DRAPER, Utah — The explosive reports sent a volley of .30-caliber bullets from the five marksmen into the chest of Ronnie Lee Gardner.
I was expecting to flinch but didn’t as I watched his execution from the witness room.
It was so quick that I wondered if it had actually happened.
There was no blood splattered across the cinderblock wall at the Utah State Prison. No audible sounds from the condemned. I couldn’t see his eyes. I never saw the guns and didn’t hear the countdown.
When the warden pulled back the beige curtain, the 49-year-old Gardner was strapped into a black, straight-backed metal chair. His head was secured by a strap across his forehead. Harness-like straps constrained his chest. His handcuffed arms hung at his sides. A white cloth square — maybe 3 inches across — affixed to his chest over his heart bore a black target.
Seconds before the impact of the bullets, Gardner’s left thumb twitched against his forefinger. When his chest was pierced, he clenched his fist. His arm pulled up slowly as if he were lifting something and then released. The motion repeated.
Although the dark-blue prison jumpsuit made it difficult to see, blood seemed to be pooling around Gardner’s waist.
A medical examiner checked Gardner’s pulse, then lifted the black hood to check his pupils with a flashlight, offering a glimpse of his now-ashen face.
It was 12:17 a.m.
Only two minutes had passed since the shots were fired.
The job was done.
Jennifer Dobner, an Associated Press reporter, was one of nine journalists se lected to observe the execution.