A double murderer who battered his ex-girlfriend’s parents to death with a baseball bat called America’s capital punishment laws unchristian, moments before being shot to death by a firing squad
A convicted murderer who killed his ex-girlfriend’s parents has been executed by a firing squad in South Carolina, after issuing a terrifying statement moments before he died, begging for the laws to be changed.
Brad Sigmon, 67, who had been on Death Row for 25 years, was the first person to be killed in this way in the US for 15 years, and used his last words to beg for capital punishment to be outlawed.
Sigmon, a self-described Christian, said that the practice was not in line with New Testament doctrine.
“I want my closing statement to be one of love and a calling to my fellow Christians to help us end the death penalty,” Sigmon said.
“An eye for an eye was used as justification to the jury for seeking the death penalty.
“At that time, I was too ignorant to know how wrong that was.
“Why? Because we no longer live under the Old Testament law but now live under the New Testament.”
Sigmon was given the choice of receiving a lethal injection or undergoing the electric chair, but became the first person in the United States to opt for the firing squad.
Custom-built rifles were pointed at his chest on March 7, 2025, by three department volunteers, according to a report made by the Broad River Correctional Institution in South Carolina.
At 6:08pm he was pronounced dead.
A church reverend who describes herself as becoming Sigmon’s spiritual adviser criticised the execution, warning that it made “redemption” impossible.
“By executing Brad Sigmon today, South Carolina has also executed the possibility of redemption,” said Rev. Hillary Taylor.
“Our state is declaring that no matter what you do to make up for your wrongdoing, we reserve the right to kill you.”
US news outlet CNN had previously reported that Sigmon had chosen the firing squad as he had seen lethal injection cases where those receiving them had remained alive for nearly half an hour.
“Unless he elected lethal injection or the firing squad, he would die in South Carolina’s ancient electric chair, which would burn and cook him alive. But the alternative is just as monstrous,” his lawyer revealed.
In 2001, Sigmon battered William and Gladys Larke to death with a baseball bat in their home in Greenville County, South Carolina.
The couple, the parents of his ex-girlfriend named Rebecca Barbare, reportedly received as many as nine seperate blows to the head.
He also abducted Rebecca at gunpoint. After an 11-day manhunt, Sigmon was arrested in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.