A Halt in Executions
As of December 31st, 1976, there had been no executions in the United States for nine and a half years, following the effective nationwide suspension of the death penalty by the courts in 1968.
The previous judicial execution was that of 48-year-old Luis José Monge, who was put to death in Colorado’s gas chamber on June 2nd, 1967.
In the landmark case of Furman v. Georgia in 1972, the Supreme Court of the United States invalidated all existing state death penalty statutes on the grounds of arbitrary and capricious application, holding that they violated the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments.
As a consequence of the Furman decision, state legislatures across the country were forced to draft entirely new capital sentencing statutes.
The new statutory guidelines provided for bifurcated proceedings and the formal introduction of statutory aggravating and mitigating circumstances during the separate penalty phase of capital trials.
These revised capital statutes were reviewed and approved by the Supreme Court on July 2nd, 1976, in Gregg v. Georgia (alongside companion cases from Florida and Texas), clearing the legal path for a resumption of capital punishment in the United States.
The First Post-Furman Execution
The first judicial execution following the Furman moratorium took place the following year amid intense, worldwide media fascination.
On Monday, January 17th, 1977, 36-year-old Gary Mark Gilmore was put to death by firing squad in the State of Utah.
Gilmore’s execution was voluntary: he waived his remaining constitutional appeals and campaigned vigorously to be allowed to die without delay.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), along with other abolitionist organizations, fought just as strenuously to block the execution, viewing Gilmore’s case as “opening the floodgates” for hundreds of condemned inmates awaiting execution nationwide.
Utah Governor Scott Matheson wished to grant an administrative stay, but determined that he lacked the constitutional authority to do so unilaterally.
The ACLU persuaded U.S. District Court Judge Willis Ritter to issue a temporary stay of execution just seven hours before the scheduled time.
This intervention prompted Utah Attorney General Robert B. Hansen and state prosecutors to immediately fly to Denver, Colorado.
There, they successfully petitioned the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit to vacate Judge Ritter’s stay—a ruling secured just eight minutes before Gilmore was scheduled to be shot.
ACLU attorneys in Washington, D.C., lodged emergency appeals with the Supreme Court of the United States, but these final petitions were summarily rejected.
Gary Gilmore’s Crimes
Gilmore was convicted of the capital murder—by shooting with a .22 caliber Browning automatic pistol—of 26-year-old Provo motel clerk Bennie Bushnell on July 20th, 1976.
He was sentenced to death on October 7th, 1976, following a three-day trial in the Fourth Judicial District Court.
He was also responsible for the fatal shooting of 24-year-old service station attendant Max Jensen the previous evening in nearby Orem, Utah, although the state did not formally try him for that crime.
He subsequently confessed to both slayings in personal correspondence written to his girlfriend, Nicole Barrett.
Both homicides took place during armed robberies and were completely unnecessary, with both young men having fully complied with Gilmore’s demands for cash.
At the time of the killings, Gilmore was on federal parole from a 12-year sentence for armed robbery.
Gary was known for his extreme impatience—both in executing his crimes (which he claimed were intended to secure money to purchase a used truck) and in demanding his own death sentence.
Suicide Attempts and Legal Delays
On November 1st, 1976, Gary appeared before sentencing Judge Robert Bullock of the Fourth District Court and stated:
“You sentenced me to die. Unless it is a joke or something, I want to go ahead and do it. It’s my decision.”
His execution was initially set for November 15, 1976, but was stayed by Governor Calvin Rampton, who referred the matter to the Utah Board of Pardons.
A second execution date of December 6th, 1976, was stayed after Gary’s mother, Bessie Gilmore, filed a next-friend petition on his behalf with the U.S. Supreme Court.
On the night of November 16th, Gary and Nicole attempted suicide in a mutual drug overdose pact using smuggled barbiturates; both survived medical intervention.
Gary later made a second unsuccessful suicide attempt while held in his cell.
The Execution Setup at Utah State Prison
For the first time in Utah’s history, an execution was conducted in secrecy inside the walls of the Utah State Prison at Point of the Mountain near Draper, outside Salt Lake City.
In one corner of an abandoned prison cannery warehouse, an old office armchair was bolted to a low wooden platform.
Directly behind the chair stood a heavy sheet of marine plywood backed by a mattress and stacked sandbags to absorb bullets and prevent ricochets.
Twenty-six feet in front of the chair hung a heavy green sailcloth screen featuring five rectangular firing ports measuring 2½ by 6 inches to conceal the firing squad.
