Gardner sentenced to two life terms

[IScreamSundays]

Source: North County Times

ohn Albert Gardner III, a convicted sex offender who was previously imprisoned for sexually assaulting a 13-year-old neighbor, was sentenced Friday to two consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole for raping and murdering North County teenagers Amber Dubois and Chelsea King.

The sentencing came after the parents of the slain girls and another woman he assaulted addressed Gardner, 31, directly in court, prompting him to cry at times and, in one instance, to show a dramatic flash of anger.

That moment came when the woman he assaulted on Dec. 27, 2009, Candice Moncayo, ended her emotional statement by saying, "How is your nose?"

That was a reference to her fending off the attack by hitting Gardner in the nose.
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Read more: http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/sdcounty/article_969bfdc0-5fa6-11df-9125-001cc4c002e0.html

[Bluzmann57]

1. Good.

The animal got what he deserved. Too bad that young lady didn't rip his face off.

[grantcart]

2. Atleast the family didn't have to suffer through a long trial.

[sharesunited]

3. The father of Chelsea King told Gardner he hoped his life in prison "will be hell on earth."

Emotionally understandable.

But that sentiment probably reflects the view of a majority of Americans.

So, what actual justice do Americans want or believe in?

Is it really so outrageous to suggest that a useful length of rope and a sturdy overhanging pipe or beam should immediately be made available to the convicted man?

Or do we prefer in good conscience that he be tortured at the hands of his fellow inmates?

[Orrex]

4. A great many Americans (and DUers) strongly advocate capital punishment

And, in the case of accused sex criminals, the sentence is frequently demanded before the case even goes to trial.


You present a false dichotomy, of course, though an innocent one: kill him now or allow him to be tortured.

A third possibility is that we incarcerate him for the rest of his life so that he is prevented from harming anyone else. In addition, if he suffers from some psychological illness, he should be treated for that illness during his incarceration.

[customerserviceguy]

6. Put me down for the latter

After a few years of it, then give him the rope and the overhanging pipe.

[sharesunited]

10. Ha ha. Torture first. Ok, copy that. Interesting to take a bearing on conscience.

[customerserviceguy]

13. Well, it's actually my second choice

My first choice would have been to give a weapon to the mother of one of his victims before she went in to interview him.

[sharesunited]

11. Torture as justice doesn't sound like a policy position to be very proud of though.

[customerserviceguy]

14. Yeah, well I get over my guilt about it

by thinking of what his victims went through. Maybe you ought to try it some time, it's called empathy.

[Orrex]

23. That's not empathy--it's vengeance, plain and simple.

You attempt to justify--indeed, to sanctify--one murder by appealing to the victims of another.

That's not how a civilized society should function.

[cosmicone]

18. I am against capital punishment and torture both ...

... there is a third option, viz. amygdalotomy -- removal of amygdaloid bodies from the brain with surgery. This takes away all libido and aggression, allowing pedophiles/rapists/violent criminals to return safely back to society without cost to taxpayers.

It is unlikely to become a standard punishment ever .... but it the option is out there.

[sharesunited]

19. For someone who has committed at least two murders, I don't see this as an option.

Within the bounds of the permissible, how does institutionally assisted suicide sound? Better or worse than torture at the hands of his fellow inmates? Because you know that his personal security has a zero priority with the correctional system.

[Brickbat]

5. I kinda wish Amber's mom wouldn't wait on the information she gained:

McGonigle then did what for many was unthinkable: on Wednesday, she sat down with her daughter's killer to get answers.

McGonigle said the 30-minute encounter at a downtown San Diego jail brought her the answers she needed.

She is not yet willing to share what he told her, other than to say Gardner said he had targeted Amber at random.

McGonigle said she does plan to share the answer to a vital question for parents: how he got Amber into the car as she walked on a very busy street in the light of day.

I'd like to know that sooner rather than later.

[customerserviceguy]

8. She let herself be used

At some point, he's going to use that interview as an excuse for a release before he's died in prison.

[proteus_lives]

7. Monster.

He got what he deserved.

But I have to wonder, what's the point of keeping pedophiles alive? They can't be treated or cured, they hurt and kill children and I don't see any reason why any of them should be drawing air.

[superconnected]

9. For the bleeding hearts. He didn't get what he deserved IMO. However he did get taken off the

streets which may or may not be permanent as we've seen from that Seattle cop killer who's life sentence was pardoned and from other people who did terrible acts like the Manson gal who people here supported being let out of prison when she asked to be released because she has cancer.

This case is only special because they were children. People kill people all the time - violently and get out in 6 years. I don't fully believe he will spend the rest of his life in the pen.

[depakid]

25. For the would be torturers

No pound of flesh is ever enough to satiate... you could burn him t the stake, and many people still wouldn't be satisfied.

[elias49]

26. Oh, I think he will. Or end up dead in the shower.

The sentence was "...without possibility of parole" wasn't it?
I honestly doubt that we'll ever hear of him again, once he's locked up.

[Orrex]

12. Once you identify an undesirable group as justifiably "killable," then you justify all killing.

[superconnected]

15. If you're into blanket statements. By your reasoning killing your enemy in war or for any reason,

including they are trying to kill you, justifies all killing.

[Orrex]

21. An immediate or credible threat is different from a retaliatory killing

Once the murderer is imprisoned and rendered harmless, then there is no justification for killing him.

[customerserviceguy]

16. It's not merely an "undesirable group", like someone's ethnicity

it's a group that is identified solely on the basis of the willful behavior of the members of that group. Your comment is like saying "If we favor prison for one group of people, then we favor putting everybody in prison."

Just not buying it.

[Orrex]

20. Okay...

Then all you need to do is declare a certain class of criminal "irredeemable" or "too sick" or "too dangerous," and then you give yourself carte blanche to do whatever you like to them.

You can argue about the problem of possible parole or danger to other prisoners, but that's a separate issue. The underlying question is: does the state have the right to kill a person who has been rendered harmless (i.e., imprisoned for life).

Just not buying it.

[Tansy_Gold]

22. The BF and I had this discussion over dinner last night.

He remains a supporter of "occasional" executions; I am staunchly opposed.

For one thing, a mistaken execution never gets a do-over.

The most heinous criminals can be kept off the streets, and if they are indeed rehabilitated in prison, they can serve their fellow prisoners but remain off the streets. There is as much good they can do there as anywhere, and perhaps more.

But the other thing to come out of our discussion was an examination of exactly what is a "crime." Even that is not so black and white (pun intended), because what is "murder" to one is "justifiable homicide" to another.


Killing the killer will not bring back the victim. Allowing the killer to live retains some opportunity for redemption.


Revenge should never be part of the picture.



Tansy Gold

[benld74]

17. Life - Guarded life OR Life with the Prison Population??

If the later I give him less than 1 year after it is found out what he did

[unabelladonna]

24. let's hope he pisses off the wrong person

in prison. i don't understand how anyone isn't for the death penalty in cases like this.

[mitchum]

27. Torture is always barbaric, but termination does not have to be so

I deplore the former, but support the latter

[iandhr]

28. Put him

in general population.