UNITED STATES—Former U.S. Army soldier Ronald Gray’s bid for stay of execution has been denied. Gray has been on death row since 1988 for the rape and murder of several women.
A previous stay of execution had been granted to Gray, but Judge J. Thomas Marten of the United States District Court for the District of Kansas wrote that previous stay was “no longer in effect.” The military can now carry out the death sentence, against the former solider, where lethal injection is used for execution.
Gray was condemned to death in 1988 in military court for three rapes and two murders around the Fayetteville, North Carolina area. He had been stationed at Fort Bragg as an army cook. In civilian courts, Gray pleaded guilty to two more killings and five additional rapes.
In 2008, President George W. Bush signed the warrant to authorize Gray’s execution. Tight before the execution was to be carried out, a federal court granted a temporary stay. The United States Army has declined to comment on the matter.
“As there are still pending legal actions associated with the case of Inmate Ronald A. Gray, it would be inappropriate to comment,” said Lt. Col. Jennifer Johnson. The Army regulations state that a date could be set sometime in the next 30 days, as no official execution date has been determined.
