"South Carolina Killer Brad Sigmon Set to Face Death by Firing Squad"

Brad Sigmon admitted guilt openly to the jury during his 2002 trial, confessing responsibility for the brutal killing of his ex-girlfriend's parents. Using a baseball bat, Sigmon struck David and Gladys Larke nine times each, resulting in an extraordinarily violent crime that placed him on death row.

Today, more than twenty years later and at the age of 67, Sigmon is set to face execution by firing squad in South Carolina. Scheduled for March 7, he will become the first inmate executed by this method in the United States since Ronnie Lee Gardner in 2010, and the oldest inmate executed in his state. The procedure involves Sigmon being strapped into a chair with a hood covering his head and an aiming target marking his heart. Three volunteer shooters stationed nearby will carry out the execution.

Previously, Sigmon avoided electrocution, provided by South Carolina's infamous electric chair known as "Old Sparky," due to fears of severe physical suffering associated with it. He also chose against lethal injection after it was reported that recent executions in South Carolina took significantly longer than expected, sometimes causing prolonged death and possible pain. His attorneys stated he picked the firing squad as a less torturous alternative despite concerns raised about its humanity.

Critics and opponents have widely condemned the state's embrace of firing squad executions, urging Governor Henry McMaster to consider granting clemency to Sigmon. However, historically, no governor in South Carolina has ever commuted the sentence of a death row inmate, leaving Sigmon with limited options. His legal team recently filed a motion with the state’s Supreme Court seeking to halt the execution on grounds of insufficient information regarding the lethal injection alternative.

The murders that led to Sigmon's conviction occurred after his relationship with girlfriend Rebecca Barbare deteriorated in early 2001. Angry and fueled by drugs and alcohol, Sigmon openly shared his intent to harm Barbare and her family. Arriving at Barbare's parents' home armed with a baseball bat, he brutally murdered David and Gladys Larke. He then kidnapped Barbare at gunpoint upon her return home, though she managed to escape despite Sigmon firing gunshots at her.

Sigmon fled across state lines before law enforcement tracked him down and arrested him in Tennessee after an eleven-day search. His trial focused not only on the disturbing nature of his crimes but also extensively considered his mental health struggles and long history of substance abuse. After hearing the gruesome details and Sigmon's own admission alongside testimony regarding his psychological background, jurors sentenced him to death.

Brad Sigmon has been incarcerated on death row since July 20, 2002. With each reprieve having been exhausted, he now faces imminent execution unless his attorneys' last-minute appeals can successfully delay or halt the process.