Man who requested rare gruesome execution method not used for 15 years set to be killed today
The death row inmate who has requested to be executed by and gruesome method not used in the past 15 years will die today if his sentence is carried out.
67-year-old South Carolina man Brad Sigmon was found guilty of double murder in April 2001 after bludgeoning his ex-girlfriend Rebecca Barbarbe's parents, William and Gladys Larke, to death with a baseball bat in their home.
Sigmon had been in a relationship with Barbarbe for three years before their split in early 2001, with court documents stating that he had told a friend the night before that he was going to 'get Becky for leaving him the way she did' by attacking her parents.
After killing William and Gladys Sigmon waited at their home for Barbarbe to return and forcibly abducted her at gunpoint. She was able to flee the car and make it to safety, avoiding gunshots as she ran away, while Sigmon fled the state.
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He would later admit to planning to kill both Barbarbe and himself after a 11-day manhunt saw him apprehended in Tennessee.
Sigmon was extradited back to South Carolina where he stood trial and was subsequently found guilty of two counts of murder, first degree burglary and kidnapping.
He would be sentenced to death in 2002, opting to be killed via firing squad instead of the default execution method of electrocution.
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Unless Sigmon has his request for clemency granted at the last minute he will die tomorrow (7 March 2025) with AP reporting that his execution will be carried out at 6pm local time.
How rare is it to be executed by firing squad?
Should he die by firing squad, Sigmon will be the first US man to die by this method in the past 15 years.
According to NBC News, the grisly method was last used in Utah back in 2010 as the execution method for convicted killer Ronnie Lee Gardner.
Death by firing squad is currently legal in five US states - Idaho, Utah, South Carolina, Oklahoma and Mississippi - and has only been used four times since 1960, all taking place in Utah.
How does execution by firing squad work?
Execution by firing squad will see the condemned strapped into a seat in the corner of the execution chamber and have a bag placed over their head.
An execution order will be read out and the condemned will be offered the opportunity to make a final statement before three officers are brought in to carry out the sentence. Officers are will be instructed to aim at the condemned's chest.
At 67, Sigmon would be the oldest person to be executed if his sentence is carried out.
Brenna Cooper