It was a historic decision.
A man from South Carolina, Brad Sigmon, was executed by firing squad on Friday evening after being convicted of murdering his ex-girlfriend’s parents with a baseball bat in 2001. Sigmon, 67, was pronounced dead at 6:08 p.m. after three prison volunteers shot him from a distance of 15 feet at the Broad River Correctional Institution. This marked the first time in 15 years that a firing squad had been used for an execution in the U.S.
Sigmon had confessed to killing the couple, Gladys and David Larke, because his ex-girlfriend, Rebecca Armstrong, refused to rekindle their relationship. He also tried to kidnap Armstrong but failed. Sigmon chose the firing squad over other execution methods, citing fears of the electric chair and lethal injection. His execution was carried out despite appeals from his lawyers to change the sentence to life imprisonment, arguing that he had shown remorse and was a model prisoner.
Before his death, Sigmon’s last meal request was denied, although he had asked for three buckets of fried chicken to feed his fellow inmates. In a statement made prior to his execution, Sigmon spoke out against the death penalty, citing Christian beliefs and calling for the end of capital punishment.
Sigmon’s actions devastated Armstrong’s family, who lost two loved ones, including grandparents who never got to see their grandchildren grow up. While Armstrong, who opposes the death penalty, chose not to attend the execution, other family members, including her son, attended. Sigmon’s execution was part of South Carolina’s resumption of executions after a 13-year hiatus, with the state reintroducing the firing squad as one of the available methods.
Firing squads have been used sparingly in the U.S., with Utah being the only state to have executed inmates this way since 1976, the last being Ronnie Gardner in 2010. South Carolina is one of the few states where the firing squad is authorized as an execution method.
