Utah Executions

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah--A district court judge, and later the Utah Supreme Court, refused yesterday to stay the executions of two convicted killers who are scheduled to be executed by a firing squad next week.

The attorneys for convicted murderers Dale Pierre and William Andrews said they would continue to appeal the sentence.

The state supreme court did promise to hold hearings on the case before the scheduled shooting.

The U.S. Supreme Court has also refused to hear the case, but attorneys said that federal appeals might still be possible.

The executions are scheduled for December 7. Utah is the only state in the last decade to carry out a death sentence--that of Gary Gilmore, executed in 1977.

Pierre and Andrews were convicted of the killings of three people during an April 1974 robbery.