A sixth opening—measuring 3 inches square—was positioned to permit the squad leader to observe the condemned man and signal the command to fire.
Behind the screen, a wooden rest bar was installed for the marksmen to steady their rifle barrels.
The firing squad consisted of five anonymous volunteers drawn from local law enforcement and state corrections officers.
Given the choice under Utah law between hanging and the firing squad, Gilmore selected shooting, expressing apprehension that a hanging might be botched, as historically occurred in cases under the short drop method.
He requested permission to stand upright without restraints and without a hood, but prison authorities denied both requests on institutional safety grounds.
The Final Hours
Gilmore was served a final meal consisting of steak, eggs, hamburger, potatoes, and black coffee.
At 7:53 a.m. on the morning of January 17th, 1977, he was removed from his maximum-security isolation cell and transported by prison van for the half-mile drive to the cannery building.
The execution was attended by:
- Warden Sam Smith;
- Several senior correctional officers;
- Dr. Serge M. Moore, the State Medical Examiner;
- Four personal witnesses chosen by Gilmore: his uncle Vern Damico, film and literary producer Larry Schiller, and his two defense attorneys, Ronald Stanger and Robert Moody.
A fifth designated witness, Nicole Barrett, was absent, having been committed to a psychiatric facility following her suicide attempt.
Accredited newspaper and television journalists were excluded from witnessing the execution directly, and were held in an adjacent administrative room inside the prison.
The witnesses entered the cannery room, where Gary was already seated in the armchair and secured with wide nylon restraint straps around his chest, waist, and ankles.
He was permitted a few brief moments to converse with each of his witnesses.
All present in the room were provided with cotton wool to serve as earplugs.
“Let’s Do It”
Gary sat motionless while Warden Sam Smith read aloud the formal execution warrant.
He glanced toward the green canvas screen concealing the marksmen, scanning the aperture.
After the death warrant was concluded, Warden Smith asked Gilmore if he had any last words.
He uttered the phrase that immediately entered American cultural history:
“Let’s do it.”
Father Thomas Meersman, the Roman Catholic prison chaplain, administered the last rites.
A black cloth hood was then pulled down over Gary’s head.
Gary spoke in Latin to Father Meersman:
“Dominus vobiscum” (“The Lord be with you”)
to which the chaplain replied:
“Et cum spiritu tuo” (“And with your spirit”).
Simultaneously, the prison physician stepped forward and pinned a white circular paper target with a red bullseye directly over Gilmore’s heart.
The Execution (17/01/1977)
At 8:05 a.m. Mountain Time (9:05 a.m. Central), the five marksmen fired a simultaneous volley through the canvas ports using Winchester Model 94 lever-action carbines, loaded with Winchester Silver Tip 150-grain .30-30 caliber ammunition.
Four of the rifles were loaded with live rounds, while one rifle contained a blank round, ensuring that no shooter could be certain who fired the fatal shots.
As the volley struck his chest, Gilmore’s body jolted backward.
His head tilted to the left, and his fingers flexed slightly.
Blood soaked through his black T-shirt, drained onto his white trousers, and pooled on the concrete floor beneath the chair.
All perceptible physical movement ceased within 20 seconds.
The prison physician stepped behind the screen and examined him for vital signs.
Ken Shulsen, administrative assistant to the director of the Department of Corrections, exited the cannery and announced the outcome to waiting reporters:
“The order of the 4th Judicial Circuit has been carried out.”
Public Response and Medical Aftermath
Outside the prison gates, approximately 60 death penalty abolitionists conducted a silent protest in sub-freezing 20-degree Fahrenheit temperatures, with many having kept a candlelight vigil throughout the night.
Similar vigils and protests took place across the United States.
Dr. Serge M. Moore conducted the official post-mortem examination at 10:45 a.m., completing a three-hour autopsy.
He confirmed to reporters that all four live bullets had penetrated Gilmore’s heart within an area of two inches, causing fatal cardiac rupture, with biological death occurring within two minutes.
A witness noted that Gilmore appeared to draw breath for 15 to 20 seconds following the volley before lapsing into complete unconsciousness.
In accordance with Gilmore’s advance written directions, his corneas, pituitary gland, liver, and kidneys were removed and donated for medical transplantation and research.
His uncle, Vern Damico, stated to the media:
“He got his wish. He did die, and he died with dignity.”
Following the autopsy, Damico took custody of the remains for cremation.
Gilmore’s ashes were subsequently scattered from an airplane over the city of Provo, Utah.
