Lawyer would have opposed his killer's execution

Lawyer would have opposed his killer's execution

Salt Lake City, Utah (News Today) - By all accounts, Michael Burdell was a gentle soul with a soft spot for people in need. A Vietnam veteran, he was issued a weapon but refused to carry it, serving as a technician on communications equipment, his fiancée, Donna Nu, said in court documents. The two had known each other for six years. Had Burdell, a 36-year-old attorney, not died on April 2, 1985, shot to death by Ronnie Lee Gardner during Gardner's escape attempt at a Salt Lake City courthouse, they would have been married.But Nu, along with Burdell's friend, Ron Temu, and his 86-year-old father, Joseph Burdell, are now arguing on Gardner's behalf.
Gardner is to face a Utah firing squad on June 18. But driven by Burdell's pacifism and opposition to the death penalty, the three have filed statements in the case seeking to have his sentence commuted.
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Lawyer would have opposed his killers execution family says