Chilling last words of death row inmate first to be executed by firing squad in 15 years

Double murderer Brad Sigmon, 67, became the first US death row inmate in 15 years to be executed by firing squad when he was shot by three prison guards - his final words have now been revealed

The last words of a death row inmate who was the first in the US to be executed by firing squad in 15 years have been revealed.

Brad Sigmon, 67, was shot by three prison guards at the Broad River Correctional Institution in Columbia, South Carolina at 6.05pm local time (11.05pm GMT) on Friday. He was pronounced dead three minutes later. Sigmon killed parents David and Gladys Larke in their home in 2001 in a botched plot to kidnap their daughter.

The murderer, who was handed a death sentence the following year, told police he planned to take the daughter for a romantic weekend before killing her and himself. Sigmon's lawyers said he chose the firing squad because he feared the electric chair would "cook him alive", and worried that a lethal injection would send a rush of fluid and blood into his lungs and drown him.

Now, it has been revealed that he used his last words to protest against the use of the death penalty using lines from the bible. Speaking through his attorney, Sigmon said: "Nowhere does God in the New Testament give man the authority to kill another man.

"I want my closing statement to be one of love and a calling to my fellow Christians to help us end the death penalty. We are now under God's grace and mercy."

During his execution, Sigmon wore a black jumpsuit with a hood covering his head. A white target with a red bullseye was placed over his chest to assist the firing squad in their aim. Three armed prison employees stood 15 feet (4.6 metres) from where he sat in the state's death chamber, with an unused electric chair visible nearby, and all fired at the same time through openings in a wall.

The prison guards, who had volunteered to take part in the execution, were not visible to witnesses who watched on from behind bullet-resistant glass. Sigmon was heard breathing loudly in the two minutes between the hood being put on him and to the shots being fired.

Witnesses said the shots sounded like they were fired at the same time with a loud bang that caused some in the room to flinch. Sigmon's arms briefly tensed when he was shot, and the target was blasted off his chest. A red stain appeared on his chest, and he could be seen breathing twice after being shot.

A doctor emerged about a minute later and examined him for 90 seconds before declaring him dead. Witnesses included three family members of the Larkes, 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. Prison spokeswoman Chrysti Shain said Sigmon's last meal was four pieces of fried chicken, green beans, mashed potatoes with gravy, biscuits, cheesecake and sweet tea.

The last man to be executed by firing squad in the US was Ronnie Lee Gardner in 2010, who had murdered a man during an attempted escape from a courthouse in 1985. He was put to death at Utah State Prison. Ralph Menzies, a convicted murderer also from Utah, could be the next in line, pending the outcome of a hearing about whether his dementia makes him unfit for execution.