South Carolina Double Murderer Brad Sigmon Opts for Firing Squad Execution | US News
A convicted double murderer is set to be executed by firing squad, marking the first use of this method in the United States in 15 years.
Brad Sigmon, 67, opted for execution by gunfire, expressing concerns that both the electric chair and lethal injection could lead to a more agonizing and prolonged death.
He was found guilty of bludgeoning his ex-girlfriend’s parents, William and Gladys Larke, to death with a baseball bat at their residence in Taylors, South Carolina, in 2001.
On Friday, three volunteer gunmen are scheduled to fire live rounds at Sigmon from a distance of 15 feet, as he sits strapped to a chair with a hood over his head and a target placed over his heart.
On Wednesday, he petitioned the US Supreme Court to halt his execution, claiming that South Carolina’s lack of transparency regarding its lethal injection protocols infringed upon his due-process rights.
His attorney, Bo King, noted that the last three individuals executed in the state chose lethal injection, with the execution process taking about 20 minutes before death occurred.
King asserted that Sigmon faced “an impossible choice,” having to decide between dying by firing squad, knowing that the bullets would shatter his bones and damage his heart, or endure a 20-minute execution while strapped to a gurney, suffocating on blood and fluid.
Sigmon is slated for execution at 6 PM local time (11 PM UK time) at the South Carolina Department of Corrections in Columbia.
Since 1976, only three executions by firing squad have taken place in the US, all in Utah, which remains one of the five states that continue to offer this historical method from the 19th century Civil War era.
Randy Gardner’s brother was the last to be executed by firing squad. Pic: AP
Randy Gardner, whose brother Ronnie Lee Gardner was the last person executed by firing squad 15 years ago, is protesting the execution.
“I think it’s horrendous. I believe it’s very barbaric,” he expressed.
“I didn’t witness my brother’s execution, but I saw his body afterward and have autopsy photos of what it looked like, and it’s just mutilated my brother’s body. I think it’s terrible.”
Mr. Gardner mentioned that he is against all forms of execution, stating: “To me, it’s revenge.”
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The majority of executions in the US are conducted through lethal injection, a method introduced in the 1970s.
Some states have encountered challenges in acquiring the necessary drugs due to an EU ban on their sale, while executioners have at times struggled to locate veins on inmates’ bodies.
In January, the US Department of Justice cited autopsy reports that indicated people executed experienced the painful sensation of drowning, leading to the withdrawal of its lethal injection protocol for federal executions.
