{"id":23793,"date":"2025-03-10T19:44:32","date_gmt":"2025-03-10T19:44:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/?p=23793"},"modified":"2025-03-10T19:44:32","modified_gmt":"2025-03-10T19:44:32","slug":"minute-by-minute-account-of-americas-first-firing-squad-execution-in-15-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/?p=23793","title":{"rendered":"Minute-by-minute account of America’s first firing squad execution in 15 years"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Warning: This story contains details of an execution, some of which readers may find distressing<\/em><\/p>\n

Eyewitnesses have given a chilling account of what happened in the minutes leading up to America’s first execution by firing squad in 15 years.<\/p>\n

Brad Sigmon, 67, was executed on 7 March after being convicted of the 2001 murder of his ex-girlfriend’s parents,\u00a0David and Gladys Larke<\/a>, in their\u00a0South Carolina<\/a>\u00a0home before abducting his former partner with the intention of killing her as well.<\/p>\n

Faced with the death penalty, Sigmon opted to be\u00a0executed by firing squad<\/a>, with the sentence being carried out just after 6pm local time.<\/p>\n

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\"Brad\"Brad<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Brad Sigmon was executed by firing squad on 7 March (South Carolina Department of Corrections)<\/cite><\/div>\n

Sigmon’s mother and brother were not in attendance at the\u00a0execution<\/a>, neither was his former partner, however, multiple witnesses were allowed to attend the gruesome event and detailed a minute-by-minute account of how the sentence was carried out.<\/p>\n

6:00pm<\/strong><\/h3>\n

According to<\/a>\u00a0a report from MailOnline, Sigmon was brought into the death chamber at 6pm EST and looked over to the witness gallery before being strapped into the execution chair.<\/p>\n

A white target was also placed over his heart.<\/p>\n

6:02pm<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Once Sigmon was strapped into the chair, which included head restraints and a basin to collect blood, his attorney read out the 67-year-old’s\u00a0final statement<\/a>, which saw the newfound Christian speak out against the death penalty.<\/p>\n

“I want my closing statement to be one of love and a calling to my fellow Christians to help us end the death penalty,” the statement read.<\/p>\n

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\"Sigmon\"Sigmon<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Sigmon was the first man to be executed by firing squad in 15 years (Getty Stock Image)<\/cite><\/div>\n

“Nowhere does God in the New Testament give man the authority to kill another man.”<\/p>\n

6:03pm<\/strong><\/h3>\n

According to numerous accounts from reporters in attendance, Sigmon mouthed the words ‘I’m OK,’ to relatives watching in the gallery before a hood was pulled over his head.<\/p>\n

6:04pm<\/strong><\/h3>\n

A blind was then lifted to reveal three volunteers from the South Carolina Department of Corrections who stood behind a wall which featured an opening at firing height. Each was armed with a rifle.<\/p>\n

Recalling the final moments before the shots rang out, South Carolina\u00a0TV<\/a>\u00a0journalist Anna Dobbins said: “We could not see the guns. There was no countdown or anything to tell us when the shots would be fired.”<\/p>\n

6:05pm<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Each of the executioners fired simultaneously and were direct hits on target. Sigmon flinched and his chest rapidly rose and fell several times. Blood began to pool at his chest.<\/p>\n

“It was very fast,” Dobbins said of the killing.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\"He\"He<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

He was found guilty of double murder after killing his ex-girlfriend’s parents with a baseball bat (Legal team of Brad Sigmon)<\/cite><\/div>\n

Associated Press reporter Jeffrey Collins also\u00a0provided an account of the event<\/a>, detailing how the bullets – which are designed to break apart and cause maximum damage upon impact – meant the target placed over his heart ‘disappeared instantly’.<\/p>\n

“A jagged red spot about the size of a small fist appeared where Sigmon was shot. His chest moved two or three times. Outside of the rifle crack, there was no sound,” he said.<\/p>\n

6:06pm<\/strong><\/h3>\n

A doctor entered the chamber and listened to Sigmon’s heart for two minutes.<\/p>\n

6:08pm<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Chrysti Shain, of the South Carolina Department of Corrections, said Sigmon was pronounced dead.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Warning: This story contains details of an execution, some of which readers may find distressing Eyewitnesses have given a chilling account of what happened in the minutes leading … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":23794,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23793","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23793","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=23793"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23793\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23795,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23793\/revisions\/23795"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/23794"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=23793"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=23793"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=23793"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}