Firing squad executes US killer

[JourneyMan19]

The US has carried out it's first execution by way of firing squad in 14 years. Convicted murderer Ronnie Lee Gardner, who had spent 25 years on death row, was executed soon after midnight local time in Utah on Friday June 18th, 2010. A final appeal had been rejected a few hours prior to the execution.

Gardner was convicted back in 1985 for fatally shooting lawyer Michael Burdell in a failed attempt to escape a courthouse in Salt Lake City, where he had been facing a charge of murdering barman Melvyn Otterstrom a year earlier. The firing squad method has been banned in Utah since 2004, critics rightly referring to it as barbaric and harking back to Wild West times. However, Gardner, like all other death row convicts sentenced before the banning, were still given the right to choose their way of execution and the firing squad still stood as an eligible choice. For other inmates the lethal injection is now the standard method used in the state.

What truly amazes me is the mercy expressed towards Gardner by the family of victim Burdell, who asked for Gardner's life to be spared. Having never been in such a situation myself, I cannot promise that I would be so lenient towards the murderer of a member of my family. However, the Otterstrom family were, predictably and understandably, not so forgiving.

My thoughts go out to all families for their losses and deepest respect to the Burdells for showing characteristics of great humanity, a willingness to live and let live even in the face of a most heinous act imaginable. If everybody could think this way there may not even be any need or desire for the death sentence. I do not reproach anybody for their understandable desire for vengeance (I've already said I may desire it myself if it was me) or justice (however you may or may not define the term), yet I for one am not convinced that the way forward is for society to take a life just as it was taken by the murderers of this world.

Your thoughts are welcome.

 

[Dave Pavet]

Ronnie Lee Gardner chose to be executed by firing squad. As you pointed out it was his choice. Don't you respect a man's right to choose? Are you pro-life or pro-choice?

 

[JourneyMan19]

Ronnie Lee Gardner chose to be executed by firing squad. As you pointed out it was his choice. Don't you respect a man's right to choose? Are you pro-life or pro-choice?

A bit of both you might say. Never said I was against it being his choice, in death he should at least be allowed that final right. That might bring us on to a whole different argument about how you might prefer to go and whether it's humane or not, which one matters most etc. In this case he had the right to choose and it would have been inhumane not to grant him that.

 

[paracarl44]

THEY SHOULD HAVE SHOT HIM A LONG TIME AGO.

Twenty five years of keeping scum like him alive is way too long.

 

[Gentler]

We don't have much to brag about. Mormons? Dime a dozen here.

But hey, we've got the death penalty!

 

[rhiannon]

To be honest, I would rather want to deal with five guns than one injection myself! 🙂

 

[Angel77]

Guess he went out with a bang....bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang.

 

[SamuelKhan]

Good shot.

 

[tickledorange]

Good.

 

[paracarl44]

I notice that nobody is having a "Pity Party" for this guy who killed two people.

 

[jonsmith]

He needs to be put on an island...for inmates....you know....like..um...what was it....OH!

AUSTRALIA!!!

Then the criminals will get their own economy, after destroying all the natives of course, if there are! And then develop their own life supporting structures like hospitals! YEAH!!!

And then we'll be gettign emaisl from them sauying, "Ey, man, we sellin' timeshares yo.

 

[BigJim]

I notice that nobody is having a "Pity Party" for this guy who killed two people.

Well I'm no fan of CP, for many reasons, but I don't really pity the guy at all. He had a quarter of a century to make himself ready and square his arse away with the Almighty.

 

[taptoematt]

Well I'm no fan of CP, for many reasons, but I don't really pity the guy at all. He had a quarter of a century to make himself ready and square his arse away with the Almighty.

I pity him. He spent 25 yrs in Prison. I would have chosen to be executed on day one!
I feel the one family involved wasn't forgiving for wanting clemency, I think they wanted to prolong the agony.

 

[BigJim]

You would prefer execution the day after the trial to life imprisonment?

 

[tkpatience]

I think there are worse things than death by some kind of execution.

Torture may be in order. Not like nice torture like tickling.

Why not make it so when you kill someone you have to live in a prison cell with one TV and only 1 channel, FOX. I guarantee you death would be better than that.

 

[Speedbump]

I pity him. He spent 25 yrs in Prison. I would have chosen to be executed on day one!

Try it sometime.

People can say how they'd react to certain situations all they like - everyone likes to think of themselves as braver than they actually are in dangerous situations, or the face of death - but until you're in that situation you don't have a goddamn clue.

Back to the topic, it must've been a terrible time on death row all those years. Not really sure whether the end was coming this week, or years away.

 

[taptoematt]

People can say how they'd react to certain situations all they like - everyone likes to think of themselves as braver than they actually are in dangerous situations, or the face of death - but until you're in that situation you don't have a goddamn clue.

You're right, I don't have a clue, but I used to have nightmares about being sent to deathrow for bludgeoning someone to death and it was hell..until I woke up. I just know I'd rather be dead.

 

[Speedbump]

You're right, I don't have a clue, but I used to have nightmares about being sent to deathrow for bludgeoning someone to death and it was hell..until I woke up. I just know I'd rather be dead.

Ah, well that's the difference, I think. You'd RATHER be dead, and you likely would being on death row. Lots of people would rather be dead than doing what they're doing at certain points in life - thinking of it and actually doing it is much rarer, though.

But yeah, ya never know, you could actually just snap, say "fuck it" and be done with it.

It's all just craziness.