I thought the same thing... I looked up near my pad and near my parents... good amount. I honestly think they should kill this guy. Fuck letting him suffer, just end it and save all of us tax money. In fact, they should kill all these fools on death row too instead of letting out people early that are 'deemed' not a threat.

Sorry, just watched Boondock Saints.

Ugh... this is incredibly horrifying. As a girl, just reading about this just makes my stomach turn. My thoughts are with her family...

There's a lot of rage out there, and justifiably so, I think.

There's one key detail that has been gnawing at me since yesterday: on Dec. 27th, the SDPD took a blood sample of the attacker off of the elbow of the young woman that smashed his face and escaped. This is the report of an attack on the same trails that didn't get broadcast... or followed up.

The day after Chelsea disappeared, the police ran the DNA sample on the blood they'd had for two months, and it came up with this Gardner's I.D. (all prisoners are in the database), PING! In one day. Gardner, being a registered sex offender, has a registered address and the police know his Mom's house in RB (scene of his underlying crime for the conviction) location.

So, had the police checked the blood in December, might Gardner have been apprehended and this avoided? This is the stuff that will agonize.

Or had they just said, "Attention everyone, there was an attack. Be careful out there and dont run alone" Thats the one that is eating at me....

Rage is out there for sure.... his parents home was found vandalised with a message,
I feel sorry for the surrounding neighbors...

Here's the news story:

http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local-b ... 08107.html

Accountability for the family of criminals? Hmm... my tender, sensitive, pansy-ass side is in current remission so I say HELL YES. That's a return to traditional family values. Brand their damn foreheads with the embers from their smoldering house and make them mop up the killing floor after the douchebag's execution.

I read that venting is a good thing.

Although I don't know for sure, it might be that in the back asswards world of criminal investigation they wouldn't run the DNA if the victim didn't want to press charges.


I think we should learn from this and institute "Chelsea's Law", ALL DNA collected from victims must be run by the police, because, yes, Gardner thought he got away clean with another attack last December. Had he known his was uncovered by the police, I doubt he would have continued. Furthermore, the woman from Colorado, would she have pressed charges if she knew they had a suspect that matched the DNA, her description of the assailant, and that he was a child molester? I think it far more likely than not.

We need to institute this as a society, to fully utilize the science at our disposal, to keep families from having to experience such insufferable grief. May her tragic death at the very least, help us to avoid this in the future.


Yes, "this is the stuff that will agonize."

To clear up some of the rumors and "what I heard" regarding the DNA. From the UT:

San Diego police Capt. Jim Collins said Gardner has been connected to a Dec. 27 attack on a female jogger in the same park, but it was not through DNA evidence. He declined to say how the link was made, but said they were working with police in Colorado Springs, Colo., where the jogger lives.

Over the weekend, the San Diego police crime lab had rushed to test a DNA swab taken from the elbow of the victim of the December attack. It did not have Gardner’s DNA, only the victim’s, Collins said.

The 22-year-old jogger told officers she had used her bare elbow to knock her assailant in the face, possibly breaking his nose.

“We thought we could get something good on that, but unfortunately not,” Collins said.

The DNA sample was not tested earlier because it was considered an attempted robbery, which is not as high on the crime lab’s priority list as other violent crimes, Collins said. As of December, the lab’s DNA unit was dealing with a backlog of about 500 cases.



Regarding his previous conviction:

In 2000, Gardner was convicted of a forcible lewd act on a child and false imprisonment after he took a 13-year-old neighbor girl to his mother’s home in Rancho Bernardo. The girl accused him of repeatedly punching her in the face and touching her private parts.

A psychiatrist who interviewed him in that case said he would be a “continued danger to underage girls” because of the lack of remorse for his actions.

Prosecutors initially charged Gardner with more-violent sex crimes that could have resulted in a sentence of more than 30 years because the terms would have been served consecutively. He was sentenced to six years in prison as part of a plea agreement and served five years before he was released in September 2005. He completed probation in 2008.

Thank you for the clarification moondogg!

I will still hold that DNA of victims need to be analyzed to see if there are any matches in the database.

That they considered this (Dec jogger) an attempted robbery seems, in retrospect, a tad awkward, or convenient. It would seem to me that a robber wouldn't have knocked her to the ground for money. Too much of a chance he would get hurt (as he did) or caught. There are easier ways. Also a robber wouldn't hold up a jogger, unless he wanted an iPod. Most joggers carry little, if any, cash or cards.

Not sure what he meant when he said a backlog of 500 cases. Does that mean the DNA analyses or actual cases? Cases may be long, cumbersome processes, but DNA is a relatively quick process as is matching the database.

Just trying to think of ways to alter the priorities/procedures of the current system to prevent something that could be avoidable. The price is too high not to, IMHO.

I'm guessing they are talking about the backlog of DNA analysis. Here's a link about the problem in LA (400,000 kits in backlog in LA alone is probably blown out of proportion). By comparison the SD being 500 behind is not nearly as stupid:
http://www.msmagazine.com/winter2009/RapeBacklog.asp

And it's a national problem that the Senate has discussed (20,000 nationwide cited here):
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/174281.php

But it's so fast on TV from the time they leave the crime scene.

This seems amazing to me. For PCR / DNA analysis we run PCR overnight and resolve the products on a horizontal gel the next day. The most expensive reagent is the polymerase enzyme for the PCR reaction. Still, crazy cheap.

I don't know if there is a more powerful, yet cost effective tool on the planet.


Anyway, at least someone on the police force had his wits to tie together the December Jogger attack and this one and call for an emergency DNA analysis. Good work.

For all the ladies out there, look into taking a self defense class!! It's not that difficult and you can learn some potentially life saving skills. I've taught quite a few and everyone is always surprised at how its easier than they thought it would be.

I really do need to do this, especially since I have to live by myself a lot of the time.

Absolutely! I arranged a private class for my daughters, niece and a couple of their friends quite a few years ago (because they were self-conscious, it was smaller for more personal attention, and still relatively inexpensive). I just asked my oldest and she still remembers it well.

About the December attack: it's not true that it wasn't broadcast or reported. I definitely remember it from the news when it happened. The media always reports that stuff. It just faded away quickly because she got away and no one was caught. But in retrospect some posters put up in the area and left up quite a while would have been good.

Maybe if there's enough interest we could put one on? I'm sure I'm not the only one here who could lead/teach one.

When people work with partners it's lot's easier. I've been the attacker in some classes I've been involved in when my (female) instructor was teaching. I've also used my oldest son (now 14) to help me demonstrate some things. It works pretty well and you'd be surprised how even a 14 year old can fight off an adult if they know what to do and don't panic.