Condemned Utah killer could face firing squad

SALT LAKE CITY – A condemned killer appears headed for a date with death in Utah that could see him sit before a firing squad — a development that would likely re-ignite protests over an antiquated, Old West-style of justice.

At a hearing Friday, 3rd District Judge Robin Reese will consider whether to sign a warrant of execution for Ronnie Lee Gardner, who killed a man during a failed escape 25 years ago.

Under state law Gardner, 49, would be allowed to decide whether he would be killed by lethal injection or be shot by a five-man team of executioners firing from a set of matched rifles, a rarely used relic that harkens back to Utah’s territorial history.

Of the 35 states with the death penalty on the books, Utah is the only one to use the firing squad as a method of execution since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated capital punishment in 1976.

Two men have died in a hail of bullets since that decision: Gary Gilmore, on Jan. 17, 1977 — after famously uttering the last words, “Let’s do it” — and John Albert Taylor on Jan. 26, 1996.