Warning: This story contains details of an execution, some of which readers may find distressing
A witness has described what he saw after watching a death row inmate executed using a rare method on Friday (7 March).
Brad Sigmon opted to be killed by a three-man firing squad in South Carolina, making him the first inmate to be executed this way in the US in 15 years.
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It is said the 67-year-old chose this due to unclear details about the drugs used in lethal injections and fears they could take a longer time to kick in, and not wanting to be 'burned and cooked alive' by the electric chair.
Sigmon was convicted of the 2001 killings of his ex-girlfriend’s parents, David and Gladys Larke, with a baseball bat.
While his brother and mum did not attend on Friday evening, reporter Jeffrey Collins did.
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He has been witnessing executions in South Carolina for the Associated Press for 21 years, seeing 11 people killed using three methods.
Speaking at a press conference this weekend, he described how Sigmon was strapped into a chair and ‘unlike other executions’ Collins has seen, was wearing ‘a black jumpsuit, had black croc-like shoes on’ and was completely strapped in.
“It looked like there was a harness over him, there was a strap over his head, his ankles were shackled,” Collins described. “He had a covering over his mouth.”
Adding: “He had a target over his heart when the curtain opened.”
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Collins wrote a short essay for AP, detailing the execution.
“It’s impossible to know what to expect when you’ve never seen someone shot at close range right in front of you,” he wrote.
“The firing squad is certainly faster – and more violent – than lethal injection. It’s a lot more tense, too. My heart started pounding a little after Sigmon’s lawyer read his final statement. The hood was put over Sigmon’s head, and an employee opened the black pull shade that shielded where the three prison system volunteer shooters were.”
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The reporter explained that about two minutes after this, ‘they fired’ with no warning or countdown.
“And the white target with the red bullseye that had been on his chest, standing out against his black prison jumpsuit, disappeared instantly as Sigmon’s whole body flinched,” Collins wrote.
“A jagged red spot about the size of a small fist appeared where Sigmon was shot. His chest moved two or three times. Outside of the rifle crack, there was no sound.
“A doctor came out in less than a minute, and his examination took about a minute more. Sigmon was declared dead at 6:08pm.”
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In the man’s final statement before his execution he said: “An eye for an eye was used as justification to the jury for seeking the death penalty. 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."
Jess Battison