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Convicted Killer Ronnie Lee Gardner is Executed in the Early Hours of Friday
After a quarter of a century on death row, convicted killer Ronnie Lee Gardner was executed in a barrage of rifle fire Friday morning. He became the first man to die before a firing squad in Utah in 14 years.
At exactly midnight, the 49-year-old inmate who spent more than half his life behind bars was awakened from a nap for his execution. He appeared calm as he was escorted to the execution chamber at a state prison in Draper. Gardner was strapped to a metallic, winged execution chair; his arms and legs, his head and torso secured tightly. He wore a dark prison jumpsuit and no shoes.The chair was raised on a small black platform, like a stage.
A team of five anonymous marksmen armed with .30-caliber Winchester rifles, standing just 25 feet away behind a brick wall cut with a gun port, aimed their weapons at a white circular target pinned over Gardner's heart. One rifle was loaded with a blank so no one knew who fired the fatal shots.
Asked if he wanted to say anything moments before the shooting, Gardner responded "I do not, no."
Witnesses said Gardner rubbed his left thumb and forefinger moments before the shooting. At 12:15 a.m. Mountain time, the rifles exploded; four bullets perforated his heart and lungs. The straps held his head up. A metal tray beneath the chair collected his blood. After the shots were fired, he could be seen clenching his left fist.
A medical examiner checked Gardner's pulse on both sides of his neck. When he lifted the black hood to check his pupils with a flashlight, Gardner's ashen face was briefly revealed. He was pronounced dead at 12:17 a.m.
"Ronnie Lee Gardner will never kill again," Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff later told reporters. "He will never assault anybody again."
Sandra Yi, a reporter with KSLTV in Utah, said Gardner fidgeted and moved, even after the barrage of gunfire.
"When he was shot, some of us weren't sure if he had passed away because we could see movement," she said. "He had his fist clenched and we could see his elbow move up and down."
Sheryl Worsley, a reporter with KSL News Radio in Utah, described the moments following the execution as disturbing. "He moved a little bit and, to some degree, that bothers me," she said. "To some degree that mirrors the last few weeks of his life because he was fighting to stay alive the last few weeks and that seemed to continue on."
Gardner was sentenced to death for the 1985 killing of attorney Michael Burdell during an attempted escape from a Salt Lake City courthouse. Gardner was in court at the time, accused of killing Melvyn John Otterstrom during a 1984 robbery at a bar.
In the escape attempt, Gardner also shot and wounded George "Nick" Kirk, a bailiff, whose family said he died 11 years later as a result of his injuries.
Gardner had the choice between the firing squad and lethal injection because he was sentenced to death before Utah eliminated the firing squad as a death penalty option in 2004.
Opponents say firing squads are archaic and barbaric, and about two dozen members of Gardner's family, including his brother and his daughter, held a vigil outside the prison.
The inmate asked that they not attend his execution.
"Some say it was more clinical than they thought, that it was over faster than they thought," "Good Morning America's" Ryan Owens said of the witnesses. "Others say that they actually were disturbed to see his left arm moving. They thought even for a couple of minutes after the shots rang out."
(More to this story)
Convicted Killer Ronnie Lee Gardner Is Executed in Utah - ABC News
After a quarter of a century on death row, convicted killer Ronnie Lee Gardner was executed in a barrage of rifle fire Friday morning. He became the first man to die before a firing squad in Utah in 14 years.
At exactly midnight, the 49-year-old inmate who spent more than half his life behind bars was awakened from a nap for his execution. He appeared calm as he was escorted to the execution chamber at a state prison in Draper. Gardner was strapped to a metallic, winged execution chair; his arms and legs, his head and torso secured tightly. He wore a dark prison jumpsuit and no shoes.The chair was raised on a small black platform, like a stage.
A team of five anonymous marksmen armed with .30-caliber Winchester rifles, standing just 25 feet away behind a brick wall cut with a gun port, aimed their weapons at a white circular target pinned over Gardner's heart. One rifle was loaded with a blank so no one knew who fired the fatal shots.
Asked if he wanted to say anything moments before the shooting, Gardner responded "I do not, no."
Witnesses said Gardner rubbed his left thumb and forefinger moments before the shooting. At 12:15 a.m. Mountain time, the rifles exploded; four bullets perforated his heart and lungs. The straps held his head up. A metal tray beneath the chair collected his blood. After the shots were fired, he could be seen clenching his left fist.
A medical examiner checked Gardner's pulse on both sides of his neck. When he lifted the black hood to check his pupils with a flashlight, Gardner's ashen face was briefly revealed. He was pronounced dead at 12:17 a.m.
"Ronnie Lee Gardner will never kill again," Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff later told reporters. "He will never assault anybody again."
Sandra Yi, a reporter with KSLTV in Utah, said Gardner fidgeted and moved, even after the barrage of gunfire.
"When he was shot, some of us weren't sure if he had passed away because we could see movement," she said. "He had his fist clenched and we could see his elbow move up and down."
Sheryl Worsley, a reporter with KSL News Radio in Utah, described the moments following the execution as disturbing. "He moved a little bit and, to some degree, that bothers me," she said. "To some degree that mirrors the last few weeks of his life because he was fighting to stay alive the last few weeks and that seemed to continue on."
Gardner was sentenced to death for the 1985 killing of attorney Michael Burdell during an attempted escape from a Salt Lake City courthouse. Gardner was in court at the time, accused of killing Melvyn John Otterstrom during a 1984 robbery at a bar.
In the escape attempt, Gardner also shot and wounded George "Nick" Kirk, a bailiff, whose family said he died 11 years later as a result of his injuries.
Gardner had the choice between the firing squad and lethal injection because he was sentenced to death before Utah eliminated the firing squad as a death penalty option in 2004.
Opponents say firing squads are archaic and barbaric, and about two dozen members of Gardner's family, including his brother and his daughter, held a vigil outside the prison.
The inmate asked that they not attend his execution.
"Some say it was more clinical than they thought, that it was over faster than they thought," "Good Morning America's" Ryan Owens said of the witnesses. "Others say that they actually were disturbed to see his left arm moving. They thought even for a couple of minutes after the shots rang out."
(More to this story)
Convicted Killer Ronnie Lee Gardner Is Executed in Utah - ABC News
