In the summer of 1976 Gary Gilmore robbed two men. Then he shot them in cold blood. For those murders Gilmore was sent to languish on Death Row
- & could confidently expect his sentence to be commuted to life imprisonment. In America no one had been executed for ten years. But Gary Gilmore wanted to die & his ensuing battle with the authorities for the right to do so made him into a world-wide celebrity
- & ensured that his execution turned into the most gruesome media event of the decade.