BREAKING NEWS

US to execute condemned killer by firing squad

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah is set to execute a condemned killer by firing squad shortly after midnight Thursday, reviving a style of justice that hasn't been used for at least 14 years and that many criticize as archaic.
Barring an unexpected last-minute reprieve, Ronnie Lee Gardner will be strapped into a chair, have a target pinned over his heart and die in a hail of bullets from five anonymous marksmen armed with .30-caliber rifles and firing from behind a ported wall.
A flurry of last-minute appeals and requests for stays were rejected Thursday by the US Supreme Court, the 10th US Circuit Court of Appeals and Gov. Gary Herbert.