Gary Mark Gilmore (December 4, 1940 – January 17, 1977) was an American murderer who gained international notoriety as the first person executed in the United States after the death penalty was reinstated in 1976 after Gregg v. Georgia lifted the four-year moratorium instated by Furman v. Georgia. Gary John Gilmour (b. ... is the 338th day of the year (339th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1940 (MCMXL) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full 1940 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 17th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Also: 1977 (album) by Ash. ... Capital punishment, or the death penalty, is the execution of a convicted criminal by the state as punishment for crimes known as capital crimes or capital offences. ... Year 1976 Pick up sticks(MCMLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Holding The imposition of the death penalty does not, automatically, violate the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendment. ... Holding The arbitrary and inconsistent imposition of the death penalty violates the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments, and constitutes cruel and unusual punishment. ...

Biography

Early life

Gary Mark Gilmore was born in a rural Texas town on December 4, 1940, the second of four sons. His parents drifted around the country most of the time while he and his brothers were growing up, his father earning a living selling advertising space in magazines. Relations between Gary and his father were bad, his father being cold and indifferent to him as a child. Official language(s) No official language See languages of Texas Capital Austin Largest city Houston Largest metro area Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington Area  Ranked 2nd  - Total 261,797 sq mi (678,051 km²)  - Width 773 miles (1,244 km)  - Length 790 miles (1,270 km)  - % water 2. ... is the 338th day of the year (339th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1940 (MCMXL) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full 1940 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

In Norman Mailer's The Executioner's Song, it is suggested that Gilmore was the illegitimate grandson of magician Harry Houdini. The Executioners Song book cover The Executioners Song is a 1979 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Norman Mailer that depicts the events surrounding the execution of Gary Gilmore by the state of Utah for murder. ... Houdini redirects here. ...

The Gilmore family settled in Portland, Oregon, in the early 1950s, where Gary Gilmore began getting into trouble with the law, with offenses ranging from shoplifting to assault and battery charges. He dropped out of high school at age 15 and drifted across the Midwest making a living out of robbing houses and stores. Despite this Gilmore was an intelligent and articulate man with an IQ of 130. Nickname: Location of Portland in Multnomah County and the state of Oregon Coordinates: , Country State Counties Multnomah County Incorporated February 8, 1851 Government  - Mayor Tom Potter[1]  - Commissioners Sam Adams Randy Leonard Dan Saltzman Erik Sten  - Auditor Gary Blackmer Area  - City 376. ... the first thing that was invented was the automatic DILDO. Education grew explosively because of a very strong demand for high school and college education. ... For other uses, see High school (disambiguation). ... The Midwest is a common name for a region of the United States of America. ... IQ redirects here; for other uses of that term, see IQ (disambiguation). ...

Robbery and homicide

He was convicted of armed robbery in Indianapolis, Indiana in 1964, and received an 18-year prison sentence. He was conditionally paroled in March 1976 and sent to Provo, Utah to live with a distant cousin of his who tried to help him find work and make a living for himself. Gilmore briefly worked as a roadie on Wings' 1976 Wings over America Tour, but he soon returned to his previous lifestyle, stealing chicken and items from stores and homes. The Indianapolis skyline Indianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana. ... For other uses, see Indiana (disambiguation). ... Provo is a city in Utah and the county seat of Utah County, located about 35 miles south of Salt Lake City along the Wasatch Front. ... The word wing or wings has more than one use: In aeronautics a wing is an apparatus used to create lift. ... In 1975 and 1976, Paul McCartneys band Wings embarked on the ambitious Wings Over the World tour. ...

Gilmore murdered Bennie Bushnell, a motel manager, in Provo, Utah. He was convicted for that murder on July 20, 1976. He had also been charged with murdering Max Jensen, a Sinclair gas station employee in Orem, Utah, the previous day, but that case never went to trial apparently because there were no witnesses. Gilmore's trial was held from October 5 to October 7, 1976 — he was quickly convicted of the murder, mostly because there was no defense on his part. The jury also recommended the death penalty for Gilmore due to the special circumstances to the crime. At the time, Utah had two methods of execution, firing squad or death by hanging, so Gilmore was allowed to choose between the two. His reply was, "I'd prefer to be shot." Holiday Inn Great Sign Exterior of a Howard Johnsons motor lodge. ... is the 201st day of the year (202nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1976 Pick up sticks(MCMLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Sinclair Oil is an American petroleum company based in Salt Lake City, Utah. ... Orem is an incorporated city in the north-central part of the state of Utah in Utah County. ... For other uses, see 5th October (Serbia). ... is the 280th day of the year (281st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1976 Pick up sticks(MCMLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Execution by firing squad is a method of capital punishment, especially in times of war. ... Hanging is the suspension of a person by a ligature, usually a cord wrapped around the neck, causing death. ...

