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 Tuesday, July 20, 1976
Ben Bushnell, 25, was the manager of the City Center Motel in Provo, not far from Brigham Young University. He and his wife lived on the premises with their infant son, and things looked promising for Ben's future.
On Tuesday July 20, Gary Gilmore had trouble with his new truck, so he took it to gas station three blocks from his Uncle Vern's house. Upon learning that a fix could take twenty minutes, according to Norman Fulmer, the man who ran the gas station, Gilmore decided to run a little errand. He walked down the street and saw the City Center Motel next to Uncle Vern's. Emboldened by his previous murder, he got an idea. He went into the lobby.
Ben had just come in from the store so he asked Gilmore what he wanted. Gary told Ben to give him the cash box and get down on the floor. Then he shot Bushnell in the head. But the man wasn't dead yet. He lay there twitching and trying to move. Gilmore wasn't sure what to do, but just then Bushnell's wife, Debbie, came out so Gilmore grabbed the cash box and left.
Debbie Bushnell had called paramedics, but the paramedics couldn't save her husband. He was dead.
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James Bushnell
Ben Bushnell, no relation. I remember when he came to P.J.H.S I think it was the 8th grade someone told me there was another Bushnell in school. I remember him mostly in Jr. High. real nice guy. I learned of his death from his sister in-law at National Lumber in Artesia. I paid for something with a check and she said I have the same last name as hers and if I knew a Ben Bushnell and that he had been shot by Gary Gilmore. I read the book Executioners Song and I believe they made a movie of the same name. I'll always remember him by his kindness. He died too young of such a tragic and senseless death.