorneys involved discuss scheduling, evidence and other legal issues.
Instead the legal saga ended abruptly with official filings charging Gardner with Dubois' rape and murder and his surprise admissions, which mean he will die in in a California prison.
Under terms of the agreement, Gardner waives his right to appeal the convictions and the life sentences.
A gag order in the case had been issued previously by Superior Court Judge Joseph Brannigan preventing authorities from discussing evidence in the case with the media.
Brannigan approved a new order on Friday prohibiting public comments until after Gardner's sentencing on June 1, with only one exception being Dumanis' brief statement regarding reasons for reaching the plea agreement.
The victims' famlies, citing the order, made no comment during an appearance with Dumanis after the hearing.
The families will be making statements during the sentencing hearing.
Gardner was arrested Feb. 28 by members of a fugitive task force in connection with the disappearance of King, 17, of Poway.
She had not been seen since Feb. 25 at Rancho Bernardo Community Park where she left her car to engage in a favorite pursuit -- running. Dubois, an Escondido High School freshman, vanished while walking to campus in February 2009.
As part of the plea, Gardner admitted raping and strangling King and burying her body. Authorities had DNA evidence linking him to King.
Gardner also admitting assaulting with intent to rape a woman from Colorado on a jogging trail in North County on Dec. 27 and faces 33 years to life in prison for the crime.
The Dubois case would not have been resolved without the plea agreement which spared Gardner the death penality, Dumanis said In her statement outlinining the reasons for the plea agreement.
"Accepting this plea has been an extremely difficult decision," Dumanis said. "We have the evidence to pursue a murder charge against the defendant for Chelsea’s murder, but not for Amber’s murder."
King's parents, Brent and Kelly, were consulted as proceedings against Gardner moved toward pursuit of the death penalty, Dumanis said.
However, pursuit of such a sentence which Dumanis called "a hollow promise in California," would have meant the Kings enduring not only a preliminary hearing and trial, but "decades of appeals and the pain of reliving the murder over and over again" she said.
"The murders of Chelsea King and Amber Dubois have shaken the collective soul of our community and beyond," District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis said in a statement following the court proceedings. "San Diegans especially came together to wrap their arms and hearts around these families as they faced their darkest days."
Gardner's case also brought forth accusations of lax supervision of convicted sex offenders by state authorities.
Gardner was convicted in 2000 after admitting he assaulted a 13-year-old girl at his mother's home. He was sentenced to six years in prison and was released after five years.
In that case, prosecutors accepted a guilty plea and stipulated sentence in an effort spare his young victim the ordeal of reliving the assault during a trial that also includes detailed cross-examination from an experienced defense attorney. .A psychiatrist in that case had recommend that Gardner receive the maximum sentence of 30 years in prison, noting Gardner showed no remorse and posed a threat to other children.
Potential violations by Gardner while still on parole through September 2008 that could have sent him back to prison were uncovered by the San Diego Union-Tribune after his arrest for the King's murder.
Revellations included the fact that Gardner, a registered sex offender, lived for nearly two years near an elementary school in Mira Mesa, along with seven other violations.
On Thursday, radio statio KFI-AM 640 skirted a judge's gag order in the case by reporting on items seized during execution of a search warrant of Gardner's home in Lake Elsinore.
The items discovered included 11 shovels and 3 pickaxes, a T-shirt and jeans. Details were posted on the station's web site.
More coverage in the case:
Associated Press: Sex offender pleads guilty to murdering 2 teens
NBC 7/39 Details Revealed During Gardner's Plea
Union-Tribune: Timeline on teens' murders
KPBS: Gardner Pleads Guilty To Both Dubois and King Murders
SDNN: John Albert Gardner III pleads guilty to King, Dubois murders
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