On Friday evening, a South Carolina man’s fate will be sealed as he is escorted into the death chamber to await execution by firing squad. Set to occur at 6 p.m., Brad Sigmon, 67, is poised to become the first individual in over a decade to face this form of capital punishment in the U.S. Unless a last-minute intervention is secured from the governor or the U.S. Supreme Court, Sigmon will also mark only the fourth firing squad execution since the country reinstated the death penalty nearly half a century ago.
Confessing to the brutal murder of his ex-girlfriend’s parents with a baseball bat over a failed relationship, Sigmon has chosen death by bullets. He deemed the state-offered alternatives of electrocution and lethal injection as more horrifying. His legal representatives expressed his fear of the electric chair ‘cooking him alive’ and concerns over the secrecy surrounding the lethal injection process in South Carolina, along with the agonizing prospect of a pentobarbital injection causing a fatal rush of fluid to his lungs.
The concept of execution by firing squad is deeply rooted in historical and violent narratives within the U.S. and globally, typically employed against military transgressors or as instruments of fear and repression during perilous times. In stark contrast to its grim reputation, some proponents of the death penalty are beginning to perceive it as a more humane execution method. A swiftly delivered shot, in theory, achieves immediate death, bypassing complications associated with securing an IV line, the visibly distressing nature of electrocution, or struggling witnessed with nitrogen gas suffocation.
In 2010, Ronnie Gardner was the last to meet his end by firing squad in Utah. His brother opposes the notion of its humanity, describing the method as grisly and barbaric. “With the ammunition being used for Sigmon’s execution, the outcome will be gruesome,” he said, expressing concern over the procedure.
Sigmon’s final journey will take him from South Carolina’s death row, his residence for the past 23 years, to a chamber equipped with bullet-resistant glass. The scene, involving family of the victims, his lawyer, and selected media, is staged to witness the event from a distance of 15 feet – approximately the length of a basketball free-throw line – with three marksmen ready to deliver simultaneous rifle shots. Precision-guided, .308-caliber bullets are engineered to shatter upon hitting the target designed to result in an immediate demise.
The execution method wasn’t always an option in South Carolina. A deficit of lethal injection drugs and legal constraints left only the electric chair, prompting reluctance from judges to set execution dates. Over time, burgeoning death row figures necessitated alternate solutions. A Democratic lawmaker’s proposal for the firing squad gained traction after U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor suggested in a dissent that it might be a swift and less painful death method.
Sigmon has faced the shadow of death thrice before, with past executions halted due to unavailable lethal injections. His original crimes stemmed from vengeful anger over being evicted from his ex-girlfriend’s property. Investigators revealed a calculated attack on her parents in their Greenville County residence, followed by an unsuccessful kidnapping and a failed attempt on his ex-girlfriend’s life. “If I couldn’t have her, I wasn’t going to let anybody else have her,” Sigmon confessed post-arrest.
As the execution deadline looms, Sigmon still holds one thread of hope – a plea to Republican Gov. Henry McMaster to replace his death sentence with life imprisonment. Advocates cite his model conduct and rehabilitation efforts, attributing his crimes to a grave mental health crisis. As a somber acknowledgment of his fate, Sigmon plans a last meal with fellow death row inmates and intends to distribute his commissary account funds, according to his supporters.
A call with the prison warden, McMaster, and the South Carolina Attorney General’s Office will precede the execution, ensuring all legal avenues are exhausted. If clemency is denied and no appeals hinder progress, Sigmon will proceed to the execution chamber. Since capital punishment’s reinstatement in 1976, South Carolina governors have resisted granting clemency, leading to 46 executions. Currently, two more inmates await the court’s decision, facing the same morbid choice Sigmon made: firing squad, lethal injection, or the electric chair.
