OK, whether you’re for or against the death penalty, convicted murderer Gardner was executed by firing squad. At least one journalist trains the Hubble telescope on the event and reports all the ghoulish detail for the delight of the voyeuristically sadistic crowd:
“…In that fraction of a second my eyes were in transit, I heard “boom boom.” The sounds were as close together as you could spew them from your mouth. My eyes darted back to Gardner and to his chest. The target, perfect just a second earlier, had three holes. The largest hole was in the top half of the circle and toward Gardner’s left side. It may have been where two bullets entered Gardner. Below that hole, still inside the circle, was a smaller hole. Outside the circle, in the bottom right of the target, was a third hole. Each hole had a black outline. Utah Department of Corrections Director Tom Patterson would say later the target was fastened to the jump suit by Velcro and that may account for the black outline. I watched Gardner’s torso. The men who shot John Alberty Taylor in a firing squad in 1996 said they saw Taylor’s body slump and I assumed Gardner would, too. But I never saw such a movement. Instead, a few seconds after the gunshots, I saw Gardner move his left arm. He pushed it forward about 2 inches against the restraints. In that same motion, he closed his hand and made a fist…” More detail here.
Hey listen, did you miss the real thing? Maybe an Xbox/PS3 game version will be out soon.
