Wichita Eagle Logo

Federal judge stays Army execution | The Wichita Eagle

×
  • E-edition
  • Home
    • Customer Service
    • Archives
    • Buy Photos and Pages
    • Contact Us
    • Eagle+ Sign In
    • Mobile & Apps
    • Newsletters
    • Newspaper in Education
    • Subscribe
    • Subscriber Services
    • About Us

    • News
    • Crime & Courts
    • Local
    • Databases
    • Education
    • Lottery
    • Nation & World
    • Politics
    • Special Projects
    • Weather
    • Weird News
    • Blogs & Columnists
    • Finger on the Weather
    • Prairie Politics
    • Sports
    • Wichita State
    • Varsity Kansas
    • Chiefs
    • K-State
    • Kansas
    • Outdoors
    • Royals
    • State Colleges
    • Wingnuts
    • NBC baseball
    • Blogs & Columnists
    • Bob Lutz
    • Jayhawk Dispatch
    • K-Stated
    • Lutz Blog
    • Michael Pearce
    • Shockwaves
    • Politics
    • Elections
    • Business
    • Agribusiness
    • Aviation
    • Banking
    • Health Care
    • Small Business
    • Forward Wichita
    • Blogs & Columnists
    • Air Capital Insider
    • Business Casual
    • Business Perspectives
    • Carrie Rengers
    • Living
    • Celebrations
    • Family
    • Fashion
    • Food & Drink
    • Health & Fitness
    • Home & Garden
    • Pets
    • Religion
    • Travel
    • Blogs & Columnists
    • Suzanne Tobias
    • Entertainment
    • The Arts
    • Books
    • Celebrities
    • Comics
    • Games & Puzzles
    • Horoscopes
    • Restaurants
    • Events
    • Movies
    • Music
    • TV
    • Blogs & Columnists
    • Dining with Denise
    • Movie Maniac
    • Keeper of the Plans
    • Opinion
    • Editorials
    • Editorial Cartoons
    • Letters
    • Opinion Columns
    • Submit a Letter
    • Blogs & Columnists
    • Richard Crowson
    • Kirk Seminoff's Pivot Point
  • Obituaries

    • Classifieds
    • Auctions/Estate Sales
    • Garage Sales
    • Jobs
    • Legal Notices
    • Merchandise
    • Pets
    • Service Directory
    • Place An Ad
    • Merchandise
    • Jobs
    • Cars
    • Homes
    • Apartments
    • Other Categories
    • Classified Support Center
  • Jobs
  • Moonlighting
  • Cars
  • Homes
  • Mobile & Apps

News

Federal judge stays Army execution

The Associated Press

    ORDER REPRINT →

December 02, 2008 01:17 PM

TOPEKA | A federal judge in Kansas has issued a stay in what would be the Army’s first execution since 1961.

U.S. District Judge Richard Rogers issued the order Nov. 26 in the case of Ronald A. Gray, who was scheduled to die Dec. 10 for murders and rapes in the 1980s. Rogers has not set a date to hear Gray’s case.

Attorneys for the Justice Department filed documents Tuesday asking Rogers to reconsider his stay order, saying Gray had ample time to file his request for appeal before requesting a stay of execution.

President George W. Bush signed the order in July for Gray’s execution. The date and location — a federal complex in Terre Haute, Ind. — was approved in August by Army Secretary Pete Geren.

Sign Up and Save

Get six months of free digital access to The Wichita Eagle

SUBSCRIBE WITH GOOGLE

#ReadLocal

Gray, 43, is held at the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth. He was convicted in a spree of four murders and eight rapes in the Fayetteville, N.C., area between April 1986 and January 1987 while he was stationed at Fort Bragg.

Thomas Bath, an attorney for Gray, did not immediately return messages seeking comment.

In a filing seeking the stay, Bath noted that it took seven years from the time the U.S. Supreme Court denied Gray’s request for review until Bush signed the execution order, starting the clock for further appeals.

Only 10 members of the military have been executed since 1951 when the Uniform Code of Military Justice, the military’s modern-day legal system, was enacted.

