A Utah death row inmate , convicted of beating a man with a tire jack and puncturing his liver with an inserted tire iron , has requested that he be allowed to die by firing squad , officials said Thursday . Fourth District Judge Donald Eyre on Wednesday signed such a death warrant for Michael A. Archuleta , 49 . But the April 5 execution is not likely to happen , considering Archuleta still make can federal appeals . The last convicted killer to die by firing squad in Utah was Ronnie Lee Gardner , executed in June 2010 . Gardner was only the third person to die by firing squad in the United States since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976 . Assistant Attorney General Tom Brunker said Archuleta , when convicted in 1989 , did not request a specific manner of execution , and was not legally entitled to die by firing squad . But the state did not object Wednesday to Archuleta 's request , although it reserves the right to ask for lethal injection , Brunker said . Brunker said there is no question of guilt in the case . In 1988 , according to court records , Archuleta and Lance Wood met Gordon Ray Church , 28 , at a convenience store in Cedar City and rode with him to a secluded area . At that point , Church told them he was gay , and Archuleta began to engage in a sexual act on Church , but stopped . The two then bound Church , put him in the trunk of his car and drove to another location nearly 80 miles away . The two attached battery jumper cables to Church 's testicles in a failed attempt to electrocute him . They inflicted blows to his head with a tire jack and iron , records show . A tire iron was forced inside the college student 's rectum and it punctured his liver . Church 's body was found with tire chains wrapped tightly around his neck , records show . The attackers took Church 's wallet and watch , Brunker said . `` They both said the other one did everything , '' said Brunker . `` Archuleta 's pants were soaked in the victim 's blood . Wood had some blood spots . '' Wood received a life sentence . An attorney for Archuleta did not immediately return a message left by CNN . But in one of three appeals , Archuleta raised questions about the competence of his previous counsel and alleged errors by the trial court . The Utah Supreme Court turned down that appeal in November 2011 . According to Brunker , after a statutory change in 2004 , lethal injection became the only available method of death in Utah for those who did not elect firing squad at sentencing . A spokesman for the Utah Department of Corrections said four of the eight individuals on death row initially asked for the firing squad option at the time of their sentencing . Seven were sentenced before the 2004 law change . In Utah , five anonymous marksmen , each with a matching .30-caliber rifle , are used in firing squads . They stand behind a wall cut with two gunports , said corrections spokesman Steve Gehrke . One of the rifles will hold an `` ineffective '' round , similar to a blank , which delivers the same recoil as a live round . The marksmen fire from a distance of 25 feet . The inmate is blindfolded and strapped to a chair with a target pinned to his chest .
Michael Archuleta , 49 , was convicted in a brutal 1988 killing in Utah . Death warrant signed this week allows for death by firing squad . Last Utah firing squad execution occurred in June 2010 . The prisoner has filed several appeals over the years .