WASHINGTON — Nearly 26 years ago, intense world scrutiny focused on Utah as it became the first state to execute a prisoner — double murderer Gary Gilmore — after the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated capital punishment.
But new nationwide data released Sunday by the Justice Department show that Utah has largely become a footnote in death penalty battles since Gilmore's Jan. 17, 1977, execution — with other states using it much more frequently.
The data show that 17 states have executed more prisoners than Utah between 1977 and the end of 2001. Utah has executed only six: murderers Gilmore, Arthur Gary Bishop, Pierre Dale Selby, William Andrews, John Albert Taylor and Joseph Mitchell Parsons.
Texas has executed the most in that time, with 256. It is followed by Virginia with 83, Missouri with 53 and Florida with 51. The Bureau of Justice Statistics noted that 38 states and the federal government have the death penalty, while 12 states do not.
Also, data show that 26 states have sentenced more people to death row than Utah.
And the new data show that more people sentenced to Utah's death row have left it alive — by winning court appeals — than have been executed.
The information shows 26 people have been sentenced to Utah's death row since 1973. While six were executed, eight had their convictions or sentences overturned on appeal and another had his sentence commuted. Another 11 remain on death row and are pursuing appeals.
The same pattern has emerged nationally. Of the 7,096 people sentenced nationally to death rows since 1973, 10.6 percent have been executed; 3.4 percent died of natural causes; 32.8 percent had their convictions or sentences overturned; 2.3 percent had their sentences commuted; and 50.5 percent remain on death row.
Utah has not executed anyone since 1999, when Parsons was executed by lethal injection for murdering a California motorist who had given him a ride.
Nationally, 66 prisoners were executed in 2001 by 15 states and the federal government. That was 19 fewer than in 2000.
Prisoners sitting on Utah's death row have been there much longer than the national average, according to the new data.
The 11 prisoners on Utah's death row at the end of 2001 had been there an average of 10.3 years — the fifth longest average among the states, behind Tennessee (10.8 years), Idaho (10.6 years) and Georgia and Indiana (both 10.4 years).
The national average was 8.6 years.
Elroy Tillman, 67, is the longest serving inmate on Utah's death row. He was sentenced to death on Jan. 20, 1983, for the murder of his ex-girlfriend's boyfriend.
While he has been there nearly 20 years, federal data show that 186 inmates in other states have actually been on death row longer as of the end of 2001.
Utah has another interesting side note about the death penalty. It is the only state since 1977 that has executed anyone by firing squad — a method chosen by both Gilmore and Taylor.
Utah is among only three states that allow death by firing squad as an option, along with Arkansas and Virginia. Utah is also among 36 states that allow death by lethal injection.
Additionally, nine states allow death by electrocution, four by lethal gas and three by hanging.
Utah also provides another footnote in battles about the death penalty. It is one of three states — along with Arkansas and Virginia — with the lowest minimum age for capital punishment: just 14 years old.
E-MAIL: lee@desnews.com