Ronnie Lee Gardner convicted killer was executed by Utah firing squad this morning

Ronnie Lee Gardner had a unusual request in how he should leave this earth when the time came for him to have his sentence be carried out.  Before the Utah law was changed in 2004 for death by firing squad Ronnie had decided on his ultimate fate and acknowledged this would be the final death by firing squad in the State of Utah.  The executions were conducted by 5 police officers with one round that was a blank so no one knew who fired the fatal shot.  Gardner was convicted for the fatal courthouse shooting of attorney Michael Burdell during a failed escape attempt.

The sandbags were used to prevent the bullets from leaving the firing zone and their is no official procedure for death by firing squad however the blank bullet system has been used almost in every case.  The sentencing commision has overseen that this was conducted properly and time of death was approx 12:20 PM.