Why a Booktrail?
1976: A man on death row wants to die – a true story
The Executioner’s Song
What you need to know before your trail
In 1976 Gary Gilmore robbed two men. Then he shot them in cold blood. For those murders Gilmore was sent to languish on Death Row – but in America at that time, no one had been executed for ten years.
Gary Gilmore wanted to die however, and his ensuing battle with the authorities for the right to do so made him into a world-wide celebrity – and ensured that his execution turned into the most gruesome media event of the decade.
Travel Guide
Gary Mark Gilmore gained international notoriety for demanding the implementation of his death sentence for two murders he committed in Utah. Gilmore was executed by firing squad in 1977
On the evening of July 19, 1976, Gilmore robbed and murdered Max Jensen, a petrol station attendant in Orem, Utah. The next evening, he robbed and murdered Bennie Bushnell, a motel manager in Provo. Although both men had done what he had asked, he still went ahead and murdered them.
Gilmore’s murder trial began at the Provo courthouse on October 5, 1976 and lasted two days. He was executed on January 17, 1977, at 8:07 a.m. by firing squad at Utah State Prison in Draper, Utah.
Booktrail Boarding Pass: The Executioner’s Song
Author/Guide: Norman Mailer Destination: Utah Departure Time: 1970s, 1976
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