Bush becomes first president in 50 years to order execution of a US serviceman

President Bush said the 'brutal crimes' of Private Ronald Gray meant he should be put to death for his convictions for a spree of rapes and murders in North Carolina in the 1980s.

George Bush, right, has authorised the execution of Ronald Gray, left

The last time an American Commander-in-Chief authorised a military death sentence was in 1957.

Gray committed the crimes in the Fayetteville area while stationed at Fort Bragg. He has been on the military's death row at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, for 20 years.

White House Press Secretary Dana Perino said President Bush accepted the recommendation of the Secretary of the Army to approve a sentence of death for Gray.

He was given the sentence after a general court martial for multiple charges of murder and rape committed while he was a serving soldier.

Ms Perino said: 'While approving a sentence of death for a member of our Armed Services is a serious and difficult decision for a Commander-in-Chief, the President believes the facts of this case leave no doubt that the sentence is just and warranted.

'Private Gray was convicted of committing brutal crimes, including two murders, an attempted murder, and three rapes. The victims included a civilian and two members of the Army.

'The President's thoughts and prayers are with the victims of these heinous crimes and their families and all others affected.'

Army cook Gray, 42, of Miami, Florida, will be put to death by lethal injection.

It is yet to be decided where Gray will be executed but it is expected there will be a lengthy legal appeals process before it takes place.

Under the American military justice system, a member of the U.S. Armed Forces cannot be executed until the President approves the death sentence.

Unlike the civilian system, where the President may be asked to exercise his clemency authority to stop an execution, in the military system the President effectively orders the execution.

The last President to act on a military death sentence was John F Kennedy in 1962, when he commuted a death sentence to confinement for life.

President Dwight D Eisenhower approved the last military execution in 1957 and it was carried out in 1961.  

Gray engaged in a spree of four murders and eight rapes between April 1986 and January 1987. He pleaded guilty to two murders and five rapes in addition to other offenses in North Carolina State court and was sentenced to three consecutive, and five concurrent, life terms.

But he was then tried by a general court-martial for separate offences involving three women, two serving in the U.S. Army and one who was a civilian. In April 1988, the court-martial convicted Gray of charges of premeditated murder and unanimously sentenced him to death.