'He's getting off free in a way,' father says

Killer scheduled to die Friday for murder but slain woman's parents say pain will always haunt them

Clair and Patricia McLauchlin don't expect a great burden to be lifted from their lives when the state executes a man who raped, tortured and murdered their daughter 16 years ago.

Joseph Gardner (pictured) is scheduled to be executed Friday for his part in the 1992 rape and murder of Missi McLauchlin.

In some ways, they feel Joseph Gardner will be getting off easy Friday, when he is scheduled to be put to death for the racially charged killing of Melissa "Missi" McLauchlin in December 1992.

"What he did in 1992 was a life sentence for us that is never going to go away. It's always there, and it will always be there," said Clair McLauchlin, the victim's father. "He's getting off free in a way. He's not going to have to think about it anymore. But not a day goes by that we don't think about it."

The McLauchlins, who live in Florida, do not plan to attend Gardner's execution, set to take place at the prison system's capital punishment facility in Columbia. They see little to be gained from witnessing the 38-year-old triggerman's death. "All it would do is open up another traumatic wound for us," Clair McLauchlin said.

The couple intend to spend the day much like any other, ferrying their three grandchildren to school and activities and immersing themselves in the volunteer work that occupies much of their free time. But there will be no escaping the significance of the day as the appointed hour of 6 p.m. draws near. They will stay near a phone and await word of Gardner's demise.

"It will be a relief to know that justice was finally carried out," Patricia McLauchlin said. "But we won't ever see her again, except in our hearts and our minds, and in heaven someday."

On the night of Dec. 30, 1992, 25-year-old Melissa McLauchlin got into a car with Gardner and other men after they spotted her walking along Rivers Avenue in North Charleston. They took her to a mobile home on Stall Road, where she was raped by several men.

The men later forced McLauchlin to bathe, bound her with a blindfold and handcuffs and placed her on the floorboard of a car. Gardner shot her twice in the face after she freed herself from the handcuffs and tried to escape. He then shot her three more times and left her to die along the side of a road in Summerville. Gardner, who was in the Navy at the time, fled from the area and remained a fugitive until his arrest in Philadelphia in October 1994.

Missi McLauchlin

The case stoked racial tensions after another suspect, Matthew Carl Mack, told investigators McLauchlin was brutalized to avenge "400 years of oppression," an apparent reference to the treatment of blacks since arriving in this country as slaves in the 1600s. McLauchlin was white while the five men charged in the case were black.

At his trial, Mack testified that he, Gardner and another man spent the night before the killing watching movies about interracial sex and death. They discussed a desire to rape, torture and kill a white woman, but Mack said the comments were in jest.

Keir Weyble, Gardner's lawyer during his appeals, said there was scant evidence of a race-based plot in the attack, but this "red herring" shadowed the case from its inception and played upon juror fears. He and one of Gardner's original lawyers, Tim Kulp, suspect the episode resulted from a happenstance meeting and a series of bad decisions that spiraled out of control.

McLauchlin's parents have no doubts about the suspects' guilt, but they also don't believe the killing was racially motivated. "This is not a racial incident," Clair McLauchlin said. "Someone just tried to make it into one as an excuse for their behavior."

Of those charged, Gardner was the only person sentenced to die in the case. Two men, including Mack, received life sentences for murder, while two other men who prosecutors say raped McLauchlin each received less than 10 years in prison as part of plea deals.

The case consumed McLauchlin's family for years, taking an emotional toll and pushing her parents into bankruptcy as they worked to ensure justice was done. Still, they tried to find ways to turn a profoundly painful experience into something positive.

Touched by the warmth and support they received from law enforcement and residents in South Carolina, the McLauchlins have worked to give back to their own community after moving from Michigan to Florida six years ago. They volunteer with their local fire department, spearhead an annual holiday toy drive for needy children and donate their time to other community causes.

They also have gone on national television and granted countless interviews in hope that sharing Melissa's story will prevent someone else from enduring a similar tragedy.

"The most we can pray for is that people learn from this," Patricia McLauchlin said. "There is never a good excuse for taking a person's life. It hurts too many people."

Reach Glenn Smith at 937-5556 or gsmith@postandcourier.com.