US Army Prepares For First Execution in More Than 50 Years

The US Army is preparing for their first instance of capital punishment in over 50 years, after a judge denied a former soldier’s bid for an additional stay of execution.

Ronald Gray has been on death row at the Fort Leavenworth Army Disciplinary Barracks in Kansas since 1988. He was convicted of four counts of murder, one attempted murder, and eight counts of rape while he was stationed as a cook at Fort Bragg. 

Gray was originally scheduled to be executed December 10, 2008, after a warrant authorizing his death was signed by then-President George W. Bush. He was spared after a federal court granted a temporary stay for a further appeal. A service member cannot be executed unless directly confirmed by the sitting US President.

The military has not conducted an execution since the 1961 hanging of John Bennett at Fort Leavenworth, for the rape and attempted murder of an 11-year-old Austrian girl. The current policy for military executions is to use lethal injection.

Last week, Judge J. Thomas Marten ruled in the US District Court for the District of Kansas that a stay of execution which was previously granted to Gray is “no longer in effect.”

There are currently six former members of the US military on death row at Fort Leavenworth, including the Fort Hood mass shooter.

There is not currently a date set for Gray’s execution, but according to Army regulations it could happen within the next 30 days.