Utah Killer To Die By Firing Squad

A man on death row for the 1988 torture and murder of gay man in Utah has been cleared for execution.

CNN reports that Fourth District Judge Donald Eyre signed a death warrant Wednesday for Michael Archuleta, 49, who was convicted in 1989 of beating Gordon Ray Church, 28, with a tire jack and then puncturing his liver with a tire iron.

While Archuleta is scheduled to be executed April 5 by firing squad, the inmate is still able to make federal appeals, which is likely to delay the sentence.

Utah's last execution by firing squad, of convicted killer Ronnie Lee Gardner, occurred in June 2010.

Read more here.