The US President, George W Bush has given his consent for the execution of an army soldier accused of rape and murder. In doing so, Bush created a new trend as a president of the nation. In the last 52 years, none of his precursors took this step in their regimes.
As per the laws of USA, the President’s approval is mandatory for giving death sentence to a convict. The accused named Ronald A. Gray, was convicted in 1988 by a court martial board. He was formerly a cook in the army. As per a spokesperson of White House, the president accepted the formal request of the army and signed an order for the execution in the Oval Office.
Gray got the punishment of serving 8 years of imprisonment previously in a different civilian case. This sentence was given to him after he confessed the crime of killing and raping the two ladies in North Carolina.
After the Court martial, Gray was proved guilty of killing and raping an army private named Laura Lee Vickery Clay and Kimberly Anne Ruggles, a cab driver. These crimes were committed in the years 1986 and 1987 respectively. Both the victims were based in Fayetteville, adjacent to Fort Bragg barracks, the dwelling place of Gray. He mercilessly killed Miss Ruggles after stabbing her seven times. The other victim, Miss Clay, was shot by a .22-caliber pistol four times and Gray confessed that he stole the weapon.
Apart from these two unfortunate women, Gray also tried to kill a lady named Mary Ann Nameth after raping her. In 1987, he stabbed this woman thrice in her neck in Fort Bragg barracks but she managed to survive. This lady gave her testimonial against Gray in the court –martial and also identified him as the person who raped her.
The White House Spokesperson, Miss Dana Perino said that sentencing execution to a convict is always a tough decision for the commander-in-chief. But in this case, the facts and circumstances have led the president to take the drastic step. However, she also revealed that the White House expects appeals against the judgment. Before Bush, the last president who consented to execution was D. Eisenhower. Another US president, John F. Kennedy converted an execution to life sentence in 1962.
President orders execution 
