DRAPER — A Utah man set facing execution by firing squad early Friday has been moved to an observation cell.
The Utah Department of Corrections says Ronnie Lee Gardner was moved to the 10-by-6-foot cell Wednesday night after meeting with his family.
Prison guards will closely monitor Gardner in the cell until he is moved to the execution chamber shortly before midnight.
Attorneys for Gardner are still scrambling to get a stay of the execution. Petitions are pending before the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court.
If executed, Gardner will be the first person to die by firing squad in 14 years.
The 49-year-old is being put to death for fatal shooting of an attorney during an escape attempt at the old Salt Lake City Courthouse in 1985.
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