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Datum: Sonntag, den 20. Juni 2010, um 8:09 Uhr
Betrifft: In den "Deseret News" kommt der Bischof zu Wort der Gardner besuchte

UTAH STATE PRISON — As he sat, restrained in the black chair where his life would end, Ronnie Lee Gardner offered little in the way of last words.

"I do not. No," Gardner said when asked if he had anything to say before his execution.

But in the final hours of his life, Gardner spoke freely with the man who in many ways knew him best.

"He was very aware of the tragedy he caused," said Dan Bradshaw, the LDS Church bishop who began meeting with Gardner in 1994, "and expressed over and over again his sorrow for what he had done."

Bradshaw spoke with Gardner for about three hours before leaving the prison shortly before 10 p.m. The two visited through a small port used for handcuffing inmates, Gardner sitting on his bunk and the bishop on a chair outside the cell.

"He was upbeat. He was very reflective," Bradshaw said. "We spent quite a bit of time talking about inmates we have both known over the last 16 years and some of the officers he had dealt with that had treated him so well."

Bradshaw first met Gardner in 1994 while serving in the prison as a bishop for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a position he held until 2002.
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In those first few years, Bradshaw said he met with Gardner once or twice a year. The two began meeting monthly in 1996 and on a weekly basis by 1998.

In that time, Bradshaw said he came to understand Gardner and witnessed the inmate undergo a change from career criminal to a good man.

"I understand everything there is to know about Ronnie," Bradshaw said, "and all the emotions everybody feels from one end of the spectrum to the other."

Gardner’s evolution was ever so gradual, Bradshaw said.

"There was something that I’d rather not go into that made him realize the effect of his actions — not only upon the immediate (families of his victims) but that this was going to affect their families for generations," he said. "When he came to that realization, there was a change that he wanted to make. … He worked at becoming a different person."

Bradshaw met with Gardner quarterly from 2002 until March, when it became "obvious that day was coming." In the last week of Gardner’s life, the two met every day.

"Ronnie and I both believe in capital punishment," Bradshaw said. "Ronnie felt like he deserved to die. He didn’t want to die, but he said if it will solve or help alleviate pain for these people, that will be a good thing."

On the night of his execution, Gardner spoke at length of his desire to create an organic farm to help troubled youth, Bradshaw said.

"He felt bad for the people who were involved in the execution, that they had to be there," Bradshaw said. "The last thing he told me was, ’You go home and go to bed and sleep well. I’m going to be fine.’ And I think he will."

At Gardner’s request, Bradshaw did not witness the execution just after midnight Friday morning.

"I have just a great deal of respect for all of the families that were involved in this," Bradshaw said. "The losses they had were tragic and just awful. I have nothing but compassion and grief for them. As far as Ronnie goes, I feel like he committed the crimes. He was sentenced, and that justice was administered.

"But I find no joy in that."

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