It has been reported that the mother of one of convicted rapist-murderer John Gardner's victims says she met him face to face before his sentencing in a California courtroom.

Carrie McGonigle told ABC's "Good Morning America" Monday she had the jailhouse meeting with Gardner because she needed closure in the February 2009 slaying of her 14-year-old daughter Amber DuBois.

McGonigle, who also has a 7-year-old daughter, said, "I needed answers. I waited 15 months, and I needed some answers. I don't want to hold on to all that anger and all that hate."

Gardner, a 31-year-old sex offender was sentenced Friday to three consecutive life sentences for the rape and murders of DuBois and another San Diego girl, Chelsea King, 17. He also pleaded guilty to attempting to rape 22-year-old Candice Moncayo.

She wanted to hear Gardner explain why he targeted her daughter and how he captured her, McGonigle said.

She also said, "She was in the wrong place at the wrong time. He said, 'I had a knife and a gun. He says he didn't show it. I don't know. She had nowhere to go. She was stuck."

Gardner drove her to another location where he assaulted her before killing her.

He had "dismantled a family life that was built on love, trust and faith, but you did not destroy it," Kelly King, mother of Chelsea King, told him during his sentencing.

Gardner, shedding tears, refused her demand that he look at her. (With inputs from Agencies)