Ray Dempsey Gardner

Ray Dempsey Gardner (1922 – September 29, 1951) was an American serial killer who killed three people in three states in the 1940s. Gardner, who had a lengthy criminal record, was convicted of a murder he committed in Utah, sentenced to death, and executed in 1951.

Gardner was executed by firing squad at the Utah State Prison on September 29, 1951. Five rifles opened fire at him together after Sheriff Mac Wade ordered "Ready, aim, fire." Gardner's last words were "I'm ready to go. No one will miss me. My life has been worthless."

On July 20, 1949, in Ogden, Utah, 17-year-old Shirley Gretzinger left her mother's house to walk to a babysitting job. She had not planned on leaving that evening, but a friend was sick and had referred the caller to Gretzinger. Gretzinger's mother was worried since she did not know who her daughter would be sitting for. The caller was Gardner. When Gardner picked Gretzinger up, he took her to a gulch outside of the city instead of the location he proposed. When Gretzinger spurned his sexual advances, Gardner stuffed wadded toilet paper down her throat and raped her as she was dying. Gardner also stole Gretzinger's purse and magazines, mutilated her, and left her body lying in a thicket.

Gardner was not a suspect in any of the murders until August 14, 1949. That day, he was driving back to the farm where he worked in a new car. He fled when he saw one of the sons of his employer's home. Gardner drove through a stop sign and ran into and overturned a trailer on the main highway without stopping. He was later arrested and, after being found with stolen clothing and a pistol from the farm, was charged with grand larceny, hit-and-run driving, and running through a stop sign. The police became suspicious after they found Horn's luggage and clothing in the car, and realized she was missing. Gardner also faced a federal charge of interstate transportation of a stolen vehicle.

Although Gardner was initially charged with killing Horn, he only stood trial for killing Gretzinger in Utah. On December 13, 1949, he was found guilty of first degree murder. The jury, which deliberated for 58 minutes, did not make a recommendation for mercy, which made a death sentence mandatory.

In 1941, Gardner strangled his cellmate, Frank Shelley, in a jail in Jamestown, North Dakota. Officials thought Shelley had died of natural causes, and Gardner was never charged.