SOUTH CAROLINA MAN TO BE EXECUTED BY FIRING SQUAD TODAY

A convicted double murderer has been executed by firing squad – the first such execution in the United States since 2010, according to the South Carolina Department of Corrections.

The execution of Brad Sigmon, 67, by the South Carolina Department of Corrections on Friday is only the fourth firing squad execution in the US since capital punishment was reinstated in 1976, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.

Sigmon chose firing squad over the two other state-approved methods of execution, lethal injection or the electric chair. He was pronounced dead by a physician at 6:08 p.m. ET, officials said at a news conference Friday.

Sigmon was convicted of the 2001 bludgeoning deaths of his ex-girlfriend’s parents. After their murders, Sigmon kidnapped his ex-girlfriend at gunpoint, but she managed to escape.

In a final statement shared by his lawyer, Sigmon said, “I want my closing statement to be one of love and a calling to my fellow Christians to help us end the death penalty.”

He quoted several Bible passages that emphasize forgiveness and the law. “Nowhere does God in the New Testament give man the authority to kill another man,” he said.

One of Sigmon’s attorneys, Gerald “Bo” King, said shortly after the execution that his client’s “death was horrifying and violent.”

“He chose the firing squad knowing that three bullets would shatter his bones and destroy his heart,” King said in a statement. “But that was the only choice he had, after the state’s three executions by lethal injection inflicted prolonged and potentially torturous deaths on men he loved like brothers.”

King described Sigmon as “a man who has devoted himself to his faith, and to ministry and service to all around him” who committed no acts of violence during his 23 years in prison.

King said the state had failed to provide information about drugs used in the lethal injection. “Brad only wanted assurances that these drugs were not expired, or diluted, or spoiled — what any of us would want to know about the medication we take, or the food we eat, much less the means of our death,” he said.

Sigmon became the oldest person executed by the state, according to King.

In the hours ahead of Sigmon’s scheduled execution, several protesters gathered outside the prison where he’s incarcerated, calling for an end to capital punishment. They held banners proclaiming “All Life is Precious” and “No More Killing.”

South Carolina Republican Gov. Henry McMaster declined a bid for clemency from Sigmon Friday evening. Attorneys for Sigmon filed a petition for executive clemency with the governor, asking to commute his death sentence to life imprisonment without parole, saying in a news release, “Sigmon committed his crimes and stood trial while in the grip of an undiagnosed, inherited mental illness.”

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The US Supreme Court likewise declined to halt Sigmon’s execution Friday. As is often the case on its emergency docket, the court did not explain its reasoning. There were no noted dissents.

In a Wednesday filing to the Supreme Court, Sigmon’s attorneys had sought a stay of his execution, asking the high court “to consider whether South Carolina’s compressed election timeline and arbitrary denial of information relating to the South Carolina Department of Corrections lethal injection drugs violate Due Process.”

Attorneys for Sigmon say they have tried to obtain more information about the drugs used during lethal injection, but they have been blocked “at every turn.”

According to the state department of corrections, Sigmon’s attorneys were provided a copy of the lethal injection protocols under seal. When asked, King said that though they received some information from the department, they have asked for basic facts regarding the expiration date of the drugs, test results and storage conditions.

“None of that information, none of those basic facts, are in the protocols,” he said.

How firing squad executions work
Sigmon’s execution took place at the Broad River Correctional Institution, in Columbia, South Carolina, where all executions in the state are carried out.

Sigmon received his special requested meal Wednesday night, King said. He was given an individual meal from Kentucky Fried Chicken that included mashed potatoes and green beans.

In 2022, the South Carolina Department of Corrections detailed the room setup and protocols for how a firing squad execution would be carried out. The rifles used by the three-member firing squad would not be visible to witnesses, the department said at the time. All three rifles will be loaded with live rounds.

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