For The First Time in 15 Years The United States is Executing a Man by Firing Squad

NY Post - A convicted double murderer is set to die by firing squad in South Carolina on Friday — the first execution of its kind in the US in 15 years.

Brad Sigmon, 67, personally requested the unusual punishment after fearing the electric chair would “burn and cook him alive,” his attorney Gerald King wrote in a statement. He also rejected a lethal injection after three previous inmates took more than 20 minutes to die after receiving the fatal dose of pentobarbital, his lawyers said.

The killer will be strapped to a chair and have a hood placed over his head and a target placed over his heart in the death chamber. Three volunteers will fire at him through a small opening about 15 feet away.

Sigmon was convicted in the 2001 baseball bat killings of his ex-girlfriend Rebecca Barbare’s parents at their home in Greenville County. Sigmon had been smoking crack cocaine and drinking on the night of the killing, when he told a friend he would “get Becky for leaving him the way she did,” and “tie her parents up,” according to court documents. They were in separate rooms, and Sigmon went back and forth as he beat them to death, investigators said.

Brad Sigmon. Bad guy. Tied up his ex-girlfriend's parents and killed them with a baseball bat in a drunken crack fueled rage. Tried to shoot his girlfriend as well. Luckily she escaped. On Friday, he will be put to death by firing squad.

Personally, I'm not big on the death penalty. I can't say I get that worked up about it, because I have a tough time feeling sympathy for anybody who meets death penalty qualifications. But there have been situations where people received the death penalty, or nearly received the death penalty for crimes they legitimately didn't commit. At least if they leave a person innocently rotting in prison for 30 years, they can salvage a small piece of their life if new evidence presents itself someday. You can't dig an innocent man out of the grave. I also don't think the death penalty really deters people from murdering. In the history of murders, has there ever once been a person who thought, "Wait just a minute... if I'm caught, they could KILL me? I won't just live a miserable existence in a small box for the rest of my life? I guess I'll just go to church instead." 

I kinda doubt it. I think there's also a lot of people who if asked would tell you they'd rather die than spend the rest of their life in prison. They'd probably tell you differently when the time comes and they're being marched to a death chair. But at the time of murder, I just don't think the threat of death penalty is running through people's heads like that. And in reality, if you really do want to punish someone to the fullest extent, there are fates far worse than death.

But regardless, the death penalty is very real in America. And I've always been confused as to why they make it so complicated. I understand the complications and the expenses that come with the amount of witness investigations, pre-trial motions, and everything involved with the court process. But I always hear the horror stories of people receiving lethal injections, then spending 20 minutes in agony before they finally pass away. Or when evil prison guards don't wet the sponge for the electric chair and the prisoner dies a gruesome death. Then a different magical prisoner has to get revenge on the evil prison guard by spitting bees in his mouth.

Things of that nature. There always seems to be a whole big to-do regarding how to physically go about killing a person who's been sentenced to death, when the act of killing somebody seems like it should be so simple.

All things considered, if the death penalty is going to be carried out, firing squad might be the best most humane way to go for everyone involved. My first thought when I read this story was, "Well what the hell do they need a whole firing squad for? Just put a gun to his temple and pull the trigger. That's as quick and painless as it gets". 

But I always forget that means asking one individual prison guard to murder a guy in cold blood. That's kind of a lot to ask of a person. That could fuck someone up in the head a bit. You'd probably need to find trained professionals to do it. Someone who's mentally strong enough to carry that with them for the rest of their lives. But no matter how mentally strong the trained professional is, how many executions can he perform before even he starts having nightmares about the 30 men he's murdered? Then what if we find out that one of the men he killed was wrongfully convicted. Then he's got that on his conscious. Idk. Putting the death of another man, no matter how justified, in the hands of one individual... especially in a way as cold and direct at "gunshot to the head"... that could open up a can of worms. At least with a firing squad, you're in it together with the boys. It's not just you who killed the guy. I was actually surprised to learn that in this case, South Carolina's firing squad is only going to be three people. I would have guessed at least five. Maybe even closer to ten. But still... three heads are better than one. I'm sure they'll grab a beer afterwards and get over just fine.

This will be the first time in 15 years that someone in the United States is executed via firing squad. I was also surprised to learn that in this case, the prisoner (who murdered his ex-girlfriend's parents with a baseball bat) had a say in the matter. He rejected the electric chair, because he feared being burned alive. He rejected lethal injection, because he was afraid it wouldn't kill him right away. And I guess the third option is firing squad. But the weirdest part of this whole thing is that the firing squad will killing Brad Sigmon in a room the size of a small celebrity closet. 

They're using the same room as they carry out the electric chair and lethal injections. Despite the fact that a firearms expert and a former executioner both looked at photos of their set up and specifically said he would not feel safe shooting a man in that room.

NPR - "I wouldn't shoot in that space. I wouldn't even be in the room," said Drew Swift, a firearms instructor who owns a firearms training academy in McLean, Va. "It's just an unnecessary risk."

A former South Carolina executioner, Craig Baxley, agreed that the death chamber appears poorly designed for an execution by firing squad.

Few people know the room better than Baxley, who executed ten people by lethal injection and the electric chair from behind a secret two-way mirror. Baxley was also a firearms instructor with the Department of Corrections and helped lead a team of shooters that responded to high-risk prison situations.

Carrying out executions took a secret toll on workers — then changed their politics 

The former executioner said he was shocked to learn that the state had chosen to shoot a prisoner inside the death chamber rather than outdoors at a firing range. Firing indoors could put the members of the squad and witnesses at risk of being struck by a bullet or other material, he said.

"It's so rudimentary," Baxley said as he looked at an official photo of the setup in 2022, after the protocol was released. "If a round were to hit this chair anywhere in here, it could ricochet anywhere."

Do you see what I mean by they over complicate things? Can we not just let common sense prevail in situations like these? I'm sure there are rules they have to follow, but could they really not find a way to take the guy outside and still abide by them? Or at least put him on a wooden chair so they wouldn't risk a bullet ricocheting off the chair and into some poor prison guard's eye?

I still feel like there has to be an easier way to do this. Something where a person can enter a room by himself and instantly be put to death in a pain free-ish way that wouldn't necessarily fall on the shoulders of a single prison guard. And a way that wouldn't cost a shit load of money. Or what about morphine? A slow morphine drip that puts the guy to sleep before he eventually overdosed and died. I don't want to sit here and brainstorm all the ways to kill a guy. I feel like that could get a little dark. Or maybe get me in trouble.

Honestly, for people who are pro death penalty, they might think the threat of a long dragged out fucked up death is a good thing. That it's what these people deserve. You could definitely make that argument. But opinions on the death penalty aside, I was surprised to learn today that death by firing squad was still an option in America. It's going down in South Carolina this Friday. Rest in hell my guy. 

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