Executioner's Song, The - Norman Mailer [229]
The call came in from Deputy Warden Hatch. A little later, Maximum Security was on the line with Lieutenant Fagan who introduced the convict. Barrett heard this soft-spoken man who sounded very rational. He didn't rant, rave, yell or scream. In fact he kept saying, Mr. Barrett.
First thing he asked about was getting a new lawyer.
"Mr. Gilmore," said Barrett, "I believe I understand your situation, but this office can't do anything. A new appointment is up to the Court."
"Well, Mr. Barrett," said Gilmore, "it is not a spur-of-the-moment decision. I have given a lot of thought to this, and I feel I should pay for what I have done."
"The difficulty, Mr. Gilmore," Barrett said, "is that it may not be routine to convince a lawyer that he ought to help you get executed. However, if there are any developments that I feel you should know about, I'll keep you informed. I am sympathetic to your position."
Barrett only spoke to Gary for four or five minutes, but as he later told Earl, it was one of those things in his life that he didn't know if he'd ever get over.
A reporter hanging around the office picked up the story. After it was printed, Barrett got calls from all over the country. ABC correspondent Greg Dobbs rang in from Chicago and said, "I'll be out this weekend, can I interview you? Can I come to your home?" Before it was over, they set a time. Radio stations in the Deep South interviewed him by telephone. In Utah!
Work hit Earl like never before. In the criminal division of the Attorney General's office, there were only two full-time attorneys, Barrett and himself, plus a few law clerks and secretaries. That was not much staff to take on all that was coming in. Right next day, for instance, Dorius ran into two well-known Salt Lake lawyers named Gil Athay and Robert Van Sciver, and they were holding a press conference out in the hall of the Utah Supreme Court a floor above the Attorney General's office. Earl heard them saying to the cameras that they intended to request a Stay of Gilmore's execution on behalf of all other Death Row inmates at Utah State Prison. Athay's client was one of the "hi-fi killers."
The hi-fi killers had been convicted of killing several people in a record store. First they poured Drano down their throats, then pushed ball-point pens into their ears. Those were the most gruesome killings in Utah for many years, exactly the kind to bring capital punishment back in one big hurry, Gilmore, by asking for his execution, wasn't going to sweeten public opinion toward the hi-fi killers.
Yes, it was heating up fast. Too fast. Dorius had been looking forward to a conference in Phoenix for corrections officials that he and Barrett were going to attend, but this was a poor time to leave the shop. Earl was being interviewed like crazy by members of the media. They caught him in his office, at home, on the street-everywhere.
Chapter 2
SYNCHRONICITY
Right after that, Warden Smith called. Another Gilmore letter to him:
Sir, I do not wish to see any members of the press. However there is a man named Dennis Boaz, free lance writer, and former attorney, who I do desire to see. Mr. Boaz is the only exception to my no-interview rule.
Who, wondered Earl, is Dennis Boaz?
No sooner had Earl Dorius and Bill Barrett arrived at the correction officials conference, than they noticed that Gary Gilmore was hot news in Phoenix too. TV reports every night. In fact, they even saw the interview Greg Dobbs did with Bill Barrett on the ABC evening