Reactions and Legal Controversy
Utah Attorney General Robert B. Hansen stated:
“Justice has been served. No death can be elevating and there is much sadness when anyone dies. But I am definitely more sorrowful about the two victims’ families than the fact that Mr. Gilmore is no longer alive.”
Henry Schwarzschild, New York coordinator of the National Coalition Against the Death Penalty and director of the ACLU Capital Punishment Project, issued a statement condemning the state, asserting that Hansen was an accomplice to judicial homicide.
Abolitionist commentators focused on the constitutional implications of restarting executions, while victim advocates noted that anti-death penalty organizations made little mention of the murdered victims, Bennie Bushnell and Max Jensen, or their surviving dependents.
Schwarzschild also argued that Attorney General Hansen should have been held in judicial contempt for proceeding with execution preparations while Judge Ritter’s initial stay was pending appeal.
Cultural Impact
The execution of Gary Gilmore drew worldwide coverage and became an enduring cultural milestone.
His life, crimes, and execution were chronicled in Norman Mailer’s Pulitzer Prize-winning biographical novel The Executioner’s Song (1979), which was later adapted into an Emmy Award-winning 1982 television film starring Tommy Lee Jones as Gilmore.
The phrase “Let’s do it” subsequently inspired advertising executive Dan Wieden in 1988 to create Nike’s global slogan, “Just Do It.”
Gilmore was the first person executed in Utah since March 30th, 1960, when James W. Rodgers was executed by firing squad for the murder of a mining coworker in San Juan County.
Resumption of Executions in the United States
Although capital punishment resumed with Gilmore in 1977, the pace of executions across the United States remained slow for the next five years, with only six carried out between January 1977 and July 1982.
Notably, four of the first six executions involved “volunteers” who, like Gilmore, actively waived their legal appeals to hasten their deaths (designated with a “v” in the table below):
| No. | Date | Condemned Name | State | Execution Method |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1v | 01/17/1977 | Gary Mark Gilmore | Utah | Firing Squad |
| 2 | 05/25/1979 | John Arthur Spenkelink | Florida | Electrocution |
| 3v | 10/22/1979 | Jesse Walter Bishop | Nevada | Lethal Gas |
| 4v | 03/09/1981 | Steven Timothy Judy | Indiana | Electrocution |
| 5v | 08/10/1982 | Frank James Coppola | Virginia | Electrocution |
| 6 | 12/07/1982 | Charlie Brooks Jr. | Texas | Lethal Injection |
| 7 | 04/22/1983 | John Louis Evans | Alabama | Electrocution |
| 8 | 09/02/1983 | Jimmy Lee Gray | Mississippi | Lethal Gas |
With the exception of Texas—which introduced the world’s first lethal injection for Charlie Brooks Jr. in December 1982—states resuming capital punishment initially retained their traditional pre-moratorium execution methods: firing squad in Utah, the electric chair in Florida, Indiana, Virginia, and Alabama, and lethal gas in Nevada and Mississippi.
The American reinstatement contrasted sharply with contemporary international trends toward abolition across the Western world, as examined in the end of capital punishment in Europe and capital punishment in the British Commonwealth.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who was Gary Gilmore?
Gary Mark Gilmore was a 36-year-old American robber who murdered two young men—gas station worker Max Jensen and motel clerk Bennie Bushnell—in Utah in July 1976. He gained international prominence by demanding the immediate execution of his death sentence.
Why is Gary Gilmore’s execution historically significant?
Executed by a Utah firing squad on January 17, 1977, Gilmore became the first person executed in the United States in nearly a decade, ending the national capital punishment moratorium that followed the 1972 Furman v. Georgia decision.
What were Gary Gilmore’s final words?
Before the black hood was drawn over his head, Gilmore uttered his famous final words to Warden Sam Smith: “Let’s do it.” He then exchanged the traditional Latin Catholic greeting “Dominus vobiscum” with the prison chaplain.
How was the Utah firing squad configured?
Gilmore was strapped to an office chair in a disused cannery behind a protective sandbag and mattress barrier. Five anonymous marksmen fired simultaneously from behind a sailcloth screen 26 feet away using .30-30 Winchester rifles, with four live rounds and one blank.
What happened to Gilmore’s organs and remains?
Following his autopsy, Gilmore’s corneas, kidneys, and liver were donated for medical research and transplantation in accordance with his final wishes. His body was cremated, and his ashes were scattered over Provo, Utah.
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