Why man on death row chose gruelling execution method that hasn’t been used in 15 years
Brad Sigmon's lawyer says he faced an 'impossible' choice
An inmate's attorney has argued why he's chosen 'as best he can' an execution method despite the brutal process not having been used for 15 years.
Brad Sigmon is set to be executed next month after being put on death row following his 2001 conviction for the double murder of his ex-partner Rebecca Barbre's parents in South Carolina.
Sigmon's decision
Sigmon reportedly beat Rebecca's parents to death using a baseball bat before kidnapping his ex at gunpoint, with Rebecca escaping despite him trying to shoot her.
Sigmon was handed 30 years for first-degree burglary and received two death sentences and has spent two decades on death row.
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His multiple appeals were rejected and Sigmon is now headed for execution on March 7, 2025, with the inmate resolving to choosing the method of firing squad despite the method having not been used in 15 years in the state.
But why?
Well, South Carolina grants death row inmates a choice of execution methods - electric chair, lethal injection or firing squad - and Sigmon's attorney Gerald 'Bo' King told NBC News that the choice his client faced was ultimately 'impossible' but 'unless he elected lethal injection or the firing squad, he would die in South Carolina's ancient electric chair, which would burn and cook him alive'.
Why death by firing squad?
King argued: "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."
He said the only remaining option was a firing squad, adding: "Brad has no illusions about what being shot will do to his body.
"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."
In a 2022 news release, South Carolina Department of Corrections confirmed Broad River's execution chamber had been 'renovated to include the capacity to perform an execution by firing squad'.
How it's carried out
The release details a 'metal' chair 'with restraints' had been added to the chamber for inmates to 'sit' on 'if they choose execution by firing squad'.
The chair is reported as being in 'the corner of the room away from the current electric chair, which cannot be moved' facing 'a wall with a rectangular opening 15 feet away' and 'surrounded by protective equipment' and bullet-resistant glass.
Similarly to the other execution methods, the death row inmate is given the opportunity to say their final words or read a statement before the execution commences.
In the case of death by firing squad, a member of the 'execution team' will place 'a small aim point' over Sigmon's 'heart' and once the execution order has been read, the 'team will fire' before a doctor examines the inmate to confirm he's dead.
The last time an American inmate was killed in this way was in 2010 in Utah with the death of Ronnie Lee Gardner.
Topics: US News, Crime, True crime, Death Row
Poppy Bilderbeck