Home > Gary Gilmore
Gary Mark Gilmore ( December 4, 1940 - January 17, 1977) was a career criminal who was the first person legally executed in the United States since 1967. Gilmore was convicted of killing a motel manager in Provo, Utah; he had also been charged with murdering a gas station employee in Orem, Utah, the previous day, but that case never went to trial. In 1972 the United States Supreme Court issued its decision in Furman v. Georgia invalidating all laws regarding capital punishment in the United States. In response to that decision, 35 states (including Utah) enacted revised death penalty statutes intended to eliminate arbitrariness in capital sentencing. After the Supreme Court validated those laws in 1976, the state of Utah was able to proceed with the execution of Gilmore due to his refusal to contest his conviction and sentence.
Gilmore was shot by a firing squad after angrily telling his lawyers to drop the appeals they had filed in defiance of his wishes. Gilmore had spent 18 of his last 21 years in jail and prison; he wanted the justice process hurried along. During his wait, Gilmore attempted suicideSuicide (from Latin sui caedere to kill oneself) is the act of ending one's own life. It is considered a sin in many religions, and a crime in some jurisdictions. On the other hand, some cultures have viewed it as an honorable way to exit certain shameful twice while in prison. The execution was stayed three times. Gilmore's last words were "let's do it".
Gilmore requested that, following his execution, his eyes be used for transplant purposes. Within hours of the execution, two people received his corneas, inspiring the BritishThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a state in Western Europe, usually known simply as the United Kingdom the UK Britain or less accurately as Great Britain . The UK was formed by a series of Acts of Union which united the formerly punk rockPunk rock is the anti-establishment music movement of the period 1976- 80, exemplified by The Ramones, the Sex Pistols, The Clash, and The Damned. This term is also used to describe subsequent music scenes that share key characteristics with those first-g band The AdvertsThe Adverts were an English punk rock band who formed in 1976 and broke up in 1979. They are mainly remembered for their singles "One Chord Wonders" and " Gary Gilmore's Eyes". Gary Gilmore's Eyes" reached the UK top 20 in August 1977. Their first gig was to write and release "Gary Gilmore's Eyes" later that year.
Gary Gilmore's story is documented in Norman MailerCarl Van Vechten, 1948 Norman Kingsley Mailer (born January 31, 1923) is an American writer and innovator of the nonfictional novel. Life and work Norman Mailer was born in Long Branch, New Jersey. He was brought up in Brooklyn and began attending Harvard's non-fictional novel The Executioner's Song (1979).
Gilmore's brother MikalMikal Gilmore is a writer. He was born "Michael," but later changed the spelling of his name. Gilmore was long interested in music, and in the early 1970s began writing articles for Rolling Stone. In 1977, Gilmore's brother Gary was executed by firing squ wrote a memoir, Shot In The Heart, that chronicles his relationship with Gary, and their often troubled family history.
1 See also
- John Albert TaylorJohn Albert Taylor convicted of the 1988 rape and strangulation of 11-year-old Charla King and was executed by firing squad in Utah on January 26, 1996 at 12:03 a. Mountain Time. Over 150 TV crews from around the world came to record the event, with nine
- List of individuals executed in UtahExecutions since 1976 A total of 6 individuals convicted of murder have been executed by the state of Utah since 1976. Utah is particularly notable in being the first state to execute a prisoner, Gary Gilmore, after Gregg v. Georgia lifted the nationwide
- Capital punishment in the United States
