Joseph Martin Luther Gardner was born on January 15, 1970, in the United States. Little is publicly available about his childhood or upbringing, but by his early twenties, he was involved with a group of men who harbored extreme racial resentment. Gardner had no widely known criminal record prior to the events of 1992, though it became evident during his trial that he held deeply radicalized and violent beliefs.

At the age of 22, Gardner was living in North Charleston, South Carolina. His life up to that point had not drawn significant attention from authorities or media. However, in the aftermath of the 1992 acquittal of the police officers in the beating of Rodney King, Gardner reportedly developed a vendetta against white individuals, leading to one of the most disturbing racially motivated murders in South Carolina’s recent history. The motivations behind his actions stemmed not from personal provocation but from a warped and extremist interpretation of racial retribution, as discovered in notes found after the crime.

On the night of December 30, 1992, 25-year-old Melissa McLauchlin accidentally locked herself out of her home in North Charleston, South Carolina. She was intoxicated and attempted to cross the street to a nearby grocery store when she encountered Joseph Gardner and two other men: Matthew Carl Mack and Matthew Paul Williams. The three abducted McLauchlin and brought her to a mobile home, where they brutally raped and assaulted her over a period of time.

According to investigators and testimony during trial, Gardner and his co-conspirators had made a racially motivated “New Year’s resolution” to kill a white woman in retaliation for perceived historical injustices, including slavery and the Rodney King verdict. Notes later discovered indicated that the murder was planned as revenge for “400 years of oppression.”

After the assault, the group blindfolded, handcuffed, and shoved McLauchlin into a car. As they drove along the highway, she managed to break free from the handcuffs and tried to escape. Gardner responded by grabbing her and shooting her twice in the face. He then pulled over, dragged her from the vehicle, and shot her three more times on the roadside in Dorchester County, leaving her dead.

Following the murder, all three men fled South Carolina. Mack and Williams were captured in January 1993 and eventually sentenced to life in prison. Gardner, however, managed to evade capture for nearly two years, making the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list on May 25, 1994. He was ultimately apprehended on October 19, 1994, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Gardner was the only person involved in the case to receive the death penalty, as he was identified as the one who committed the actual murder. His trial took place in South Carolina, where he was convicted in 1995. After years of appeals, Gardner was executed by lethal injection at Broad River Correctional Institution on December 5, 2008. He declined to make a final verbal statement but released a written one expressing remorse, claiming spiritual growth and asking for forgiveness.

Gardner’s crime left a lasting impact on the local community and highlighted the dangers of racially motivated violence. Melissa McLauchlin’s death was senseless and brutal, and Gardner’s execution closed a dark and painful chapter nearly 16 years after the crime.