South Carolina Prepares to Execute Double Murderer [WATCH]

South Carolina is set to carry out its first-ever execution by firing squad on Friday, with convicted murderer Brad Sigmon scheduled to be put to death at 6 p.m. at Broad River Correctional Institution.

Sigmon, 67, was convicted in the 2002 double murder of his ex-girlfriend’s parents and has exhausted his legal appeals. Unless the U.S. Supreme Court or Governor Henry McMaster intervenes at the last minute, he will become the oldest inmate executed in state history.

Sigmon’s attorney, Gerald “Bo” King, has petitioned McMaster for clemency, arguing that his client has transformed during his time behind bars, dedicating himself to his Christian faith and no longer posing a threat.

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“The man Brad is today does not deserve execution,” King said Thursday.

McMaster, a Republican, signed a law in 2021 making the firing squad a legal method of execution in South Carolina.

The measure, which also reinstated the electric chair as the state’s default method, was passed after officials struggled to obtain lethal injection drugs.

When asked about Sigmon’s clemency request, McMaster’s office declined to comment.

Sigmon opted for the firing squad rather than lethal injection after concerns were raised about previous executions in the state.

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Sigmon will be strapped to a firing squad chair with a hood over his head and a target over his heart, according to the AP.

The 67-year-old was convicted of double m*rder in 2001 where he k*lled his… pic.twitter.com/GNHnDn3jeE

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In one instance, an inmate required a double dose of pentobarbital, and another’s autopsy revealed his lungs were filled with blood and fluid, suggesting he had essentially drowned.

State prosecutors countered that Sigmon “waived any argument about lethal injection” when he voluntarily selected the firing squad as his method of execution.

King said his client acknowledges his crimes and accepts his punishment, but he expressed concerns about the limited information Sigmon was given regarding execution methods.

“He’s been asked to make this choice as to how he’s going to die” with only basic knowledge of each protocol, King stated.

The state had not carried out an execution in over a decade due to difficulties obtaining lethal injection drugs.

In 2021, the Legislature passed a law allowing officials to shield the identities of drug suppliers, enabling executions to resume last September.

The firing squad provision was introduced by then-state senator Richard “Dick” Harpootlian, a former prosecutor with experience handling death penalty cases.

“I don’t relish the idea of somebody being shot to death, but if they’re going to die, this is an alternative,” Harpootlian said.

He argued that a firing squad is less inhumane than electrocution.

South Carolina’s Department of Corrections has provided details on how the execution will be carried out.

Three volunteer marksmen, all Corrections employees, will fire rifles at Sigmon from about 15 feet away while he is seated and restrained.

A hood will be placed over his head, and a target will be pinned to his chest above his heart.

Bullet-resistant glass will separate the execution chamber from a witness area, where media and other observers will be present.

“I don’t know what they have done or how they have trained to prepare to shoot another person from 15 feet away in the heart,” King said.

“It’s easier to think of ways that it could go wrong than to feel confident it will go right.”

While the method is rarely used, Fordham Law professor Deborah Denno, who studies capital punishment, noted that it is among the “least inhumane” forms of execution because of the speed at which death occurs.

The last U.S. execution by firing squad took place in Utah in 2010.

Witnesses recalled the rapid gunfire and the inmate, Ronnie Lee Gardner, appearing to move slightly after being shot.

Utah remains the only state to have used the method since the Supreme Court upheld the death penalty in 1976, though states such as Idaho are now considering adopting it.

Sigmon was convicted of killing William David Larke, 62, and Gladys Gwendolyn Larke, 59, in their Greenville County home.

Prosecutors said he beat them to death with a baseball bat before kidnapping his ex-girlfriend, who later escaped. Sigmon fled the state but was caught in Tennessee after a multi-day manhunt.

His attorneys argued that his original defense team failed to present mitigating evidence, including a history of mental illness and an abusive childhood, that might have influenced the jury’s decision.

However, the South Carolina Supreme Court has repeatedly denied appeals, ruling that such information would not have changed the outcome.

With the state’s high court rejecting his final appeal on Tuesday, all legal avenues appear to be exhausted.

If the execution proceeds as planned, Sigmon will become the first person in South Carolina to be put to death by firing squad.

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