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, AzVision.az reports, citing CNN.
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.
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.
AzVision.az
More about: UnitedStates SouthCarolina
