Gary Gilmore Biography, Updates, Crimes, Execution, Facts

Gary Mark Gilmore (born Faye Robert Coffman; December 4, 1940 – January 17, 1977) was an American criminal whose crimes, trial, and execution drew worldwide attention in the mid-1970s. Gilmore became the first person executed in the United States after the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976 with its decision in Gregg v. Georgia, ending a ten-year moratorium on capital punishment that followed the 1972 Furman v. Georgia ruling. After confessing to two murders in Utah, Gilmore refused to appeal his death sentence and actively fought efforts by lawyers, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and even his mother to delay or stop his execution.

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Gilmore insisted on being executed, and his final words, “Let’s do it,” became widely known before he faced a firing squad at Utah State Prison. His case prompted significant debate regarding capital punishment, mental health, free will, the right to die, and the judiciary’s role in executions. Gilmore’s life and death were chronicled in Norman Mailer’s Pulitzer Prize-winning nonfiction novel The Executioner’s Song (1979), later adapted into a 1982 television film starring Tommy Lee Jones as Gilmore.

The following is an overview of key facts regarding Gary Gilmore:

Gary Gilmore Biography

Gary Mark Gilmore was born Faye Robert Coffman on December 4, 1940, in McCamey, Texas, the second of four sons born to Frank Harry Gilmore Sr. and Bessie Brown Gilmore. His father was a con man, alcoholic, and bigamist who used fake names (including Coffman) to avoid the law and support multiple families he rarely helped. Frank Sr. named his son Faye Robert Coffman, but Bessie later changed it to Gary Mark Gilmore after the family left Texas.

Gary grew up believing he might be illegitimate or someone else’s son after discovering the original birth certificate, fueling lifelong resentment toward his father. The Gilmore family moved frequently across the Western U.S. as Frank sold fake magazine subscriptions and committed petty crimes. Gary had a deeply troubled relationship with his strict, abusive father, who beat his sons with razor strops, whips, or belts for minor or imagined offences. Frank also verbally abused Bessie, and the couple fought constantly, creating a chaotic home.

The family eventually settled in Portland, Oregon, in 1952. Gary showed early intelligence (an IQ of 133) and artistic talent, but dropped out of high school in the ninth grade. He began committing petty crimes as a teenager, including car theft. At 14, he and his friends started a small car-theft ring, leading to his first arrest.

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After his father’s death, Gilmore’s behaviour grew more erratic. He faced assault and armed robbery charges in 1964 and was sentenced to 15 years as a habitual offender at Oregon State Penitentiary in Salem. A prison psychiatrist diagnosed him with antisocial personality disorder with intermittent psychotic decompensation.

Gilmore was conditionally paroled in April 1976 and moved to Provo, Utah, to live with distant cousin Brenda Nicol. He worked briefly at his uncle Vern Damico’s shoe repair shop and an insulation company, but soon returned to drinking, fighting, and stealing. In Utah, he began a volatile relationship with 19-year-old Nicole Barrett Baker (later Nicole Barrett Henry), a twice-divorced mother of two young children. Their relationship quickly became intense and unstable, marked by Gilmore’s aggression and pressure from Nicole’s family to end it.

Updates

As of January 2026, Gary Gilmore’s case continues to serve as a significant reference in American legal, criminological, and cultural history:

• His execution on January 17, 1977, was the first in the U.S. after the Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in Gregg v. Georgia (1976), ending the post-Furman moratorium.
• Norman Mailer’s The Executioner’s Song (1979) won the Pulitzer Prize and remains a landmark work of literary nonfiction; the 1982 TV film adaptation (starring Tommy Lee Jones as Gilmore) is still widely available on streaming platforms.
• Recent true-crime podcasts, documentaries, and articles (2024–2025) have revisited Gilmore’s story in the context of capital punishment, mental health in correctional settings, voluntary execution, and criminal psychology.
• No new evidence, appeals, or posthumous legal actions have emerged regarding his crimes or execution. His case is still cited in law reviews, criminology textbooks, and death penalty debates, particularly around competency, self-representation, and the right to refuse appeals.
• Mikal Gilmore’s memoir Shot in the Heart (1994) continues to be read and referenced for its personal account of the family’s dysfunction and Gary’s life.

