Killer's Girlfriend

August 24, 2006 7:50 PM

This may sound morbid, but I am trying to locate a photograph of Nicole Baker Barrett, who was Gary Gilmore's girlfriend when he was executed. I have tried Google images, etc.... and still nothing. Anyone got any advice?
posted by polexxia to Grab Bag (8 answers total)

Have you looked in Shot Through the Heart? (I haven't read it, so I don't know what the photo selection is like.) If it's not there, I have a pretty clear memory of reading about Gilmore's execution in Time magazine when it happened (I think I was about 7... had a morbid streak at a young age, I guess), and I seem to recall there was a photo of his girlfriend in there (I remember being weirded out that she had several kids and multiple divorces as a teenager). Maybe you could find that issue at your library.
posted by scody at 8:10 PM on August 24, 2006

From here.

Only one I could find. Library archives would be your best bet for a clearer picture.

Hope this helps.
posted by ifranzen at 8:59 PM on August 24, 2006

Dunno if you could get a reproduction but...

Utah State Historical Society in Salt Lake City.

See listing for Box 1 Folder 9 under Gilmore, Gary - 6 photos of Barrett plus a sketch of Barrett by Gilmore!
posted by nanojath at 9:03 PM on August 24, 2006

Supposedly some photographs and a sketch indicated here but it looks like you will have to do some travelling or sweet talking on the phone to see them.

This would seem to indicate that there are not photos of her in the books.

Also, try just searching for "Nicole Barrett" as she was referenced with this name only in some Time articles online. (No photos, but may help you narrow down the Time issue that scody mentioned.)
posted by Yorrick at 9:06 PM on August 24, 2006

for cases like this, you might try the larger stock photo companies. many have news photo operations in place. I managed to get shots of castro from a specific month more than twenty years ago. ask for a rep to help you search.

try these two first, then possibly AP.

getty images
corbis
posted by krautland at 10:48 PM on August 24, 2006

Amazing you should ask this, my Google-fu failed on this very subject a couple of days ago, so I'm delighted to see the results.
posted by essexjan at 12:26 AM on August 25, 2006

Response by poster: I see that I'll be making a trip down to SLC soon. LOL

THANK YOU for the help. I had tried Getty already, and all permutations of her name, but it's such a COMMON name that... Well, THANKS!
posted by polexxia at 9:41 AM on August 25, 2006

Sculptor/filmmaker Matthew Barney used Gilmore and his lady as characters in the film Cremaster 2. An interesting idea, but not to everyone's taste: he also used Norman Mailer to play Harry Houdini, and connects these two Gilmore, so, uh, not exactly straight historic treatment here, but anyway...

Point is, in the immense book on all 5 films of the Cremaster Cycle, stills & commentary are supplemented by images that inspired Barney's ideas. There are photos of Gilmore and may be images of Nicole too. If not, I guess this is just a giant fyi ;-)
posted by ibeji at 12:00 PM on August 25, 2006