Ronald A. Gray
Specialist Four U.S. Army
Convicted Sex Offender
Rape Forcible Sodomy Murder
Name: Ronald A. Gray
Case: U.S. v. Gray No. 93-7001
Date Of Appeal: March 7, 1995
Plea: Not Guilty
Charges: Rape, Forcible Sodomy, Murder et all
Military Branch: U.S. Army
Listed In National Sex Offenders Registry? NO
Following a general court-martial at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, petitioner, a member of the United States Army, was convicted of premeditated murder (two specifications), attempted murder, rape (three specifications), robbery (two specifications), forcible sodomy (two specifications), burglary, and larceny, in violation of Articles 118, 80, 120, 122, 125, 121, and 129 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ), 10 U.S.C. 918, 880, 920, 922, 925, 921, and 929, respectively. Pet. App. 165a. The court-martial sentenced petitioner to death, a dishonorable discharge, total forfeitures, and reduction to Private E-1. Id. at 3a. The Commanding General of the 82d Airborne Division approved the sentence. Ibid. Petitioner's convictions and sentence were affirmed by the United States Army Court of Military Review, id. at 163a-207a, 208a-229a, and by the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, id. at 1a-161a.1
1. Petitioner was an Army Specialist stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. On December 15, 1986, he abducted, raped, sodomized, and murdered Private Laura Lee Vickery-Clay. On January 3, 1987, he raped and attempted to murder Private Mary Ann Lang Nameth. Three days later, on January 6, he raped, sodomized, robbed, and murdered civilian Kimberly Ann Ruggles. Pet. App. 169a-171a.
The court-martial evidence established the following facts: The first victim, Private Vickery-Clay, disappeared from Fort Bragg on December 15, 1986. On that date, two witnesses saw her at a local K-Mart with a man later identified as petitioner. Vickery-Clay's car, found the next morning a block from her home, appeared to have been driven through the woods, and the driver's seat was set back farther than needed for Vickery-Clay to drive. Three fingerprints that matched petitioner's prints were found on the hood of the car. On January 17, 1987, another soldier discovered Vickery-Clay's half-naked, decomposed body in the woods in Fort Bragg. She had been raped, sodomized, and shot in the neck, forehead, chest, and back of the head. She had also suffered blunt force trauma to various parts of her body. The murder weapon-a .22 caliber pistol that petitioner had stolen in November 1986-was found approximately 60 feet from Vickery-Clay's body. Pet. App. 170a-171a; Gov't C.A. Br. 6 & n.5, 7.
On January 3, 1987, petitioner entered the barracks room of Private Mary Ann Lang Nameth under the pretense that he needed to use the bathroom. Once in the room, petitioner grabbed Nameth, held a knife to her throat, and asked for her military field gear. Petitioner then tied Nameth's hands behind her back with the cord from a curling iron, removed her underclothing, and raped her. Petitioner then stabbed her repeatedly in the neck and side and threatened to return and kill her if she screamed. Nameth suffered a lacerated trachea and a collapsed or punctured lung. When, shortly thereafter, petitioner's photograph appeared in the newspapers and on television following his arrest for another crime, Nameth identified him as her assailant. Pet. App. 171a; Gov't C.A. Br. 10-12.
In the evening of January 6, 1987, Kimberly Ann Ruggles, a local taxi driver, was dispatched to pick up a passenger named "Ron" at petitioner's address. In the early morning hours of January 7, military police officers on routine patrol discovered Ruggles' empty taxicab parked at the edge of some woods. Her nude body was discovered a short distance away. She had been raped, sodomized, beaten, and stabbed seven times. Ruggles' mouth was gagged with a cloth belt that matched a pair of black karate pants that other police officers had found in petitioner's possession just hours earlier. Petitioner's fingerprints were found on the interior door handle of Ruggles' taxi, and Ruggles' fingerprints were found on money in petitioner's possession. Petitioner's footprints were also found at the scene of the crime. Pet. App. 169a-170a; Gov't C.A. Br. 13-17.
This case has been added inspite of the death penalty, as there is still a chance Gray will avoid the death penalty, and will eventually get parole. He is currently housed on the military's death row at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas. No execution have been done for federal crimes since 1961.
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