Utah firing squad execution for Ronnie Lee Gardner

[Wayne]

The US has carried out its first execution by firing squad in 14 years.

Convicted murderer Ronnie Lee Gardner, who had spent 25 years on death row, was executed soon after midnight local time (0600 GMT), after a final appeal had been rejected.

Gardner, 49, chose the firing squad before Utah banned the method in 2004. Critics say it is barbaric, harking back to the Wild West.

Gardner was only the third man put to death in that way in the US since 1976.

He was convicted in 1985 of fatally shooting a lawyer during an attempt to escape from a court where he was facing another murder charge dating from 1984.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/us_and_canada/10347166.stm

[Wayne]

It was a very modern way to announce a very old-fashioned death.

Shortly after midnight in the US state of Utah, Attorney General Mark Shurtleff picked up his Apple iPhone, opened up a Twitter "app" on his handset and began tweeting.

But Mr Shurtleff's 134-character composition was no ordinary post. This was not a piece of miscellany from the 53-year-old's home life, a link chosen to amuse or interest his followers, nor even a political prod at his Democratic rivals.

Instead, Mr Shurtleff used Twitter to announce that most important of all things: the death of a human being, convicted murderer Ronnie Lee Gardner.

"I just gave the go ahead to Corrections Director to proceed with Gardner's execution. May God grant him the mercy he denied his victims," the attorney general wrote.

The message would have been seen by the 7,000 or so users who "follow" Mr Shurtleff on Twitter.

But thanks to the exponential way in which messages are spread on Twitter - being "retweeted" by those who find them interesting - the Utah politician's words soon found their way to a wider audience.

Full story & link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/us_and_canada/10348685.stm