Gary Gilmore is released from federal prison and flies to Utah, where Brenda and Johnny meet him at the airport.

Gary meets Nicole Baker at Sterling Baker's house and the two begin an intense, volatile romantic relationship.

Gary strikes Nicole for the first time during a heated argument, escalating their relationship into physical violence.

Gary trades in his Mustang and finalizes the purchase of a white pickup truck from car dealer Val Conlin.

Gary robs and shoots gas station attendant Max Jensen in a Sinclair station restroom in Orem, killing him.

Gary enters the City Center Motel in Provo and shoots motel manager Bennie Bushnell behind the counter, killing him.

A witness sees Gary flee the motel armed; Gary accidentally shoots his own hand while attempting to discard his weapon.

Brenda secretly alerts police while stalling Gary, and officers surround and arrest Gary in Pleasant Grove.

In a lengthy informal jail interview with Lieutenant Nielsen, Gary gradually admits to committing both murders.

After deliberating briefly, the jury finds Gary guilty of first-degree murder for the killing of Bennie Bushnell.

The jury returns a unanimous death sentence, and Gary states he prefers to be executed by firing squad.

Gary publicly announces he refuses to pursue any appeals and demands the state carry out his execution immediately.

Nicole secretly passes Gary a supply of sleeping pills concealed in balloons during an intense prison visit.

Nicole swallows the remaining sleeping pills in a suicide attempt; Gary takes pills the same night and survives.

With all legal stays exhausted, a five-man firing squad executes Gary at Utah State Prison at sunrise.

Gary Gilmore is released from federal prison and travels to Utah, where he meets Nicole Baker and begins a volatile relationship before reverting quickly to crime. He commits two execution-style murders on consecutive nights, robbing and killing a gas station attendant and then a motel clerk. After his arrest and confession, he is tried, convicted of first-degree murder, and sentenced to death by firing squad. Against all expectation, Gary refuses to appeal his sentence and demands the state carry out the execution immediately. In the legal battle that follows, he and Nicole make near-simultaneous suicide attempts that nearly kill her. After months of legal wrangling exhaust every available stay, a firing squad executes Gary at sunrise.

Gary Gilmore's crimes, trial, and execution.

Vern Damico hires Gary at his shoe repair shop and gives him money and clothes to help him settle in.

Spencer McGrath hires Gary for construction work and helps him purchase a used Mustang on installment payments.

Nicole tells Gary about being sexually abused as a girl by her father's friend, a man known as Uncle Lee.

Gary attacks neighbor Pete Galovan behind Vern's shop; Pete later drops the assault charges after Nicole pleads with him.

Gary regularly steals beer and merchandise and stores stolen firearms at Kathryne Baker's house despite repeated warnings from Vern and Spencer.

Nicole secretly moves into a Springville apartment with Barrett's help to escape Gary's escalating violence and threats.

Colleen Jensen is woken in the middle of the night by police and church officials who inform her that her husband Max has been killed.

Gary is arraigned and court-appointed defense attorneys Michael Esplin and Craig Snyder meet him and begin preparing his case.

In Portland, Gary's mother Bessie learns from Brenda that her son has been charged with two murders.

Gary and cellmate Richard Gibbs bond over prison stories and devise an escape plan involving Nicole smuggling hacksaw blades.

Dennis Boaz meets Gary in prison, agrees to represent him pro bono, and argues Gary's right to accept execution before the Utah Supreme Court.

Reporter Tamera Smith learns that Nicole intends to die by suicide when Gary is executed and alerts her editor and authorities.

Kathy Maynard finds Nicole unconscious on her couch clutching Gary's photograph and calls an ambulance.

About forty people attend a memorial service for Gary held at a Spanish Fork mortuary, featuring prayers, poems, and eulogies.

Schiller arranges for Nicole and her children to fly under assumed names to a rented Malibu beach house to escape media scrutiny.

The story of Gary Gilmore's final months unfolds through the people around him, beginning with Vern Damico and Spencer McGrath, who attempt to give him a stable foundation after his release from prison. Nicole Baker's troubled history of abuse and her complicated entanglements with other men shape her bond with Gary even as his behavior grows more dangerous. The murders of Max Jensen and Bennie Bushnell shatter their families and set off a legal process that assigns Gary defense counsel and sends him back behind bars. While Gary plots escapes with his cellmate Gibbs, his mother Bessie absorbs the news of his crimes from far away in Portland. Media figures and legal representatives race to acquire rights to Gary's story, and after the execution, a private memorial attempts to honor his final wishes while the wider world watches.

The people caught in Gary Gilmore's orbit.

Gary takes an unauthorized drunken trip to Idaho that violates his parole but persuades parole officer Mont Court to let him remain free.

At a family Fourth of July gathering, Gary drinks heavily and abruptly asks Nicole's father Charley if he ever feels like killing someone.

After repeated arguments and another assault, Nicole privately concludes Gary is a bad package and resolves to end the relationship.

Defense attorneys learn from psychiatric evaluations that Gary was competent and not psychotic, eliminating any viable insanity defense strategy.

The defense rests without calling any witnesses, and Gary furiously accuses his attorneys of mounting no defense on his behalf.

At the mitigation hearing, Gary takes the stand and admits he shot Bennie Bushnell but claims he felt detached and compelled.

Gary confirms under court questioning that his decision to waive appeal is entirely his own, made without coercion or intoxication.

After Boaz argues Gary's competence before the Utah Supreme Court, the court lifts the stay by a four-to-one vote.

The governor issues a stay of execution, and Nicole reacts with shock, insisting she will attend the execution regardless of any delays.

Gary makes another suicide attempt using phenobarbital and falls into a coma, reaching near-lethal levels in his bloodstream before surviving.

Gary learns that his trusted cellmate Gibbs has been working as a police informer and immediately severs their friendship.

The United States Supreme Court lifts a stay by a five-to-four vote, restoring the final scheduled execution date.

Mikal Gilmore threatens to seek a legal stay; Gary begins to cry during the conversation and asks his brother to return the next day.

Judge Ritter issues a last-minute temporary restraining order halting the execution in the early hours of the scheduled morning.

The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals vacates Ritter's restraining order by writ of mandamus; the full Supreme Court denies every remaining application for a stay.

From Gary's earliest signs of instability — a parole violation he talked his way out of and a chilling dinner-table question about killing — to Nicole's private recognition that the relationship was doomed, the narrative turns on a series of pivotal moments. The collapse of any insanity defense at trial, combined with Gary's refusal to cooperate with his own lawyers, sealed his conviction and made the death sentence almost inevitable. Once sentenced, Gary's repeated insistence on accepting execution set off a ladder of legal struggles, with each stay overturned by the next court. His second suicide attempt, the discovery that his trusted cellmate was a police informer, and an emotional reunion with his estranged brother all mark the charged final weeks. On the night before the execution, a last-minute restraining order issued by Judge Ritter was overturned hours later by the Tenth Circuit and confirmed by the Supreme Court, clearing the way for the firing squad.