Utah News Dispatch
Doctor, anti-death penalty advocates say firing squad poses moral and practical problems
The chair used for firing squad executions is shown in the execution chamber at the Utah State Correctional Facility. (Courtesy of the Utah State Department of Corrections)
As the days tick down to Ralph Menzies’ execution, anti-death penalty advocates said Friday that a firing squad leaves open the possibility for human error and potential suffering.
Menzies is scheduled to die on Sept. 5 for kidnapping and murdering Maurine Hunsaker in 1986 — he is still awaiting a ruling from the Utah Supreme Court, which is considering whether his dementia warrants a pause in execution proceedings for a new competency evaluation.
If the execution does happen, it would be the fourth firing squad the U.S. has seen in 15 years, and just the sixth since executions resumed in 1977.
Most of those have occurred in Utah, one of just two states to use the method since 1977. In fact, Utah became the first state to resume executions with the firing squad death of Gary Gilmore, who murdered two Brigham Young University students in 1976.
With execution just weeks away, Menzies’ attorneys appeal to the Utah Supreme Court
Utah’s last firing squad execution killed Ronnie Lee Gardner, who was already facing a murder charge in 1985 when he was handed a gun in the Salt Lake City courthouse and fatally shot Michael Burdell, an attorney.
In Utah, the firing squad is a five-person team of POST certified peace officers — they will fire a .30 caliber weapon from 21 feet, aiming at a target that’s placed over the inmate’s heart. One randomly chosen member will shoot a rifle with blank rounds, though none of the five officers will know who actually has the dud.
Dr. Jonathan Groner, a retired surgeon and an expert on death penalty methods who examined autopsy pictures of Gardner, said the images raise questions regarding the efficacy of a firing squad.
“We don’t have precise anatomic landmarks, but it’s clear the two lower bullets are way outside where the heart would be. So that’s a little bit unusual,” he said on Friday, showing pictures of the exit wounds on Gardner’s back. “It’s hard to tell where they went through, but I was surprised by seeing these exit wounds in these locations.”
After examining pictures of the entry wounds, Groner said it’s “concerning that some of these bullets may not have gone to where the heart is.”
“In theory, the firing squad execution shouldn’t be botchable, right? The people firing the guns are trained to fire guns, they’re 15 to 20 feet away, and they practice. So why some people seem to get it done right and some don’t, is an interesting thing,” Groner said.
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This past year, South Carolina carried out the firing squad executions of Brad Keith Sigmon and Mikal Deen Mahdi, making the Palmetto State the only other state to use the method. Groner researched the executions “extensively” and believes there is a troubling difference between the two executions.
“You can look at the bullet wounds and they are very, very different,” Groner said, particularly for Mahdi, who was sentenced to death for murdering an off-duty police officer.
“It is quite clear that he did not die quickly. I think every witness saw movement for a number of seconds,” Groner said. “So it seems possible that there is some sort of implicit bias in the execution process.”
Randy Gardner, Ronnie Lee’s brother, has become a vocal opponent of the death penalty in the years since his brother’s execution, particularly the firing squad. Gardner said he doesn’t like calling himself a victim — instead, he prefers the term “collateral damage.”
“I don’t condone what these criminals did, or what my brother did, and I don’t condone the state of Utah doing the same thing that he did,” said Gardner, calling the firing squad “vulgar and repulsive.”
“The collateral damage that’s happened in the past is way beyond the initial execution,” he said. “It’s a failed policy … There is no humane way to execute a person, I’m absolutely against all forms of execution.”
Another anti-death penalty advocate who spoke to reporters on Friday was Jennifer Herron, the oldest daughter of Maurine Hunsaker who was adopted and never actually met her mother.
Herron said while Menzies has taken a lot from her, she still opposes his execution.
“I don’t think it’s fair, and it doesn’t get us anywhere. It wasn’t that right for him to kill. Why should it be right for us to kill?” she said. “If we do execute him, we’re not allowing our society to rise above. We’re better than that.”