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• The phrase “Let’s do it,” Gilmore’s final words, continues to be referenced in popular culture, including as the inspiration for Nike’s “Just Do It” slogan, according to Dan Wieden of Wieden+Kennedy.

Crimes

Gary Gilmore committed two murders in Utah in July 1976, both during armed robberies:

• July 19, 1976: Gilmore robbed and murdered Max Jensen, a 25-year-old gas station employee in Orem, Utah. Jensen complied with Gilmore’s demands, but Gilmore ordered him to lie on the floor and shot him twice in the head with a .22-calibre pistol. Gilmore took about $125 from the cash register.
• July 20, 1976: Gilmore robbed and murdered Bennie Bushnell, a 25-year-old motel manager in Provo, Utah. Bushnell also complied, but Gilmore shot him once in the head after ordering him to lie on the floor. Gilmore took cash from the motel office.

Both victims were Brigham Young University students and left behind widows and infant children. Gilmore confessed to both murders. While disposing of the pistol after the second killing, Gilmore accidentally shot himself in the right hand, leaving a trail of blood. Mechanic Michael Simpson saw Gilmore hide the gun in the bushes, noticed blood on his hand, and heard police reports of the motel shooting. Simpson wrote down Gilmore’s license plate and called the police. Gilmore’s cousin, Brenda Nicol, turned him in after he called her asking for bandages and painkillers. Police arrested Gilmore as he tried to drive out of Provo. He gave up without resistance.

The trial began on October 5, 1976, in Provo. Gilmore’s court-appointed lawyers (Michael Esplin and Craig Snyder) offered little defence, called no witnesses, and barely cross-examined the prosecution. Gilmore asked to testify but withdrew the request after psychiatrists ruled he was sane and knew right from wrong. The jury convicted him of first-degree murder on October 7 and recommended the death penalty due to the special circumstances of the crime.

Execution

Gary Gilmore was executed by firing squad on January 17, 1977, at 8:07 a.m. at Utah State Prison in Draper, Utah. He was the first person executed in the United States after the Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in Gregg v. Georgia (1976). Gilmore refused to appeal his sentence and fought efforts by the ACLU, lawyers, and his mother, Bessie, to delay or stop the execution. He chose the firing squad over hanging, saying he feared a botched hanging.

Strapped to a chair with sandbags behind him, he was hooded, and five volunteer police officers fired .30-30 rifles from 20 feet away. Gilmore’s last words were “Let’s do it.” Prison chaplain Thomas Meersman administered last rites; Gilmore said “Dominus vobiscum” (The Lord be with you), and Meersman replied “Et cum spiritu tuo” (And with your spirit). Four rifles had live rounds; one had a blank.

Facts

The following are notable facts about Gary Gilmore:

• Born Faye Robert Coffman on December 4, 1940, in McCamey, Texas, his mother, Bessie, later changed his name to Gary Mark Gilmore.
• Grew up in a troubled, abusive household; father Frank Sr. was a con man, bigamist, and alcoholic who beat his sons.
• Showed early intelligence (IQ 133) and artistic talent but dropped out of high school in ninth grade.
• Committed petty crimes as a teenager; sent to reform school and the Oregon State Penitentiary multiple times.
• Murdered Max Jensen (July 19, 1976) and Bennie Bushnell (July 20, 1976) during armed robberies in Utah.
• Confessed to both murders; the trial lasted two days; convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death.
• Refused appeals and fought efforts to delay his execution, insisting on his right to die.
• Executed by firing squad on January 17, 1977—the first U.S. execution after the 1976 reinstatement of capital punishment.
• Last words: “Let’s do it” (later linked to Nike’s “Just Do It” slogan by ad executive Dan Wieden).
• Subject of Norman Mailer’s Pulitzer-winning The Executioner’s Song (1979) and 1982 TV film starring Tommy Lee Jones.
• Brother Mikal Gilmore’s memoir Shot in the Heart (1994) details family dysfunction and Gary’s life; it was adapted into a 2001 HBO film.
• The case remains a landmark in U.S. death penalty history, cited in debates over voluntary execution, competency, and capital punishment.