Execution

Gilmore felt his exection would be retribution. In November 1976 he said that "They always want to get in on the act. I don't think they have ever really done anything effective in their lives. I would like them all, — including that group of reverends and rabbis from Salt Lake City to butt out. This is my life and this is my death. It's been sanctioned by the courts that I die and I accept that". The execution was set for sunrise on December 6 1976 but three days earlier, Gilmore received a stay of execution. During the time Gilmore was on death row awaiting his execution, he attempted suicide twice. The first was on November 16, 1976 and the second was a month later on December 16. While incarcerated, Gilmore developed a deep dislike for two of his fellow inmates, convicted murderers and rapists Pierre Dale Selby and William Andrews, the "Hi-Fi Murderers." Gilmore had to pass the men's cells on his way to the firing squad, and as he was led past he laughed at the men and called out, "I'll see you in Hell, Andrews and Pierre!" is the 340th day of the year (341st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see Suicide (disambiguation). ... is the 320th day of the year (321st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1976 Pick up sticks(MCMLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 350th day of the year (351st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... The so-called Hi-Fi Murders was an infamous criminal case involving murder, rape and robbery which occurred in the Hi-Fi Shop in Ogden, Utah on April 22, 1974. ...

Gary Gilmore was shot by a firing squad on January 17, 1977, at 8:07 a.m., after angrily telling his lawyers to drop the appeals they had filed in defiance of his wishes. The night before, Gilmore had requested an all-night gathering of friends and family at the prison mess hall. On the morning of the 17th, he enjoyed a last meal consisting of a hamburger, hard-boiled eggs, a baked potato, a few cups of coffee, and three shots of whiskey. He was then taken to an abandoned cannery behind the prison which served as the prison's death house. He was strapped to a chair, with a wall of sandbags placed behind him to absorb the bullets. Five prison guards stood concealed behind a curtain with five small holes cut for them to place their rifles through which were aimed at him. After being asked for any last words, Gilmore simply replied "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 British punk rock band The Adverts to write and release "Gary Gilmore's Eyes" later that year. His body was sent for an Autopsy and then cremated later that day. On the following day, his ashes were scattered from an airplane in Utah. Execution by firing squad is a method of capital punishment, especially in times of war. ... is the 17th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Also: 1977 (album) by Ash. ... For the fish called lawyer, see Burbot. ... Whisky (or whiskey) is an alcoholic beverage distilled from grain, often including malt, which has then been aged in wooden barrels. ... This article is about firearms projectiles. ... The cornea is the transparent front part of the eye that covers the iris, pupil, and anterior chamber, providing most of an eyes optical power [1]. Together with the lens, the cornea refracts light and, as a result, helps the eye to focus. ... Punk rock is an anti-establishment music movement beginning around 1976 (although precursors can be found several years earlier), exemplified and popularised by The Ramones, the Sex Pistols, The Clash and The Damned. ... The Adverts were an English punk rock band who formed in 1976 and broke up in 1979. ... Post-mortem, postmortem and post mortem redirect here. ...

According to his brother Mikal Gilmore's memoir Shot in the Heart, Utah's tradition dictated that a firing squad comprise five men — four of them with live rounds, and one with a blank round, so that each of the shooters could cast doubt to having fired a fatal shot. However, upon inspecting the clothes worn by Gary Gilmore at his execution, Mikal noticed five holes in the shirt — indicating, he wrote, that "the state of Utah, apparently, had taken no chances on the morning that it put my brother to death" (p. 390). Mikal Gilmore is a writer. ... Shot in the Heart is a memoir written by Mikal Gilmore, then a senior contributing editor at Rolling Stone Magazine, about his tumultuous childhood in a dysfunctional Mormon family, and his brother Gary Gilmores eventual execution by firing squad in 1977 for a convenience store murder he committed in... This article is about the U.S. state. ... Execution by firing squad is a method of capital punishment, especially in times of war. ... Mikal Gilmore is a writer. ... This article is about the U.S. state. ...

