Execution stayed for ex-soldier in murder case

The execution would have been the military's first since 1961

Video: Military news

Iraqi officials strive for independence
July 5: American troops have been confined mainly to U.S. military bases in Iraq over the past week while they prepare to return home as Iraqi officials move forward with internal political reconciliation. NBC's Tom Aspell reports.

Obama praises troops, Iraqi independence

Defiant North Korea launches seven missiles

U.S. Marines take on Taliban in Afghanistan

From battlefield to unemployment line

Breaking news alerts (about 1 per day)
Click here to sign up or text NEWS to MSNBC (67622).

Find more alerts at alerts.msnbc.com

Related stories

What’s this?

Judge: Provide evidence on paper

updated 2:37 p.m. ET Dec. 2, 2008

TOPEKA, Kan. - A federal judge in Kansas has issued a stay in what would be the military's first execution since 1961.

U.S. District Judge Richard Rogers issued the order Nov. 26 in the case of former soldier Ronald A. Gray, who had been scheduled to die Dec. 10 for a spree of murders and rapes in the 1980s.

Attorneys for the Justice Department filed documents Tuesday asking Rogers to reconsider his stay order.

Story continues below ↓

advertisement | your ad here

The 43-year-old Gray is held at the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth. He was arrested in connection with a spree of four slayings and eight rapes in the Fayetteville, N.C., area between April 1986 and January 1987, while he was stationed at Fort Bragg. He was convicted of murdering two women.