Utah Firing Squad: Mirrors Old Execution Method!
 |
Article by: Rumer Certeza Photos: Jupiter Images |
It really surprises you that the ancient inhumane methods of execution are still adapted in most countries of today. And the recent one in Utah succeeded in raising eyebrows.
Ronnie Lee Gardner, a convicted double murderer, was awarded his capital punishment as he was executed by a firing squad in Utah in Friday's predawn hours. He faced his death in such a brutal fashion that even the state responsible has refrained from using the said method in the future.
It was in 2004 that Utah banned the death penalty by means of the firing squad. Ron Gordon, who was the director of the state's Sentencing Commission who recommended the ban, says, "We had come to a point in Utah were execution by firing squad was overshadowing the victim and the crime."
Yet according to Deborah Denno, a law professor at Fordham University who has studied execution techniques, says that the firing squad would be the most dignified among all the methods, wherein the criminal is standing up facing his death. despite arguments from anti-death people thinking that it's barbaric and pro-penalty people suggesting it detracts from capital punishment.
The 49-year-old Gardner spent his final day reading a spy novel and watching the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy. Come execution time, the death row inmate was stapped to a chair inside a state prison, his head covered with a hood and a target attached to his chest. And when asked if he had any last words, his reponse was a brief "I do not. No."
Five marksmen took their aim and fired, and Gardner slumped lifelessly on his chair. One of the marksmen was even given a blank round to ease the overwhelming psychological burden.
Chicago Weather: Windy City's Ferocious Winds!
Chicago had been struck by a line of fast-moving storms along with hurricane force winds today.
The violent winds, which als produced dozens of tornados in Minnesota just yesterday plus three known fatalities, blew its way into Chicago, with the same devastating force.
These line of storms has been organized on radar, representing a 'bow echo,' created havoc on Chicago land with a wide swath of 55 miles per hour gusts.
