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A federal judge has denied Ronnie Lee Gardner's appeal of his murder conviction and death sentence for killing an attorney during an escape attempt at a Salt Lake City courthouse in 1985.

U.S. District Judge Tena Campbell on Thursday ruled against the two-time killer on numerous claims, including his assertion that his trial and appeal lawyers were ineffective because they failed to show that he never meant to kill his victim. The judge said there is "overwhelming evidence" that Gardner intended to shoot attorney Michael Burdell.

"For instance, Mr. Gardner admitted at trial that he asked his accomplice to provide him with a loaded gun to use to escape because an unloaded gun was useless," Campbell wrote in her ruling. "A witness at trial testified that he saw Mr. Gardner aim the gun at Mr. Burdell's head and pause before firing."

Gardner's attorney, Andrew Parnes, said the ruling is disappointing and he will appeal to the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver.

After a ruling is issued there, either side could ask the U.S. Supreme Court to take the case, but the justices are not required to do so. That process could take a few years.

Campbell's ruling was a technical victory for Gardner in one way. At issue for the past three years has been whether the inmate's appeal attorneys erred by failing to challenge an erroneous definition of the term "knowingly" in a jury instruction.

The Utah Supreme Court, at Campbell's request, recently issued an opinion noting that state law in effect at the time Gardner began his appeals barred him from bringing up the ineffective-assistance claim.

Thomas Brunker, an assistant Utah attorney general, agreed with that decision and also claimed Gardner would have been convicted at trial even if the instruction had been correct.

Parnes, however, contended that Campbell was not bound by the Utah court decision.

The judge did decide that Gardner could bring up the claim - and then ruled against him on every point.

Gardner's escape attempt occurred at the now-demolished courthouse at 250 E. 400 South, where he had been brought for a hearing on charges in the 1984 robbery and fatal shooting of Melvyn John Otterstrom at a Salt Lake City bar.

After Gardner's girlfriend slipped him the gun, he wounded bailiff Nick Kirk and killed Burdell by shooting him twice before being captured on the courthouse lawn.

Gardner, now 46, was sentenced to death for killing Burdell and five years to life for killing Otterstrom, a husband and father who was a controller for the Utah Paper Box Co. by day and a part-time bartender in the evening.

During a hearing before Campbell last month, Gardner told the judge through a speaker phone that he is so racked with physical pain because of his rheumatoid arthritis that he wants to drop his appeals. Campbell said she would have a civil attorney contact him about getting the medical treatment he needs in prison and encouraged him not to abandon the appeal until she made a ruling.

Parnes said Thursday that "at this point, we're ready to proceed."