Gary Gilmore
Updated: 12/11/2025, 9:56:49 AM Wikipedia source
Gary Mark Gilmore (born Faye Robert Coffman; December 4, 1940 – January 17, 1977) was an American criminal who gained international attention for demanding the implementation of his death sentence for two murders he had admitted to committing in Utah. After the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a new series of death penalty statutes in the 1976 decision Gregg v. Georgia, he became the first person in almost ten years to be executed in the United States. These new statutes avoided the problems under the 1972 decision in Furman v. Georgia, which had resulted in earlier death penalty statutes being deemed "cruel and unusual" punishment, and therefore unconstitutional (the Supreme Court had previously ordered all states to commute death sentences to life imprisonment after Furman). Gilmore was executed by a firing squad in 1977. His life and execution were the subject of the 1979 nonfiction novel The Executioner's Song, by Norman Mailer, and the 1982 TV film of the novel starring Tommy Lee Jones as Gilmore.
Infobox
Born
Faye Robert Coffman(1940-12-04)December 4, 1940McCamey, Texas, U.S.
Died
January 17, 1977(1977-01-17) (aged 36)Utah State Prison, Utah, U.S.
Cause of death
Execution by firing squad
Criminal status
Executed by firing squad
Parent(s)
Frank Gilmore Sr. (father) Bessie Gilmore (mother)
Relatives
Mikal Gilmore (brother)
Convictions
First degree murder (1 count)Armed robbery (3 counts)Assault (2 counts)
Criminal penalty
Death
Victims
2
Date
July 19 & 20, 1976
State
Utah
Locations
OremProvo
Date apprehended
July 21, 1976
Tables
· External links
Preceded byJames W. Rodgers
Preceded byJames W. Rodgers
Preceded byLuis Monge
Preceded byJames W. Rodgers
Executions carried out in the United States
Executions by firing squad in the United States
Succeeded byJohn Spenkelink
Succeeded byJohn Albert Taylor
Preceded byJames W. Rodgers
Preceded byJames W. Rodgers
Preceded byLuis Monge
Preceded byJames W. Rodgers
Executions carried out in the United States
Executions in Utah since 1976
Succeeded byJohn Spenkelink
Succeeded byDale Selby Pierre
| Preceded byLuis Monge | Executions carried out in the United States | Succeeded byJohn Spenkelink |
| Preceded byJames W. Rodgers | Executions by firing squad in the United States | Succeeded byJohn Albert Taylor |
| Preceded byJames W. Rodgers | Executions in Utah since 1976 | Succeeded byDale Selby Pierre |
References
- The New York Review of Bookshttp://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/1979/jun/28/license-to-kill/?pagination=false
- Timehttps://web.archive.org/web/20080608004207/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,945718,00.html#paid-wall
- Gilmore, Mikal; pp. 84–85.
- The Finished Hearthttps://www.journaloftheplagueyears.ink/blog/the-finished-heart
- Gilmore, Mikal; pp. 123–127, 174–175.
- UPIhttps://www.upi.com/Archives/1987/01/17/Gary-Gilmores-girlfriend-says-God-asked-her-to-forget/7803537858000/
- Peoplehttp://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20067319,00.html
- Los Angeles Timeshttps://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-01-11-mn-3943-story.html
- www.clarkprosecutor.orghttp://www.clarkprosecutor.org/html/death/US/gilmore001.htm
- The New York Timeshttps://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1977/01/18/75022138.pdf
- Andrea D. Lyon: The Death Penalty, What's Keeping It Alive, p. 2
- Daily Newshttps://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1696&dat=19920424&id=2b4cAAAAIBAJ&pg=6816,5675737
- Timehttps://web.archive.org/web/20081215111248/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,918639,00.html
- The Guardianhttps://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/jun/16/utah-prisoner-death-firing-squad
- The Guardianhttps://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/apr/23/ronnie-lee-gardner-firing-squad
- The San Bernardino County Sunhttps://www.newspapers.com/clip/7767494//
- Gilmore, Mikal; p. 390.
- Associated Presshttps://news.google.com/newspapers?id=NNczAAAAIBAJ&pg=3829,2664353&dq=gary-gilmore+eyes&hl=en
- “Playboy Interview.” Interview by Larry Schiller. Playboy (April 1977): 181.
- "SNL Transcripts: Candice Bergen: 12/11/76: Let's Kill Gary Gilmore For Christmas - SNL Transcripts Tonight"https://snltranscripts.jt.org/76/76jgilmore.phtml
- Later in the TV season and subsequent to Gilmore's death, NBC re-ran the episode, but the network removed this musical s
- The New York Timeshttps://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/20/business/media/20adco.html?_r=3&ref=business
- "OPIO EN LAS NUBES - RAFAEL CHAPARRO MADIEDO"http://opioenlasnubes-pinktomate.blogspot.com/2008/11/capitulo-4-los-ojos-de-gary-gilmour.html
- Shot in the Heart
- "Shot in the Heart"http://www.powells.com/cgi-bin/biblio?inkey=2-0385478003-6
- Los Angeles Timeshttps://web.archive.org/web/20141011174343/http://events.latimes.com/festivalofbooks/bookprizes-1994/
- "All Past National Book Critics Circle Award Winners and Finalists"https://web.archive.org/web/20151018063346/http://bookcritics.org/awards/past_awards/#1994
- The Boston Globehttps://web.archive.org/web/20121106110535/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/boston/access/84210598.html?dids=84210598:84210598&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Oct+12,+2001&author=Matthew+Gilbert,+Globe+Staff&pub=Boston+Globe&desc=A+SEARING+TALE+OF+TWO+BROTHERS&pqatl=google
- Boston Globehttp://www.boston.com/news/globe/living/articles/2003/11/02/box_full_of_punk_rock_aggression/
- "'Utah Blue' by Dic Edwards"http://www.theatre-wales.co.uk/plays/review_archive.asp?playname=Utah%20Blue&company=Made%20in%20Wales
- Axis Archive: COUM Transmissionshttps://web.archive.org/web/20060426221833/http://www.brainwashed.com/axis/coum/aacoum.htm