A Utah death row inmate was executed by a firing squad this morning. This was the first time the state had used a firing squad to carry out a death sentence in 14 years.
Ronnie Lee Gardner appeared just after midnight. With a dark blue jumpsuit on, a black hood over his head and a target pinned over his heart. The five executioners, were all certified police officers, who volunteered for the task and will remain anonymous. They used .30-caliber Winchester rifles. The countdown was 5-4-3, and the shot at 2. One was loaded with a blank so no one knows who fired the fatal shot. Gardner was pronounced dead at 12:17am.
49 year old, Gardner chose to be executed this way. He got the death penalty after being convicted of murder in 1985 for the fatal courthouse shooting of attorney Michael Burdell during a failed escape attempt. Gardner was at the Salt Lake City court facing a murder charge in the shooting death of a bartender, Melvyn Otterstrom. He used a gun smuggled into him and shot Burdell in the face.
The firing squad has been Utah's most used form of capital punishment. Of the 49 executions held in the state since the 1850s, 40 were by firing squad.
As if the way the execution was carried out wasn't morbid enough, what Utah attorney general, Mark Shurtleff did during it really set people off. Shurtleff tweeted during the execution. He sent out the following three tweets:
A solemn day. Barring a stay by Sup Ct, & with my final nod, Utah will use most extreme power & execute a killer. Mourn his victims. Justiceless than a minute ago via TwitBird iPhoneMark Shurtleff
I just gave the go ahead to Corrections Director to proceed with Gardner's execution. May God grant him the mercy he denied his victims.less than a minute ago via TwitBird iPhone
We will be streaming live my press conference as soon as I'm told Gardner is dead. Watch it at www.attorneygeneral.Utah.gov/live.html
What do our viewers think of the execution and the announcement of it via Twitter?
UnaSpenser: seriously, you tweeted an execution order? How creepy.
JamesUrbaniak: We've got to move past the cliche that Twitter is just about what people eat and execution announcements.
IWURuss: Wow, that's somewhat disturbing.
MarquiRayshel: disgusting & dispicable.
Professor73: Actually, we should consider firing squads and hangings. Both don't use electrical energy and one can be recycled!!
Get in on the dish. Send me a tweet: twitter.com/maggiesworld or email: maggie@39online.com
Ronnie Lee Gardner appeared just after midnight. With a dark blue jumpsuit on, a black hood over his head and a target pinned over his heart. The five executioners, were all certified police officers, who volunteered for the task and will remain anonymous. They used .30-caliber Winchester rifles. The countdown was 5-4-3, and the shot at 2. One was loaded with a blank so no one knows who fired the fatal shot. Gardner was pronounced dead at 12:17am.
49 year old, Gardner chose to be executed this way. He got the death penalty after being convicted of murder in 1985 for the fatal courthouse shooting of attorney Michael Burdell during a failed escape attempt. Gardner was at the Salt Lake City court facing a murder charge in the shooting death of a bartender, Melvyn Otterstrom. He used a gun smuggled into him and shot Burdell in the face.
The firing squad has been Utah's most used form of capital punishment. Of the 49 executions held in the state since the 1850s, 40 were by firing squad.
As if the way the execution was carried out wasn't morbid enough, what Utah attorney general, Mark Shurtleff did during it really set people off. Shurtleff tweeted during the execution. He sent out the following three tweets:
A solemn day. Barring a stay by Sup Ct, & with my final nod, Utah will use most extreme power & execute a killer. Mourn his victims. Justiceless than a minute ago via TwitBird iPhoneMark Shurtleff
I just gave the go ahead to Corrections Director to proceed with Gardner's execution. May God grant him the mercy he denied his victims.less than a minute ago via TwitBird iPhone
We will be streaming live my press conference as soon as I'm told Gardner is dead. Watch it at www.attorneygeneral.Utah.gov/live.html
What do our viewers think of the execution and the announcement of it via Twitter?
UnaSpenser: seriously, you tweeted an execution order? How creepy.
JamesUrbaniak: We've got to move past the cliche that Twitter is just about what people eat and execution announcements.
IWURuss: Wow, that's somewhat disturbing.
MarquiRayshel: disgusting & dispicable.
Professor73: Actually, we should consider firing squads and hangings. Both don't use electrical energy and one can be recycled!!
Get in on the dish. Send me a tweet: twitter.com/maggiesworld or email: maggie@39online.com
