Anish Vij
A death row inmate who was executed by a firing squad issued a chilling last statement.
Brad Sigmon, 67, was shot to death via an execution method that hasn't been used in the US for 15 years.
Convicted of murdering his ex-girlfriend’s parents in 2001, Sigmon was shot at by three state corrections department volunteers at 6pm local time on Friday (7 March).
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Specially designed rifle bullets were fired at his chest before he was pronounced dead at 6:08pm at the Broad River Correctional Institution in South Carolina.
"I want my closing statement to be one of love and a calling to my fellow Christians to help us end the death penalty," Sigmon said.
"An eye for an eye was used as justification to the jury for seeking the death penalty.
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"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."
Anna Dobbins, assignment manager with television station WYFF, witnessed the execution and said a hood was put over Sigmon's head when he was strapped into the metal chair.
The chair was located in the corner of the execution chamber that also included the electric chair.
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Dobbins said that after the warden gave the go-ahead, the ring squad fired their rifles all at once through a hole in the wall.
"By executing Brad Sigmon today, South Carolina has also executed the possibility of redemption," said Rev. Hillary Taylor.
"Our state is declaring that no matter what you do to make up for your wrongdoing, we reserve the right to kill you."
Ronnie Lee Gardner was the last person who was put to death via the firing squad method in Utah in 2010.
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Sigmon's lawyer previously claimed that his client was against the conventional lethal injection method, because previous cases saw condemned prisoners staying alive for up to 20 minutes, according to CNN.
“Unless he elected lethal injection or the firing squad, he would die in South Carolina’s ancient electric chair, which would burn and cook him alive. But the alternative is just as monstrous,” King said.
In 2002, Sigmon was found guilty of murdering William, 62, and Gladys Larke, 59 with a baseball bat in their Greenville County home. He also abducted his former girlfriend, Rebecca Barbare, at gunpoint.
The married couple reportedly sustained nine blows to their heads.
After an 11-day manhunt, Sigmon was found and arrested in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.