Last man to die by firing squad in 2010 gave shocking answer when asked about why he chose the method
Following Brad Sigmon's execution on Friday (7 March), focus has fallen on the US justice system's use of firing squads.
It is one of the ways in which death row prisoners can be punished for their crimes, although it's not typically the most popular choice.
Not all inmates are given the option of choosing which way they leave the world, but those in South Carolina have the options of lethal injection, electrocution, or firing squad.
Sigmon, 67, went for the latter, which made him the fourth prisoner to be executed by a firing squad in the US since 1976.
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Only three other criminals have been put to death in this manner in the last five decades, all in Utah - with the most recent one being Ronnie Lee Gardner, 49, in 2010.
And when the killer was asked why he opted to be shot dead, he gave quite an interesting answer.
Gardner told the Deseret News in 1996: "I like the firing squad. It's so much easier... and there's no mistakes."
He explained that he was influenced in this decision by his 'Mormon heritage', as some members of the religious group are said to believe in a principle known as blood atonement.
This concept suggests that a sinner can make amends by spilling their own blood - although Richard Dieter, the executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, says this is an outdated belief.
He told the Los Angeles Times in 2015: "Mormons disown that idea now. They say, 'We do not require bloodletting'."
The Mormon church also said at the time that it 'neither promotes nor opposes' capital punishment, and it considers the death penalty 'a matter to be decided solely by the prescribed processes of civil law'.
Gardner had threatened to sue the state of Utah if he was not permitted to be executed by the firing squad in February 1996, and ultimately, he got his wish.
The 49-year-old was sentenced to death for fatally shooting attorney Michael Burdell in April 1985 in a Salt Lake City courthouse during a failed escape attempt.
The incident took place while Gardner was facing a murder charge for the October 1984 death of bartender Melvyn Otterstrom, who was also shot dead.
Gardner was also charged with murder while behind bars at Utah State Prison for stabbing an inmate in 1994, however, the charge was later thrown out by the state's Supreme Court because the victim survived.
The killer's older brother Randy spoke out ahead of Sigmon's execution last week, describing Gardner's manner of death as 'very vicious, cruel and unusual'.
He said he would show South Carolina's Governor, Henry McMaster, images of Gardner's dead body to encourage him to stop Sigmon's execution, adding: "It's a gory sight... it's very barbaric."
Speaking at a South Carolinians Against the Death Penalty (SCADP) press conference on Thursday (6 March), as per the Daily Mail, Randy said: "I saw what the bullets did to my brother.
"I was there when it happened and I have the autopsy photos. It makes me sick to think that in today's world Mr Sigmond had to choose between lethal injection, electric chair, or the firing squad as the method.
"The death penalty only creates more victims. There is no humane way to execute anyone."
Randy claimed that Gardner had chosen the firing squad because he had taken both Burdell and Otterstrom's life in the same way, explaining that the murderer thought 'he deserved' to be gunned down too.
"But he didn't know what I know about the death penalty now, or he would've been against it," Randy added.
Gardner was executed on 18 June, 2010, at Utah State Prison by five anonymous volunteers - who were certified police officers - who fired shots at a target positioned over his heart from about 25ft away.
Gary DeLand, executive director of Utah's corrections agency from 1985 to 1992, previously shared his thoughts on why Gardner chose the firing squad with the BBC.
"He was a particularly violent man," he said of the killer, who he knew during his early years of incarceration. "He was kept away from other inmates.
"He was the kind of person who would harm others for the sport of it, and enjoyed causing trouble. We don't know why Gardner chose this method but one prisoner who had chosen the firing squad basically said if he was going to die, he wanted someone to have to clean up the mess."
Burdell's fiancée at the time of his death, Donna Nu, also previously told the BBC she thought that the US should have 'gone past eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth'.
She said she believes Gardner might have chosen his execution method 'partially to make the point how barbaric it is'.
"Firing squad makes it more real what's happening than lethal injection does," Nu added.
Olivia Burke