Brad Sigmon executed by firing squad in South Carolina as death penalty debates resurface across the United States.
COLUMBIA, S.C. (EPICSTORIAN) — South Carolina carried out its first firing squad execution in more than a decade on Friday, executing 67-year-old Brad Sigmon for the 2001 murders of his ex-girlfriend’s parents.
The execution took place at the state’s death chamber, where Sigmon was pronounced dead at 6:08 p.m., three minutes after three rifle shots struck his heart.
Strapped into a metal chair, a target was placed over his chest. A hood covered his head as three anonymous executioners fired .308-caliber rounds from a distance of 15 feet. The bullets, designed to fragment upon impact, shattered his bones and ruptured vital organs, ensuring rapid death.
Final Statement and Legal Challenges
A closing statement, read by his attorneys, reflected Sigmon’s opposition to the death penalty. “An eye for an eye was used to justify my sentence,” he stated. “At the time, I was too ignorant to know how wrong that was. We no longer live under Old Testament law.”
His attorneys made a last attempt to halt the execution, arguing that the state’s refusal to disclose details about lethal injection drugs forced inmates to choose between methods they considered inhumane. The U.S. Supreme Court denied the appeal on Friday.
The Decision to Face a Firing Squad
South Carolina reinstated firing squad executions after years of difficulty obtaining lethal injection drugs.
Executions had been on hold since 2011 due to legal challenges over the available methods. A 2021 law provided inmates with three options: lethal injection, electrocution, or firing squad.
Sigmon selected the firing squad, believing it to be the least painful. His attorneys described electrocution as “cooking someone alive” and lethal injection as causing “severe pulmonary distress.”
Gerald “Bo” King, his attorney, explained the decision, saying, “He knows what the firing squad is going to do to his body, and it’s a measure of how impossible the choice was here.”
History of Firing Squad Executions in the U.S.
The method has been rarely used in modern executions. Since the death penalty’s reinstatement in 1976, only three inmates had been executed by firing squad before Sigmon—all in Utah. Other states, including Idaho, Oklahoma, and Mississippi, have laws allowing firing squads, but none have used the method in decades.
The practice dates back centuries, often used for military discipline, political executions, and frontier justice. Some death penalty proponents argue it is more humane than lethal injection, citing its speed and reliability.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor once noted in a 2017 dissent that firing squads offer “near-instant death,” whereas lethal injections have resulted in botched executions.
Execution Chamber and Witness Accounts
The execution took place near South Carolina’s death row, where Sigmon had spent 23 years. Witnesses, including family members of the victims and members of the media, observed from behind bullet-resistant glass.
Media reports described Sigmon wearing a black jumpsuit and shackles. Before a hood was placed over his head, he glanced toward his attorney in the front row.
Three trained executioners fired simultaneously, striking his heart with rounds designed to fragment on impact. Death was confirmed moments later.
Shift to Firing Squads Amid Drug Shortages
South Carolina lawmakers approved the firing squad as an alternative after the state struggled to acquire lethal injection drugs.
Pharmaceutical companies refused to supply the drugs without anonymity, which state law did not allow at the time. Courts blocked executions for more than a decade, ruling that inmates had to be given a choice in execution methods.
A South Carolina legislator proposed firing squads, stating that if the state was to maintain the death penalty, it needed a way to carry it out.
Lawmakers referenced past legal opinions, including one from the U.S. Supreme Court, suggesting that gunfire provided a quicker and potentially less painful death than lethal injection or electrocution.
Opponents described the move as regressive and inhumane. Randy Gardner, the brother of the last man executed by firing squad in the U.S., called the method “gruesome and barbaric.”
Brad Sigmon Made Last Efforts for Clemency
Sigmon’s attorneys petitioned Governor Henry McMaster to commute his sentence to life in prison. The request cited good behavior and mental illness at the time of the murders.
Supporters described him as a model prisoner who had spent years working to atone for his crimes. The request was denied.
Before his execution, Sigmon shared a final meal with other death row inmates and arranged to donate the remaining funds in his prison account.
South Carolina’s Death Row and Capital Punishment Statistics
Thirty-two inmates remain on death row in South Carolina. Since 1976, 46 executions have taken place in the state, with no clemencies granted.
Also Read:US pursues Iran nuclear agreement while Tehran remains wary of Washington
Legal battles over execution methods continue, as more states reconsider their stance on capital punishment.
Sigmon’s execution has reignited debate over the future of the death penalty in the United States.
Up next
Trump Unveils $5 Million ‘Gold Card’ Pathway to US Citizenship for Wealthy Investors
U.S.-Ukraine Minerals Deal Moves Forward as Trump Shifts Security Burden to Europe
Canada Responds to U.S. Trade War with $155 Billion in Retaliatory Tariffs
US pursues Iran nuclear agreement while Tehran remains wary of Washington
