Judge lifts execution stay for ex-soldier in military prison

     (AP) – A Kansas federal judge has lifted a stay of execution

for a former soldier who was sentenced to death for killing two women and three

rapes.

     Ronald A. Gray has been held at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, since a military

court sentenced him to die in 1988. The U.S. military has not carried out an

execution since 1961.

     Last week, U.S. District Judge J. Thomas Marten sided with the U.S. government

in denying a bid by the former Fort Bragg, North Carolina, soldier to block the

military from pressing ahead with the execution by lethal injection.

     No execution date has been set.

     A message left Tuesday with Gray’s appellate attorney was not immediately

returned.

     Civilian courts also sentenced Gray to eight life terms for two other killings

and other rapes.

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