Nov 20, 3:40 PM EST


Army sets date for its first execution since 1961


FORT LEAVENWORTH, Kan. (AP) -- The Army has set a date for its first execution in nearly 50 years.

The military said Thursday that former North Carolina soldier Ronald A. Gray is to be executed Dec. 10 at the federal prison complex in Terre Haute (TEHR'-uh HOHT), Ind. He was convicted of multiple rapes and murders.

Army Secretary Pete Geren ordered that the former cook die by lethal injection. President Bush approved the execution in July.

Gray is being held at Fort Leavenworth, Kan. He was convicted in a spree of four murders and eight rapes in North Carolina in 1986 and '87 while stationed at Fort Bragg.

The last military execution was in 1961. Army Pvt. John Bennett was hanged for raping and attempting to kill an 11-year-old Austrian girl.


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END of Associated Press Release