A U.S. man slated to die by firing squad in Utah for a 1985 courthouse murder has failed in his bid to win clemency.
Ronnie Lee Gardner listens to proceedings during his commutation hearing at the Utah State Prison in Draper, Utah. Gardner is scheduled to be executed Friday. ((Trent Nelson, Pool/Associated Press))
Ronnie Lee Gardner is set to be executed on Friday. He was convicted in 1985 after he fatally shot attorney Michael Burdell in a courthouse that year.
A five-member Utah parole board panel unanimously voted against Gardner's request.
Curt Garner, the chairman of the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole, said board members decided that the death penalty was not inappropriate. He also said there was not sufficient reason to grant clemency or to commute Gardner's death sentence.
Utah has not granted clemency to someone slated for execution in 48 years.
In 1985, Gardner was in court to face a murder charge in the 1984 shooting death of bartender Melvyn Otterstrom. Gardner shot Burdell during an attempt to escape from the courthouse.
During hearings last week, Burdell's family favoured clemency, but the Otterstrom family was against a reduced sentence of life behind bars.
Assistant Utah Attorney General Thomas Bunker called Gardner's sentence fair, adding that it has been upheld by state and federal courts.
For his part, Gardner said he believed he could help young people avoid the mistakes he made in his past.
"There's no better example in this state of what not to do," Gardner said last week at his commutation hearing.
