Post and Courier, The (Charleston, SC)
January 14, 1995
Edition: SA
Section: A
Page: 1
Topics:
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MURDER
Gardner back to face murder trial
MCLAUCHLIN SLAYING: Gardner is believed to be the triggerman in the
rapeand murder of Melissa McLauchlin on Dec.30,1992.
Author: DAVID W. MacDOUGALL and TERRY JOYCE; The Post and Courier
Article Text:
CLARIFICATION(01/17/95): A story in Saturday's editions about accused
murderer Joe Gardner needs clarification. Shortly after Melissa McLauchlin was
murdered in December 1992, police said her assailants forced her to wash with
bleach and scrubbed her with brushes to get rid of evidence of sexual contact.
At the trial of co-defendant Matthew Mack in May 1994, several witnesses said
McLauchlin was made to wash in a tub which might have contained some
hydrogen peroxide. One witness was told that McLauchlin was scrubbed with a
steel soap pad.
However, none of the witnesses questioned by police testified that bleach was
used on McLauchlin. An autopsy found no evidence of scrubbing or bleach.
Bleach apparently was used to clean blood from the car in which McLauchlin was
shot.
Joe Gardner, the accused triggerman in the 1992 rape and torture slaying of
Melissa Ann McLauchlin, was returned to South Carolina Friday under heavy
security.
"It gives us a great deal of pleasure to have Joseph Martin Luther Gardner back
in Dorchester County," Sheriff John Southerland said. "We hope the trial will be
forthcoming quickly."
Gardner, 24, is charged with murder. He was being held at the Dorchester
County Jail in St. George after appearing at a bond hearing before Magistrate
Cranston Pinckney.
Gardner sat rigidly in a wooden chair, with his legs in irons and his hands cuffed
in front of him and shackled to his waist, as Southerland read the arrest warrant
to him.
He said little other than "yes sir" during the hearing, and he declined to speak
with reporters.
Though magistrates cannot set bail on murder charges and the bond hearing
was a formality, Southerland asked Pinckney to deny bail.
Pinckney complied.
Authorities believe Gardner was one of five men who picked up McLauchlin,
who was 25 at the time, as she walked on a road near her North Area home
about 9:30 p.m. on Dec. 30, 1992.
The men took McLauchlin to a mobile home on Stall Road, where they
repeatedly raped her, forced her to wash with bleach and scrubbed her body with
brushes. There were two other women in the trailer while the men were raping
McLauchlin.
Afterward, three of the men drove McLauchlin to U.S. Highway 78 near Maple
Street in Summerville, where she was shot in the face five times with a .25-
caliber pistol, pushed out of the car and left on the side of the road to die.
A tip received by a Charleston County sheriff's deputy several days after the
slaying led North Charleston police to the trailer on Stall Road.
Working with Dorchester County investigators, police began locating and
arresting defendants in the case.
Four people were arrested locally within a week of the slaying. Two were
arrested in Quakertown, Pa., near Philadelphia, on Jan. 6, 1993. Another was
arrested in Detroit the next day.
Six defendants have been convicted of, or have pleaded guilty to, charges
relating to the case. Two are serving life sentences for murder.
A seventh, Craig Darnell Rice, 21, didn't take part in the crimes but learned about
them afterward, police said. Rice, the first person arrested, has been a witness
for the prosecution in several of the trials. He is charged with being an accessory
after the fact.
All of the other defendants have said Gardner pulled the trigger.
Gardner, 24, fled the area and was one of the FBI's 10 Most Wanted fugitives.
The search initially focused on Gardner's hometown of Detroit, but soon
expanded across the border into Canada.
He was captured Oct. 19 in Philadelphia after a citizen called authorities and said
a man named Tony who worked in a corner grocery store looked like Gardner,
whose picture was on a wanted poster at the post office.
Gardner fought extradition for several months. A judge in Philadelphia signed the
extradition order Tuesday.
Gardner arrived at Charleston Air Force Base about 2:05 p.m. Friday aboard a
Navy C-12 twin-engine transport.
Agents from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, the Dorchester County
Sheriff's Department and North Charleston police accompanied him on the flight
from Philadelphia.
The Navy plane parked near the Air National Guard fighter-interceptor hangar,
located in an out-of-the way part of the base.
Security was tight and officials refused to disclose Gardner's itinerary in advance.
A five-car motorcade of police vehicles, several with their lights on, transported
Gardner from the airport to St. George.
The Navy provided the transportation at the request of local authorities, Naval
Criminal Investigative Service agent Joseph M. Masciale said.
"We felt it was best to do it this way for his (Gardner's) security," Masciale said.
He refused comment, however, when asked if the Navy had received any threats
directed against Gardner.
Dorchester County sheriff's Capt. Al Lapolla said the sheriff's department had
received threats against Gardner in early 1993, when the case gained national
attention because of its racial overtones.
There have been no recent threats, Lapolla said. As a precaution, Gardner will
be kept isolated from other prisoners in the county jail, Southerland said.
Authorities said McLauchlin, who was white, was the victim of a hate crime.
Police said Gardner and the other defendants, all black, had formed a pact to
kidnap, rape and kill a white woman before the New Year to make up for "400
years of oppression" of black people.
During a murder trial for one of the co-defendants, defense lawyers suggested
McLauchlin had agreed to have sex with the men if they gave her some crack
cocaine the night she was killed.
Investigators dismissed that notion Friday as ridiculous.
Gardner was a sailor assigned to the Charleston-based guided missile cruiser
Richmond K. Turner at the time of the McLauchlin murder. Several of the other
defendants also were stationed aboard the Turner.
Since his disappearance he has been carried as a deserter on Navy records.
Masciale said he was uncertain about Gardner's future status with the Navy, but
noted that it would not affect any civilian proceedings.
"All he's wanted for with us is desertion," he said. "Dorchester County wants him
for murder."
Because the kidnapping and rape occurred in Charleston County, North
Charleston police also are expected to file charges against Gardner.
Southerland said those charges might be filed next week.
First Circuit Solicitor Walter Bailey said he hopes Gardner's trial will take place
before the end of this year. Bailey is seeking the death penalty.
The other defendants already sentenced in the case are:
Matthew Carl Mack, 21, convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison plus
30 years. Bailey had sought the death penalty for Mack.
Matthew Paul Williams, 22, who pleaded guilty to murder and was sentenced to
life in prison.
Roger Williams, 23, sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty to
third-degree criminal sexual conduct and misprision of a felony, or being present
during the commission of a felony and not reporting it.
Danny Wayne McCall, 26, sentenced to nine years in prison after pleading guilty
to misprision of a felony - or failing to report a crime - and no contest to third-
degree criminal sexual conduct. The no-contest plea means McCall didn't believe
he could prove his innocence.
Indira Simmons, 22, who pleaded guilty to misprision of a felony. She was
sentenced to seven years in prison suspended for the 572 days she spent in jail
or under house arrest with electronic monitoring.
Edna Jenkins, 31, who pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact of
murder, illegally buying two handguns within 30 days and lying on a firearms
application. She was sentenced to five years suspended upon 554 days already
served in jail and under house arrest.
Copyright, 1995, The Post and Courier. All Rights Reserved.
Record Number: MERLIN_96177