Utah parole board schedules hearing for man scheduled to be executed by firing squad in June

Utah man to plead for mercy to avoid firing squad

SALT LAKE CITY — The lawyer for a condemned Utah killer set to be executed by firing squad next month says the inmate will ask a pardons board to commute a death penalty sentence to life in prison without parole.

Defense attorney Andrew Parnes told The Associated Press on Wednesday that Ronnie Lee Gardner has expressed remorse for his crime.

The Utah Board of Pardons and Parole has set the commutation hearing for Gardner for June 10 and 11, just days before his scheduled execution on June 18.

The 49-year-old was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to die in 1985 for the courthouse shooting of attorney Michael Burdell that same year.

Gardner chose the firing squad over lethal injection but is fighting the execution set for June 18. Utah is the only state that offers the firing squad but is phasing out the option.