Man to die for '92 slaying
Woman's death was racially charged
A man convicted in Dorchester County of a racially charged murder in 1992 will be put to death Dec. 5, the South Carolina Department of Corrections said Monday.
Joseph Gardner, now 38, was convicted in the killing of Melissa "Missi" McLauchlin of Charleston.
On the night before she was killed, Gardner and several other black men had been drinking and watching movies about death and interracial sex when they talked about raping and killing a white woman, according to testimony in General Sessions Court.
Previous stories
Jury selection first phase of Gardner trial, published, 11/26/95
Gardner gets death, published 12/14/95
Witnesses link Gardner to death, published 12/10/95
McLauchlin, who was white, was raped repeatedly, shot five times in the face and left to die by the side of a road in Summerville. Gardner, who was later arrested in Philadelphia, was the triggerman, prosecutors said.
"It was the absolutely most brutal and senseless crime, one of the worst things I have ever seen. Totally unprovoked," said Walter Bailey, who was the chief prosecutor in the case.
The circumstances around McLauchlin's death stirred racial fears in Charleston just nine months after there were riots in Los Angeles following the acquittal of four white police officers in the videotaped beating of black motorist Rodney King.
As the details spilled out, McLauchlin's parents went on television from their home near Detroit, pleading for calm and asking everyone in the community to go to church and pray for them and the families of the defendants.
Gardner was the only person sentenced to death in the case. Two men received life sentences for murder, while the two other men that prosecutors say raped McLauchlin each received less than 10 years in prison as part of plea deals.
Gardner, who has been on Death Row since 1995, said his trial should have been moved elsewhere because of pretrial publicity.
He is at Lieber Correctional Institution in Ridgeville, the Corrections Department said. Death sentences are carried out at the prison system's capital punishment facility at Broad River Correctional Institution in Columbia.
The state Supreme Court issued an order Nov. 10 directing the Corrections Department to carry out the sentence.
State law mandates that the sentence be scheduled on the fourth Friday after the Supreme Court's order.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Comments
This article has 19 comment(s)
Posted by give_it_a_rest on November 18, 2008 at 8:09 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Good riddance
Posted by CedarPosts on November 18, 2008 at 8:12 a.m. (Suggest removal)
The Panters look like they may have a shot at the Super Bowl again. But Carolina sure has let me down. Any Gator fans out there?
Posted by coahtrtaylor on November 18, 2008 at 8:50 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Gardner said McLauchlin was struggling and said she wanted to go home. "You're going to hell. You can call it home if you want,"
Mack said Gardner turned around and shot McLauchlin twice in the face.
Gardner then grabbed McLauchlin by the hair and shot her three or four more times in the face, Mack said.
Gardner also told Ward he shot McLauchlin because she was struggling: "That's what got her shot. ... Trust me, I did what I had to do."
This waste of human life should have been taken out long ago…….I hope he burns in Hell for all of eternity.
Posted by summerville_guy on November 18, 2008 at 8:59 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Well since cedarposts has set the precedence of unrelated comments on this article, I will offer this comment:
Why do we have to look at a naked man to read the articles?
This weight-loss advertisement is ridiculous, and borderline pornographic. Why would the man even need to be naked? He could just as easily show his weight loss with shorts on.
Does anybody else agree that the P&C needs to remove that disgusting crap?
Posted by ColdBud on November 18, 2008 at 9:12 a.m. (Suggest removal)
16 years to carry out justice. That's depressing.
As far as the advertisement, I have my network set up to block most of them :)
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Sponsored Links
Advertising Blocked to conserve bandwidth
Posted by islandbenzbc on November 18, 2008 at 9:12 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Strap him in and throw the switch!
Posted by ashleyatwork on November 18, 2008 at 9:33 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Alot was left out of the articles as I remember. There were women that tried to clean her before killing her with bleach and scrub brushes and so forth...it was horrible. Whats taken 16 years? Dec 5th cant come soon enough.
Posted by RTC on November 18, 2008 at 9:34 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I am greatly disturbed that two of the men convicted of rape were granted plea bargains, and received less than 10 yrs. for such a violent crime. This was gang rape at it's worst. People with this type of mentality are not likely to stay free of crime.
The plea bargains need to stop where violent crimes are concerned.
Posted by grannyofseven_2 on November 18, 2008 at 9:55 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Wish they were going to die by good ole sparky. I would love to be the one toplce the wires. i know where I would put the first one.
Posted by willbillbedamned on November 18, 2008 at 10:21 a.m. (Suggest removal)
summerville guy, sounds like you liked that ad a little too much for your own comfort. I mean really, is there anything you wouldn't censor??
Posted by CedarPosts on November 18, 2008 at 10:25 a.m. (Suggest removal)
The ad is tastless, but I guess with all the budget cuts they have to sell ad space when they can. Tampons, panty liners and condoms are next...
I emailed Paul Crawford Sunday no reply but maybe if you load up his in box he'll wake up?
pcrawford@postandcourier.com
Posted by CedarPosts on November 18, 2008 at 10:29 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I really don't know why ya'll would even give this story any more press than it's already seen. It just glorifies the perp. The facts are that a number of people should be sitting in the deep fryer, they all took the plea and passed on the needle.
Posted by summerville_guy on November 18, 2008 at 11:31 a.m. (Suggest removal)
willbill, do not throw baseless accusations my way. Is there anything I wouldn't censor? Of course. Give me one example of something else I have wanted to censor. Just one example. Otherwise, shut your mouth.
Posted by theronce on November 18, 2008 at 11:38 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Here's another example of government's failure in its responsibility to pay retribution to murderers in a timely manner.
Posted by SeaSaw on November 18, 2008 at 11:40 a.m. (Suggest removal)
News footage at the end.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4M9wsPz8...
Posted by SeaSaw on November 18, 2008 at 12:23 p.m. (Suggest removal)
WARNING! Some may find the video above offensive. The beginning has nothing to do with the crime. If you go to 1:13 on the video, it starts the news portion that is all about Missi.
Rest in peace Missi, your plight has been forever etched into my mind. My heart and prayers go out to her family. I have and always will be deeply saddened by this crime.
Posted by kontact on November 18, 2008 at 3:08 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I do not agree with the death penalty, but I must say that if anyone had to be punished it would have to be the perpetrator of this horrific crime. How could anyone just go out and kill another for being a different color? WOW!! Hard for me to defend this creep.
Posted by Mon_Kie on November 18, 2008 at 7:31 p.m. (Suggest removal)
From the original article in '92.
"....while they watched a movie of a black man and a white woman having sex, Williams said he'd like to have sex with a white woman................................
Later that night, they watched a news recap of the biggest stories of the year, including the beating of Rodney King. That allegedly prompted Gardner to say, That's 400 years of oppression. That's why that could happen."
Inspired by media manipulation weak-minded individuals.
Posted by walleyedwoman1215 on November 18, 2008 at 9:58 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Ms. McLaughlin wasn't scrubbed with bleach; that came out at trial. I agree w/ kontact; I don't support the death penalty, but Gardner's got to be the exception...
A shout-out to former Dorchester County Sheriff John Southerland, who, at Gardner's arraignment, softly recited each charge and then crammed the warrants, one by one, in the pocket of Gardner's flannel shirt. It took a while. Gave me chills!!