References to the execution

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• The Oakland-based performance artist Monte Cazazza sent out photos of himself in an electric chair on the day of Gilmore's execution. One of these was mistakenly printed in a Hong Kong newspaper as the real execution. Cazazza was also photographed alongside COUM Transmissions/Throbbing Gristle members Genesis P-Orridge and Cosey Fanni Tutti for the "Gary Gilmore Memorial Society" postcard, in which the three artists posed blindfolded and tied to chairs with actual loaded guns pointed at them to depict Gilmore's execution. [1]

• A December 11, 1976 episode of Saturday Night Live featured the cast singing a Christmas-themed medley enitled "Let's Kill Gary Gilmore For Christmas." Among its more memorable lyrics are set to "Winter Wonderland": "In the meadow we can build a snowman/One with Gary Gilmore packed inside/We'll ask him, "Are you dead yet?" He'll say, 'No, man'/But we'll wait out the frostbite 'till he dies."

• In 1977, The Adverts had a top 20 hit in the UK with the song "Gary Gilmore's Eyes". The lyrics describe an eye donor recipient realizing his new eyes came from the executed murderer. The song was later covered by the German punk-rock band Die Toten Hosen and by Paul Roland.

• Gilmore's story is documented in Norman Mailer's The Executioner's Song (1979), which was adapted by Mailer for the 1982 television movie of the same name starring Tommy Lee Jones as Gilmore. Jones won an Emmy for his portrayal of Gilmore.

• Gilmore is also the main character of artist Matthew Barney's Cremaster 2 (1999), the second part of The Cremaster Cycle, a series of five films dealing with surreal and controversial topics and themes.

• Gilmore's brother's memoir, Shot in the Heart was made into an HBO movie starring Giovanni Ribisi, Elias Koteas, and Sam Shepard.

Image File history File links Broom_icon. ... “Oakland” redirects here. ... Monte Cazazza is an American artist and composer best known for his seminal role in helping shape the early landscape of industrial music through recordings with the London-based Industrial Records in the mid-1970s. ... The electric chair is an execution method in which the person being put to death is strapped to a chair and electrocuted through electrodes placed on the body. ... COUM Transmissions was a gang interested in pushing boundaries, influenced by Dada and the Merry Pranksters. ... Throbbing Gristle (formed on September 3, 1975, in London) are a British Avant-Garde group that evolved from the performance art group COUM Transmissions. ... Genesis P-Orridge (born Neil Andrew Megson February 22, 1950) is an English performer, musician, writer and artist. ... Cosey Fanni Tutti was born Christine Carole Newby on 4 November 1951, in Hull, Yorkshire, England. ... December 11 is the 345th day of the year (346th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1976 Pick up sticks(MCMLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the American television series. ... Winter Wonderland is a pop standard written in 1934 by Felix Bernard (composer) and Richard B. Smith (lyricist). ... The Adverts were an English punk rock band who formed in 1976 and broke up in 1979. ... Andreas Frege (Campino) Andreas Meurer (Andi) Andreas von Holst (Kuddel) Kuddel and Andi Die Toten Hosen is a German punk band from Düsseldorf. ... Norman Mailer, photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1948 Norman Kingsley Mailer (born January 31, 1923) is an American novelist, journalist, playwright, screenwriter and film director. ... The Executioners Song book cover The Executioners Song is a 1979 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Norman Mailer that depicts the events surrounding the execution of Gary Gilmore by the state of Utah for murder. ... For the musician, see Tommy Lee. ... Matthew Barney (born March 25, 1967 in San Francisco, California) is a contemporary artist who works with film, video, installations, sculpture, photography, drawing and performance art. ... Cremaster (films) The Cremaster Cycle is a sequence of five films by Matthew Barney, entitled Cremaster 1 to Cremaster 5. ... Shot in the Heart is a memoir written by Mikal Gilmore, then a senior contributing editor at Rolling Stone Magazine, about his tumultuous childhood in a dysfunctional Mormon family, and his brother Gary Gilmores eventual execution by firing squad in 1977 for a convenience store murder he committed in... HBO (Home Box Office) is a premium cable television network with headquarters in New York City. ... Antonino Giovanni Ribisi (born December 17, 1974) is an American actor. ... Elias Koteas (born March 11, 1961) is a Canadian actor. ... Sam Shepard (born November 5, 1943) is a unique American artist whose talents have been expressed in many different areas. ...

See also

• Capital punishment in the United States
• John Albert Taylor
• List of individuals executed in Utah

Capital punishment in the United States is officially sanctioned by 37 of the 50 states, as well as by the federal government and the military. ... John Albert Taylor (born c. ... A total of 6 individuals convicted of murder have been executed by the state of Utah since 1976. ...

External links

• Gary Gilmore (on Crime Library).