Slain girl’s mom: Killer trapped victim on fenced street, forced her into car

Slain girl’s mom: Killer trapped victim on street

SAN DIEGO — The mother of a teenage girl slain in California says the killer told her he trapped the 14-year-old on a fenced street and forced her into his car.

Carrie McGonigle, appearing Monday on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” says John Gardner told her in a jailhouse meeting how he kidnapped her daughter Amber Dubois as she walked to school last year in San Diego County.

Authorities were scheduled to discuss the case at a Monday news conference.

McGonigle says Amber took a different route that day, and the Escondido street was fenced on both sides.

Gardner was sentenced to life in prison last week for the deaths of Dubois and 17-year-old Chelsea King.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

SAN DIEGO (AP) — 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.