Utah Prepares for Firing Squad Execution of Gardner

The US state of Utah is preparing to put convicted murderer Ronnie Lee Gardner to death by firing squad, the first such execution in 14 years. The US Supreme Court rejected a final appeal, meaning Gardner - who has spent 25 years on death row - will die at 0005 local time (0605GMT) on Friday.

Gardner, 49, chose the firing squad as his method of execution before it was banned by Utah in 2004. He will be 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.