Utah murderer chooses death by firing squad

[CDAgirlMI 51]

Hand me a gun too

[spookyturtle 9,466]

I'd lock him in a cell with BY, Paul, Danno and Shooter. That would be worse than being shot.

[Ali G. 37]

I'd lock him in a cell with BY, Paul, Danno and Shooter. That would be worse than being shot.

Another one of those uber-intelligent posts you proclaim to make hey..

[Florianns Man 7]

There are a lot of problems with using firing squads, who do they use to carry it out? Oh, I know there a lot of brave gung ho types that think this would be a lot of fun, after all, that's scum right, it should be easy? In reality, you can't volunteer off the streets to be an executioner. People are chosen to perform these duties, and most executioners have a lot of difficulty reconciling what they do with their conscience. I don't know whether they choose firing squads from amongst prison guards or what they do, but whoever is chosen, it will not be something they want to do.

they are chosen from a list of volunteers, nobody is forced to perform this service

[spookyturtle 9,466]

Another one of those uber-intelligent posts you proclaim to make hey..

I never claimed that I make intelligent posts, you claim that you do.

[scandal 951]

they are chosen from a list of volunteers, nobody is forced to perform this service

I remember the Gary Gilmore execution (yes, I am that old - I was 12 at the time). As I recalled it, one of the executioners used a gun loaded with blank cartridges to allow all of them the ambiguity of knowing whether they had actually fired a live round. After just looking it up on Wiki however, it seems that this is a myth - all members of the firing squad fired live rounds. They were all local cops, btw.

He was then taken to an abandoned cannery behind the prison which served as the prison's death house. He was strapped to a chair, with a wall of sandbags placed behind him to absorb the bullets. Five gunmen, local police, stood concealed behind a curtain with five small holes cut for them to place their rifles through which were aimed at him.

...

According to his brother Mikal Gilmore's memoir Shot in the Heart, Utah's tradition dictated that a firing squad comprise five men—four of them with live rounds, and one with a blank round, so that each of the shooters could cast doubt to having fired a fatal shot. However, upon inspecting the clothes worn by Gary Gilmore at his execution, Mikal noticed five holes in the shirt—indicating, he wrote, that "the state of Utah, apparently, had taken no chances on the morning that it put my brother to death"

[IR5FORMUMSIE 850]

I remember the Gary Gilmore execution (yes, I am that old - I was 12 at the time). As I recalled it, one of the executioners used a gun loaded with blank cartridges to allow all of them the ambiguity of knowing whether they had actually fired a live round. After just looking it up on Wiki however, it seems that this is a myth - all members of the firing squad fired live rounds. They were all local cops, btw.

That was Tommy Lee Jones.

[Nagishkaw 510]

Terrible and just wrong.

[Niels Bohr 72]

I saw the leaked surveillance tape the guy shooting the lawyer from a Viral website.

He's not going to get away with this murder. Filing an appeal would be a waste to everyone's time.

[CDAgirlMI 51]

I remember the Gary Gilmore execution (yes, I am that old - I was 12 at the time). As I recalled it, one of the executioners used a gun loaded with blank cartridges to allow all of them the ambiguity of knowing whether they had actually fired a live round. After just looking it up on Wiki however, it seems that this is a myth - all members of the firing squad fired live rounds. They were all local cops, btw.

Maybe in his case, but the normal procedure is as follows:

There is no official procedure for execution by firing squad. However, it is believed that five correctional officers will participate, each aiming at the inmate’s trunk. Some will have blanks and some will have live ammunition so that no one knows which gun committed the actual killing.

source: http://www.internationaljusticeproject.org/utah.cfm

[Danno 1,228]

Maybe in his case, but the normal procedure is as follows:

There is no official procedure for execution by firing squad. However, it is believed that five correctional officers will participate, each aiming at the inmate’s trunk. Some will have blanks and some will have live ammunition so that no one knows which gun committed the actual killing.

source: http://www.internationaljusticeproject.org/utah.cfm

of course one would think if someone raised his hand to carry out the task..... he would want his rifle to have a "live round".

With the unscientific approval here at VJ .....of -death by firing squad, why not bring this "option" back in more states?

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Probably because there's more to the issue than "public opinion", and certainly more than message board opinion.

[CDAgirlMI 51]

of course one would think if someone raised his hand to carry out the task..... he would want his rifle to have a "live round".

With the unscientific approval here at VJ .....of -death by firing squad, why not bring this "option" back in more states?

I think letal injection is more "Peaceful" for the eyes of most people.

I don't really care how the convict goes, but I can see why certain methods are preferred over others.

[Peikko 1,575]

There is no 'good' method of execution from the point of view of the person performing the task - there are some methods that are more difficult to witness than others, some of these have been abandoned. I would guess that in those terms, firing squads are not the worst, but executing someone is not something that a normal person could or would easily come to terms with no matter what you think of the crime or how justified the sentence is - and executioners do not come from groups of volunteers, that would be entirely unethical.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

WANTED: EXECUTIONER

REQUIREMENTS: Full training given, no experience necessary. Enthusiastic individuals apply with resume. Sadism a plus.