The warden of Utah State Prison's maximum security section has been served with a warrant ordering the execution June 10 of condemned child-slayer Arthur Gary Bishop.
Salt Lake County Sheriff Pete Hayward said the serving of the warrant on Warden Gerald Cook late Tuesday was just a technicality, but one that moves Bishop closer to his date with death by lethal injection.On Friday, 3rd District Judge Frank G. Noel issued the warrant in compliance with Bishop's wishes to end all appeals and be executed for the sex-related abductions and slayings of five Salt Lake County boys between 1979 and 1983.
Bishop, 38, was convicted on five counts of first-degree murder, five counts of aggravated kidnapping and one count of sexual abuse of a minor following a six-week trial in 1984. He was sentenced by 3rd District Judge Jay Banks to die by lethal injection.
In a confession to police, Bishop said he killed the boys, ranging in age from 4 to 13, to prevent his exposure as a child-molester.
On May 2, the Utah Supreme Court lifted Bishop's stay of execution and remanded the case back to district court for the setting of the new execution date.
After the state Supreme Court rejected his appeal on Feb. 3, Bishop filed motions stating that he wanted to end all appeals and proceed with the execution so that the families of his victims can find peace.