CRIME HISTORY - Gary Gilmore executed

On this day, Jan. 17, in 1977, convicted murderer Gary Gilmore was executed by a firing squad in Utah. His death marked the return of capital punishment to the American justice system.

In 1972, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the death penalty qualified as “cruel and unusual punishment,” mainly because states used it capriciously. The court ended the ban in 1976 as long as states created specific guidelines for imposing death sentences.