Former executioner reveals harrowing reality behind what it was like to carry out firing squad execution
A man who was once tasked with taking the life of a death row inmate described it as just 'another day at the office'.
The former executioner, who remained anonymous, was a part of the five-strong firing squad who put child killer John Albert Taylor to death three decades ago.
He revealed his motivations for volunteering for the macabre job, described what unfolded in the execution chamber and explained how he felt in the aftermath in a sobering interview.
Taylor, 36, faced the ultimate punishment in January 1996 after being found guilty of the rape and murder of 11-year-old Charla King in Utah.
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He was given the death sentence for his horrific crime and spent seven years at Utah State Prison before facing his fate.
The murderer penned a letter in 1992 explaining why he opted for the firing squad to end his life, according to Deseret News, while insisting he was innocent.
"To be strapped to a table and injected full of drugs leaves me with a feeling of helplessness; because I am innocent of the crime for which I was convicted of," Taylor wrote.
"Anyway, if my execution is carried out, it will be a murder. Granted, it may be legally sanctioned, but, nonetheless, murder it will be, and the firing squad is my way of showing that point; and because of the cost and the inconvenience it will cause the state because they are not really prepared for an execution by firing squad."
After eating pizza and sipping Coke with a relative, Taylor was taken into the execution chamber at the Utah prison, where five marksmen were waiting for him.
'Anti-climatic'
His victim's mother, Sherron King, sobbed and said of him being put to death: "It broke my heart to know that another human being had to die...I know what his mom's going through.
"So many people had to die in this. But I know we can't allow him to live; it just hurts so much."
One of the men firing the fatal shots at Taylor had a lost less emotion about the execution - dubbing it 'anti-climatic' and 'another day at the office'.
In an interview with CNN that took place 14 years after Taylor's death, he dispelled some misconceptions around what facing the firing squad is like.
The unidentified executioner, who at the time was still a law enforcement officer in Utah, said that the process was quick, proficient and professional rather than the bloodbaths often depicted in movies.
He showed CNN photos of Taylor's autopsy, with one depicting how the murderer's heart had been obliterated into three pieces, but barely flinched at the graphic photograph.
"It was anti-climactic," he said. "Another day at the office. I've shot squirrels I've felt worse about."
The former executioner volunteered to participate in taking the death row inmate's life and said of his motivation to do so: "How often does this come along? [Delivering] 100 percent justice.
"There's just some people we need to kick off the planet." He said he would not mind doing it again, either, adding: "I haven't lost three seconds of sleep over it. It's true justice."
The man explained he psyched himself up for the job by reciting the words 'don't f**k this up' to himself.
What the rest of the firing squad said
Along with four other gunmen, he was given a month to prepare for Taylor's execution. The firing squad practiced their shooting skills in the execution chamber.
One of the guns was loaded with 'ineffective' rounds rather than live ones, although as this produced the same recoil, no one was aware of who had the dud gun.
The fivesome fired simultaneously, with the ex-executioner explaining that Utah officials 'don't want to hear five shots', but instead one in unison.
One of his colleagues who also took part in Taylor's execution told the Salt Lake Tribune it was, in their eyes, an 'assignment', adding: "Nothing more than getting an order to do something like kicking in a door to serve a warrant."
Another described it as 'returning a defective product to the manufacture', although there was one who wasn't as steely.
A third member of the firing squad admitted that he had 'issues about shooting a guy strapped in a seat', who was 'helpless'.
"But the state had ordered us to do this and we had a job to do," he added. "I don't regret doing it, but I would never do it again."
Death by firing squad is still an execution method that is on the table in five US states - South Carolina, Idaho, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Utah.
Earlier this week, the Pentagon announced that President Donald Trump has approved the execution of former US Army major Nidal Malik Hasan by firing squad.
It will mark the first military execution since April 1961. Hasan killed 13 soldiers and left another 30 injured after opening fire at the Texas military base, Fort Hood, in November 2009.
Topics: Death Row, US News, True Crime, Prison
Olivia Burke