Brad SigmonPhoto: South Carolina Department of Corrections via AP
Brad Sigmon, a 67 year-old South Carolina death row inmate, has chosen to be executed by firing squad. The execution is scheduled for March 7, marking the first firing squad execution in the U.S. in 15 years. The decision comes amid ongoing debates about the ethics of capital punishment and concerns over the availability and humaneness of lethal injection.
Sigmon was convicted of killing his girlfriend’s parents with a baseball bat in 2002, and has spent more than two decades on death row. His decision to die by firing squad reportedly comes after recent botched executions in the state, in which inmates reportedly suffered prolonged deaths lasting over 20 minutes. Sigmon’s legal team argues that none of the available methods provide a humane execution, and that Sigmon feels forced to make the "least monstrous" choice available.
South Carolina reinstated the firing squad in 2021 after struggling to obtain lethal injection drugs due to pharmaceutical companies' refusal to supply them for executions. Despite the state's passage of a shield law designed to provide anonymity to drug suppliers, the firing squad option remained on the books. Idaho has also recently approved firing squad executions in cases where lethal injection drugs are unavailable.
Since the reinstatement of the death penalty in 1976, only three U.S. inmates have been executed by firing squad, all in Utah, with the last such execution occurring in 2010. South Carolina's use of this method could set a precedent for other states facing similar drug shortages. If carried out, Sigmon will be strapped to a chair, a hood will be placed over his head, and a target will be positioned over his heart. Three anonymous marksmen, standing 15 feet away behind a barrier, will fire through a small opening.
In 2022, South Carolina spent approximately $54,000 constructing a firing squad area within its execution chamber. The modifications included bulletproof glass for witnesses, a designated shooting wall for the marksmen, and a chair with a basin to catch blood. Witnesses will see the inmate’s profile, but not the shooters.
Sigmon's legal team has launched a final appeal to the South Carolina Supreme Court, arguing that his trial lawyers failed to adequately defend him. They are seeking a delay in execution to allow further hearings on these claims.
His last hope may rest with Republican Governor Henry McMaster, who has the authority to grant clemency and commute his sentence to life without parole. However, no South Carolina governor has granted clemency in a death penalty case in nearly 50 years, making this an unlikely outcome.