‘Everybody in the room flinched’, says witness to Brad Sigmon’s execution by firing squad
A South Carolina man convicted of bludgeoning his ex-girlfriend’s parents to death has become the first US death row inmate to be executed by firing squad in the last 15 years.
Brad Sigmon was shot to death just after 18: 00 local time (23: 00 GMT) on Friday by three state corrections department volunteers firing rifles at his chest with specially designed bullets.
Sigmon, 67, was convicted of murdering David and Gladys Larke with a baseball bat in 2001 before kidnapping his ex-girlfriend at gunpoint. She managed to escape as he shot at her.
He had requested death by firing squad over the other two state-approved methods of execution: electric chair and lethal injection.
This story contains details of the execution, some of which are graphic
Chrysti Shain, of the South Carolina Department of Corrections, said Sigmon was pronounced dead by a doctor at 18: 08.
Three members of the Larke family were present to witness his death, she said, as well as Sigmon’s spiritual adviser.
Sigmon was strapped to a chair, which had a basin underneath to catch blood, witnesses said.
He told witnesses he wanted his final statement “to be one of love and a calling to my fellow Christians to help us end the death penalty”.
“An eye for an eye was used as justification to the jury for seeking the death penalty,” he added.
“At that time, I was too ignorant to know how wrong that was. Why? Because we no longer live under the Old Testament law but now live under the New Testament.”
After his final statement, a hood wa
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