Frustration pushes Utah toward renewed use of firing squads

FILE - This June 18, 2010, file photo shows the firing squad execution chamber at the Utah State Prison in Draper, Utah. Utah's Gov. Gary Herbert will not say if he'll sign a bill to bring back the firing squad but does say the method would give Utah a backup execution method. Herbert's spokesman Marty Carpenter issued a statement about the bill Tuesday in response to questions from reporters. Utah's Senate is set to cast a final vote on the bill this week. It would call for a firing squad if lethal injection drugs cannot be obtained 30 days before an execution. (AP Photo/Trent Nelson, Pool, File) FILE - This June 18, 2010, file photo shows the firing squad execution chamber at the Utah State Prison in Draper, Utah. Utah's Gov. Gary Herbert will not say if he'll sign a bill to bring back the firing squad but does say the method would give Utah a backup execution method. Herbert's spokesman Marty Carpenter issued a statement about the bill Tuesday in response to questions from reporters. Utah's Senate is set to cast a final vote on the bill this week. It would call for a firing squad if lethal injection drugs cannot be obtained 30 days before an execution. (AP Photo/Trent Nelson, Pool, File)

By Associated Press March 12, 2015 5 min read

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) – Randy Gardner still struggles four years later to talk about seeing his brother’s bullet-ridden body at the mortuary after he was executed.

Ronnie Lee Gardner was the last person to die by a firing squad in Utah – a method state lawmakers voted this week to reinstate, dramatically illustrating the nationwide frustration over bungled executions and shortages of lethal-injection drugs.

Randy Gardner made it clear Wednesday that he could not condone what his brother did – first killing a bartender and later fatally shooting a lawyer in the face and wounding a bailiff during a courthouse escape attempt.

But he said, “The firing squad is very barbaric.”

“When you take somebody and you tie them to a chair, put a hood over their head and you shoot them from 25 feet with four rifles pointed at their heart, that’s pretty barbaric.”