A South Carolina Death Row inmate has chosen to die by firing squad, which would be the first time this method is used in America since 2010.
Brad Sigmon, aged 67, is set to be executed on 7 March. He had three options for his execution: lethal injection, electric chair, or firing squad. On Friday, he became the first person in South Carolina to choose the firing squad option.
The last time anyone was executed by firing squad in the US was in Utah in 2010. Only three people have been put to death this way since 1976.
During the execution, Sigmon will be tied to a chair in the death chamber. They’ll put a hood over his head and place a target over his heart. Three volunteers will shoot at him through a small opening from about 4.6 metres away.
Sigmon’s lawyers recently tried to delay his execution. They wanted to investigate the previous execution in South Carolina, where inmate Marion Bowman was put to death on 31 January. Specifically, they wanted to know if Bowman received two doses of the lethal injection drug pentobarbital and wanted to see his autopsy report. The courts said no to the delay, and it’s unclear if Sigmon’s lawyers have received the autopsy report yet.
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Through his lawyer, Sigmon explained why he chose the firing squad instead of the other options. His solicitor Gerald “Bo” King shared this quote: “But the alternative is just as monstrous. If he chose lethal injection, he risked the prolonged death suffered by all three of the men South Carolina has executed since September — three men Brad knew and cared for — who remained alive, strapped to a gurney, for more than twenty minutes.”
King also explained that Sigmon picked the firing squad because South Carolina won’t share details about how they do lethal injections: “He does not wish to inflict that pain on his family, the witnesses, or the execution team. But, given South Carolina’s unnecessary and unconscionable secrecy, Brad is choosing as best he can.”
Sigmon was found guilty of murder in 2001. He killed his ex-girlfriend’s parents in their home in Greenville County by beating them with a baseball bat, going between their separate rooms to attack them. After the killings, he kidnapped his ex-girlfriend at gunpoint. She managed to escape from his car, and though he shot at her as she ran away, he missed.
English (US) ·