SAN DIEGO -- As John Gardner sits in a jail cell awaiting trial for the death of Poway teen Chelsea King, he is not speaking to the media.

But the 10News I-Team found samples of Gardner's handwriting that one expert said has a lot to say.

Taken from Gardner's prison file, I-Team reporter Mitch Blacher had the samples analyzed by a handwriting expert. She was not aware that the signature belonged to a man accused of murder.

"I have clients all over the United States, coast to coast," said graphologist Paula Sassi.

"So people believe in your ability to analyze handwriting?" asked Blacher.

"Yes, definitely," said Sassi.

"Is it a science?" asked Blacher.

"It is an art and a science. The science is the correlation to the strokes to the handwriting and the art is the analyst's ability to pull it all together and write it up," replied Sassi.

Of Gardner's sample, Sassi said, "The writing itself is all kind of low-form level, intense, so this is a person who just can't control themselves."

"You can tell all of that stuff from his signature?" asked Blacher.

"Oh yes, definitely," said Sassi.

"In the 'g' we have a hook at the beginning, and that shows they want to take or gain. This is sometimes a sign of someone who will steal. The upper part of the 'g' is kind of twisted and strange in several parts of the signatures which shows twisted and strange thinking. The 'd' in Gardner is very slanted to the right, which we call this the manic d, which means it is a person who has trouble controlling their impulses," said Sassi.

"His signature is so different from other people's that you can actually identify these things?" asked Blacher.

"Oh, definitely. If I was given it not knowing who he was I would say 'What's going on with this person?'" said Sassi.

Sassi analyzed a letter Gardner wrote to prison officials over his treatment in prison.

"Did you see any positive traits?" asked Blacher.

"It's very basic. He did at some time have a perfect little copy book signature like you learn in school, and I think this is part of his way of hiding his more negative side," said Sassi. "The handwriting is never wrong. Maybe I miss something, but the handwriting is never wrong."

Handwriting and signature analysis has been used in California courts before, and Sassi has made a living analyzing handwriting and signatures for 30 years.