Double murderer is first US inmate executed by firing squad in 15 years

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 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.

Sigmon had requested death by firing squad over the other two state-approved methods of execution: electric chair and lethal injection.

Chrysti Shain, of the South Carolina Department of Corrections, said that Sigmon was pronounced dead by a doctor at 18:08 local time.

Three members of the Larke family were present to witness his death, she said.

Before being killed, Sigmon said: “I want my closing statement to be one of love and apology.”

He quoted from the Bible to denounce the death penalty, and said: “We no longer live under the Old Testament law, but now live under the New Testament.”

The curtain behind which the firing squad was positioned 15ft (4.5 metres) away opened at 18:01, according to witnesses. Shots were fired at 18:05 without a countdown.

Jeffrey Collins, a reporter for the Associated Press news agency, said at a news conference that Sigmon had a red bullseye target placed over his heart.

After reading his final statement, a hood was placed over his head.

When he was shot, his chest rose and fell several times, the reporter added.

A doctor performed an exam which took about 90 seconds, before declaring him dead.

Anna Dobbins, a reporter for WHFF-TV, added that Sigmon wore a black jump suit, but had bare arms that “flexed” when he was shot.

“I did see a splash of blood when the bullets entered his body,” she said.

She said all the shots were fired simultaneously, and that witnesses were unable to see the guns.

Prison guards also offered witnesses ear plugs to protect their ears from the sound of the shots, added a reporter for the Post and Courier newspaper.

Sigmon’s lawyer, Bo King, had been hoping for a last-minute stay of execution by the South Carolina governor and accused the state of withholding information about the lethal injection process.

King said his client had been suffering from mental illness, and that the friendships he formed in prison are proof he had been rehabilitated.

“Brad is someone who, for his last meal, asked to get three buckets of original recipe Kentucky Fried Chicken so he could share with the guys that he’s incarcerated with on death row,” he told a WYFF-TV earlier on Friday.

“With his last meal, he wanted to share something special with them,” he said.