President Dwight Eisenhower was the last president to approve a military execution, for John Bennet, who was hanged in 1961 for raping and trying to kill an 11-year-old Austrian girl. On Feb. 12, 1962, President John F. Kennedy commuted the death sentence of Jimmy Henderson, a Navy seaman, to confinement for life.

Gray was convicted by a six-member court-martial panel for:

— Raping and killing Army Pvt. Laura Lee Vickery-Clay of Fayetteville on Dec. 15, 1986. She was shot four times with a .22-caliber pistol that Gray confessed to stealing. She also suffered blunt force trauma over much of her body.

— Raping and killing Kimberly Ann Ruggles, a civilian cab driver in Fayetteville. She was bound, gagged, stabbed repeatedly and had bruises and lacerations on her face. Her body was found on the base.

— Raping, robbing and attempting to kill an Army private in her barracks at Fort Bragg on Jan. 3, 1987. She testified against Gray during the court-martial and identified him as her assailant. Gray raped her and stabbed her several times in the neck and side, and she suffered a laceration of the trachea and a collapsed or punctured lung.

Gray has appealed his case through the Army Court of Criminal Appeals (then known as the U.S. Army Court of Military Review) and the Court of Appeals for the Armed Services. In 2001, the Supreme Court declined to hear the case.

Along with Gray, two soldiers, one Marine and one Air Force airman are under sentence of death.

  Comments  

Videos

Slow down in winter weather, or else this might happen

New substance abuse facility coming to Robert J. Dole VA Medical Center

View More Video

Trending Stories

K-State takeaways: How the Wildcats should handle Dean Wade’s latest foot injury

February 16, 2019 07:18 PM

Wichita State taking a hands-off approach in preparing for Cincinnati, round two

February 16, 2019 04:19 PM

Hot-shooting Iowa State ends Kansas State’s Big 12 winning streak 78-64

February 16, 2019 05:17 PM

Now comes the part where everyone doubts the first-place Wildcats

February 16, 2019 07:43 PM

Basketball recap: City League, AVCTL championships have been clinched + magic numbers

February 16, 2019 04:57 AM

Read Next

Spun out of control: The desperate final days of skater John Coughlin

National

Spun out of control: The desperate final days of skater John Coughlin

By Eric Adler and

Rick Montgomery

    ORDER REPRINT →

February 17, 2019 05:30 AM

A month after skating champ John Coughlin of Kansas City took his life, his sister and father are defending his innocence and questioning how such cases are investigated by SafeSport and revealed to the public.

KEEP READING

Sign Up and Save

#ReadLocal

Get six months of free digital access to The Wichita Eagle

SUBSCRIBE WITH GOOGLE

MORE NEWS

Teacher got her long hair cut short because she was tired of 5-year-old Texas bullies

National

Teacher got her long hair cut short because she was tired of 5-year-old Texas bullies

February 17, 2019 11:02 AM
Herbal water for babies with tummy discomfort recalled for possible choking hazard

Latest News

Herbal water for babies with tummy discomfort recalled for possible choking hazard

February 17, 2019 08:35 AM
Hundreds stranded as British airline Flybmi collapses

Business

Hundreds stranded as British airline Flybmi collapses

February 17, 2019 06:28 AM
The Latest: Smollett says no truth he played role in attack

Celebrities

The Latest: Smollett says no truth he played role in attack

February 17, 2019 05:11 AM
White House indicates Trump to veto disapproval of emergency

Nation & World

White House indicates Trump to veto disapproval of emergency

February 17, 2019 12:32 PM
The Latest: Watt prepares for Daytona 500 by watching film

Celebrities

The Latest: Watt prepares for Daytona 500 by watching film

February 17, 2019 12:31 PM
Take Us With You

Real-time updates and all local stories you want right in the palm of your hand.

Subscriptions
  • Start a Subscription
  • Customer Service
  • eEdition
  • Vacation Hold
  • Pay Your Bill
  • Rewards
Learn More
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Newsletters
  • News in Education
Advertising
  • Information
  • Digital Advertising
  • Rates
  • Place a Classified
  • Local Deals
Copyright
Commenting Policy
Privacy Policy
Terms of Service


Back to Story