A chilling early view of an accused killer

Reporting from San Diego — 

The 13-year-old girl wanted to ditch school to avoid some bullies. So when her older neighbor, John Albert Gardner III, offered her a ride, she hopped in. They went to his place, he turned on a movie, and then attacked her.

Gardner, a former lifeguard, heaved the girl onto the couch and pulled down her pants. When she resisted, he choked her and hit her repeatedly in the face and head, leaving her heavily bruised and vomiting.

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FOR THE RECORD:
Amber Dubois case: An article in Wednesday’s LATExtra section about John Albert Gardner III, the suspect in the Amber Dubois murder case, incorrectly reported that her skeletal remains were discovered Sunday. They were found Saturday. —

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Gardner eventually pleaded guilty to molestation and false imprisonment charges. But he later insisted he was innocent, saying he accepted a plea bargain to avoid getting “reamed” at trial. The girl had been beaten by her mother, he said.

“The defendant’s cool denial of culpability is cause for the gravest concern,” the probation officer wrote in the report released Tuesday by the San Diego County Superior Court.

The probation report on the 2000 conviction offers an early snapshot of Gardner, 30, who is accused of raping and murdering Chelsea King, a high school senior from Poway, in a case that has sparked community outrage and a reexamination of sex offender laws.

In the 2000 case, a court-appointed psychiatrist recommended that Gardner receive the maximum prison sentence of at least 10 years, but prosecutors recommended six. Gardner ultimately served five.

He is now accused of attempting to rape a woman in December and of killing Chelsea. Gardner is also being investigated in the suspected slaying of Amber Dubois, a 14-year-old Escondido girl whose skeletal remains were found Sunday in a remote area of northern San Diego County.

In the report, Gardner is portrayed by a psychiatrist and probation officers as an erratic, violent man of above-average intelligence who preyed on girls. “The defendant does not suffer from a psychotic disorder. He is simply a bad guy who is inordinately interested in young girls,” wrote Matthew Carroll, the court-appointed psychiatrist.

Gardner was born in Culver City and lived in several Southern California cities after his parents divorced. He went to high school in the San Bernardino County community of Running Springs and worked odd jobs, including a stint as a lifeguard at a Lake Arrowhead resort, before moving to San Diego, where he worked at a Big 5 Sporting Goods store.

Gardner graduated from high school with a 3.2 GPA and had a higher-than-average IQ of 113, the report said. He was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, which required medication throughout his childhood. He said his father, an alcoholic, spanked him with a belt in what he considered abusive behavior.

Before his 2000 arrest, there were few signs of Gardner’s predatory behavior. He didn’t have a serious criminal record, though he had been convicted of trespassing at a high school.

In 2000, Gardner was living with his mother in San Diego’s Rancho Bernardo neighborhood. The victim, who is not identified in the report, said she had “hung out” with Gardner and had no reason to fear him.

The attack was unexpected and brutal. After she refused his attempts to massage her, Gardner forced himself on top of her and carried her to his room. When she resisted, he struck her several times.

Somehow, she convinced him to stop. “The defendant hugged her when it was over and said that he was sorry; that he didn’t know what he had been thinking,” the report said.

The girl suffered bruising on her head and face, and a red mark on her neck, according to the report.

richard.marosi@

latimes.com