Condemned man set to die by firing squad awaits clemency decision from Utah parole board

Clemency decision expected from UT parole board

DRAPER, Utah — A Utah parole board will decide Monday whether to grant clemency to a condemned Utah inmate scheduled to be executed by firing squad.

The last time Utah granted clemency to a condemned man was in 1962.

Convicted killer Ronnie Lee Gardner’s execution is set for Friday.

At a two-day commutation hearing last week, the five-member Utah Board of Pardons and Parole heard nearly eight hours of testimony about Gardner’s troubled life and history of violent crime.

For more than two hours, they questioned Gardner and heard about his plans for an organic farm and residential program for at-risk youth. He said he believes he could help young people avoid making the kind of mistakes that landed him on death row.

“There’s no better example in this state of what not to do,” Gardner told the board.

Gardner, was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to die in 1985 for the fatal courthouse shooting of attorney Michael Burdell earlier that year. The shooting came during a botched escape attempt Gardner had planned over several months with an accomplice. He was in court that day to face murder charges for the 1984 shooting death of bartender Melvyn Otterstrom.

Burdell’s family opposes the death penalty and has asked the board to spare Gardner’s life. The Otterstrom family, and relatives of a bailiff, George “Nick” Kirk, who was shot and seriously injured during the courthouse incident, lobbied against a reduced sentence of life in prison without parole.

Gardner expressed his remorse and said he’s spent much of the last 10 years learning to overcome a dysfunctional family situation riddled with physical abuse and drug use.

State attorneys say Gardner’s history of relentless violence earned him his death sentence. Assistant Utah Attorney General Thomas Brunker contends that the sentence — which has been upheld in the past by state and federal appeals courts — is fair and should be carried out.

Kirk’s widow, VelDean Kirk, said she doesn’t believe Gardner has changed “for a minute.”

“I used to really hate him and could have killed him myself,” said Valdene Kirk, whose husband suffered chronic health problems after being shot in the abdomen. “Now I just feel sorry for him, but I’m gonna go to the execution if they have it.”