South Carolina executes Brad Sigmon by firing squad, first US execution of its kind in 15 years

Brad Sigmon, 67, was executed by firing squad in South Carolina, the first such U.S. execution in 15 years. He chose this method over electrocution or lethal injection, fearing extreme suffering.

In Short

• South Carolina executed Brad Sigmon by firing squad.
• Sigmon chose firing squad over electrocution and lethal injection.
• He was convicted of killing his ex-girlfriend's parents in 2001.

South Carolina carried out its first firing squad execution in 15 years on Friday, executing 67-year-old Brad Sigmon. Sigmon chose this method over electrocution or lethal injection, fearing the electric chair would "cook him alive" and that lethal injection would cause him to drown in his own fluids.

Three volunteer prison employees fired rifles, and Sigmon was pronounced dead at 6:08 p.m.

Sigmon was convicted of brutally killing his ex-girlfriend’s parents in 2001 using a baseball bat in their Greenville County home. He later kidnapped his ex-girlfriend at gunpoint, but she managed to escape. Sigmon later confessed, saying, "I couldn’t have her. I wasn’t going to let anybody else have her.

Dressed in a black jumpsuit with a hood covering his head, Sigmon sat strapped to a metal chair with a white target marked with a red bullseye on his chest. Just 15 feet (4.6 meters) away, three armed prison employees stood in a concealed position, ready to fire. The state’s unused electric chair remained in the same room, while the gurney for lethal injections had been removed.

At the appointed time, all three shooters fired simultaneously through openings in the wall. Sigmon’s arms tensed, and the force of the bullets tore the target from his chest. A red stain spread across his torso, and he appeared to take one or two final breaths before succumbing.

A doctor stepped forward about a minute later, conducting a 90-second examination before pronouncing Sigmon dead. According to the media reports, witnesses included three family members of the Larkes. Also present were Sigmon’s attorney and spiritual advisor, a representative from the prosecuting solicitor’s office, a sheriff’s investigator and three members of the news media.

Sigmon’s last statement and final meal

Sigmon’s attorney read a closing statement in which he expressed love and urged fellow Christians to work toward abolishing the death penalty. Prison spokeswoman Chrysti Shain said Sigmon’s last meal included four pieces of fried chicken, green beans, mashed potatoes with gravy, biscuits, cheesecake, and sweet tea.

Return of the firing squad in US

Firing squad executions have a long and often grim history, used historically for military discipline, frontier justice, and political oppression in regimes like Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. Since 1977, only three other inmates have faced this method in the US, all in Utah. 46 other prisoners have been executed since the death penalty resumed in the U.S. in 1976. Seven have died in the electric chair and 39 others by lethal injection.

In the early 2000s, South Carolina was among the busiest death penalty states, carrying out an average of three executions a year. But officials suspended executions for 13 years, in part because they were unable to obtain lethal injection drugs.

South Carolina now has 28 inmates on its death row, including two who have exhausted their appeals and are awaiting execution. Just one man has been added to death row in the past decade.

(With input from Associated Press)