Gary Gilmore

Gary Mark Gilmore (December 4, 1940 – January 17, 1977) was an American criminal who gained international notoriety, following two murders in Utah, for demanding that his death sentence be fulfilled (which Utah authorities had no intention of doing). He became 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.

Quotes

• Let's do it.
  • Last words, as quoted in Questioning Media Ethics (1978) by Bernard Rubin

• Death is the only inescapable unavoidable sure thing. We are sentenced to die the day we were born.
  • As quoted in The Book of Quotes (1979) by Barbara Rowes