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The Unforgiven: Utah's Executed Men
Since the days of "frontier justice" and "blood atonement," Utah has struggled with issues of capital punishment. Years after the Mountain Meadows massacre, John D. Lee was shot to death seated on his coffin in a theatrical, media-conscious staging, while some fifty other perpetrators went unpunished. Despite pleas for clemency from the daughter of a Mormon church president and others, labor reformer Joe Hill was executed, due as much to corporate indignation as to the merits of the case against him. One of Utah's death row inmates was the first to challenge the constitutionality of his sentence as "cruel and unusual"; another, Gary Gilmore, who was executed by firing squad, broke the ten-year, nationwide moratorium on state-supervised executions. Recently William Andrews became the second Utahn to be executed without having actually committed murder.
209 pages, Paperback
Published August 1, 1997
82 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
November 10, 2013
One of the blurbs on the back of this book absolutely nails it:
"Gillespie's book is undeniably haunting. This is the kind of stuff that makes you realize why we need Halloween--because we can't deal with real blood, real death, the ghosts of our actual past."--Paul Swenson, The Salt Lake Tribune
What sets Gillespie's book apart from most coverage I have seen of Utah's death penalty is his insights from multiple sides of the system: as a onetime member of the Utah State Board of Pardons, a witness to several executions, a professor of criminal justice at Weber State University, and a Utah citizen immersed in the state culture. Many times, when I read "outsider" articles or analyses about Utah executions, particularly analyses of the now-defunct but once common firing squad, I shake my head at the cultural caricatures of Mormon concepts of justice. Before I moved to Utah, I was guilty of the same. Gillespie, on the other hand, manages to discuss death-by-firing-squad with fresh insight, not just relating it to concepts such as "blood atonement," but to the nature of punishment and justice.
Most of all, I appreciate how Gillespie manages to paint brief, yet vivid portraits of these executed men, sometimes eliciting sympathy or even tears for their sad, tortured, and as one condemned man said, "useless" lives (and, of course, for the victims as well)--all while avoiding either a pro- or anti-death penalty slant to the book. Although he supports the death penalty, he describes his conflicted feelings about it and is not afraid to criticize capriciousness or cruelty where he sees it. "Perhaps through the stories of Utah's executed men," he says, "each of us will have the chance ... to vicariously put our hands on the rope and announce our willingness to be a part of justice dispensed. And if it occasionally feels uncomfortable, we can then review our own commitment and responsibility to see that society does not carelessly toy with those lives it chooses to forfeit."
Between chilling last words such as "Nobody will miss me" and one condemned man trading his body to a surgeon for a little bit of candy, which he sucked as the firing squad aimed their guns, this book will leave its imprint on me for a very long time.
Gillespie even "checks into" death row for a brief period and spends time with some of the most notorious killers in Utah, including one of the Hi-Fi killers. Even though his stay is brief, he manages to glean some profound insights about what living on death row might be like.
Last but not least, Gillespie explores some of the more gruesome and bizarre Utah crimes that never received the ultimate sanction, an important reminder of how capricious the death penalty can be.
"Gillespie's book is undeniably haunting. This is the kind of stuff that makes you realize why we need Halloween--because we can't deal with real blood, real death, the ghosts of our actual past."--Paul Swenson, The Salt Lake Tribune
What sets Gillespie's book apart from most coverage I have seen of Utah's death penalty is his insights from multiple sides of the system: as a onetime member of the Utah State Board of Pardons, a witness to several executions, a professor of criminal justice at Weber State University, and a Utah citizen immersed in the state culture. Many times, when I read "outsider" articles or analyses about Utah executions, particularly analyses of the now-defunct but once common firing squad, I shake my head at the cultural caricatures of Mormon concepts of justice. Before I moved to Utah, I was guilty of the same. Gillespie, on the other hand, manages to discuss death-by-firing-squad with fresh insight, not just relating it to concepts such as "blood atonement," but to the nature of punishment and justice.
Most of all, I appreciate how Gillespie manages to paint brief, yet vivid portraits of these executed men, sometimes eliciting sympathy or even tears for their sad, tortured, and as one condemned man said, "useless" lives (and, of course, for the victims as well)--all while avoiding either a pro- or anti-death penalty slant to the book. Although he supports the death penalty, he describes his conflicted feelings about it and is not afraid to criticize capriciousness or cruelty where he sees it. "Perhaps through the stories of Utah's executed men," he says, "each of us will have the chance ... to vicariously put our hands on the rope and announce our willingness to be a part of justice dispensed. And if it occasionally feels uncomfortable, we can then review our own commitment and responsibility to see that society does not carelessly toy with those lives it chooses to forfeit."
Between chilling last words such as "Nobody will miss me" and one condemned man trading his body to a surgeon for a little bit of candy, which he sucked as the firing squad aimed their guns, this book will leave its imprint on me for a very long time.
Gillespie even "checks into" death row for a brief period and spends time with some of the most notorious killers in Utah, including one of the Hi-Fi killers. Even though his stay is brief, he manages to glean some profound insights about what living on death row might be like.
Last but not least, Gillespie explores some of the more gruesome and bizarre Utah crimes that never received the ultimate sanction, an important reminder of how capricious the death penalty can be.
July 28, 2009
At Weber State University in Ogden Utah, Dr. Gillespie is perhaps best known for his "anti-Claus" lecture. I personally saw him give this colorful address a few times. He should turn it into a book. But when he is not discussing the downside of teaching kids to believe in Santa Claus, he also serves as an authority on capital punishment as administered in Utah.
Dr. Gillespie has personally witnessed several Utah executions, and served on the Utah State Board of Pardons. In this book, he traces legal execution from it's connection to Blood Atonement, an Old Testament doctrine taught (at least in rhetoric) by Brigham Young and other Mormon leaders.
Among the interesting facts discussed in this book, beheading was a sanctioned form of execution in Utah for a time. Apparently no convicts opted for it. Though the book focuses on Utah, it's a good read for anyone wanting to learn more about the death penalty.
Dr. Gillespie has personally witnessed several Utah executions, and served on the Utah State Board of Pardons. In this book, he traces legal execution from it's connection to Blood Atonement, an Old Testament doctrine taught (at least in rhetoric) by Brigham Young and other Mormon leaders.
Among the interesting facts discussed in this book, beheading was a sanctioned form of execution in Utah for a time. Apparently no convicts opted for it. Though the book focuses on Utah, it's a good read for anyone wanting to learn more about the death penalty.
March 24, 2015
This wasn't a great book. The lives of those men on death row seem to read about the same. Their lives were much the same, not very interesting people -- just full of hate and poor upbringing. Most didn't know how to be successful and contributing citizens.
February 16, 2008
I enjoyed this interesting discussion on death penalty cases in Utah.
June 23, 2010
Very interesting overview of all the men who have been given the death penalty and executed in Utah.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews