Carrie McGonigle, the mother of Amber Dubois, had a list of 20 questions for her daughter's killer. The number one question she wanted to ask John Gardner was "Why Amber?"
On Monday, McGonigle appeared on a national television show and shared some of the answers she got from a jailhouse meeting with Gardner before his sentencing Friday.
Gardner, 31, pleaded guilty to killing Escondido teenager Amber Dubois and Poway teenager Chelsea King as well as attacking and attempting to rape jogger Candice Moncayo. On Friday, Gardner was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
Amber's mother told "Good Morning America" that her daughter was trapped by Gardner on a fenced street as she walked to school on Feb. 13, 2009. He "told her to get in the car or it would be a lot worse for her," McGonigle said. "She had nowhere to go. She was stuck."
Last week, McGonigle confronted Gardner's family outside the downtown jail hoping to persuade them to give up their scheduled visitation so she could meet with Gardner before she addressed him at the sentencing. Gardner's family refused but on Wednesday, McGonigle got a call requesting she arrive for a hastily scheduled meeting with Gardner.
McGonigle told GMA that her daughter had apparently taken a different route to school the morning she was abducted and that Gardner found her one block over from her normal path.
"She was in the wrong place at the wrong time," McGonigle said.
As for the rest of her conversation with Gardner, McGonigle told GMA she won't disclose what was said out of respect for other family members who have said they don't want to know more details about the teenager's abduction and murder.
