A man from South Carolina who defeated the parents of his ex-girlfriend in a flurry of anger, is the first prisoner to be executed by a resorting team in the US since 1977 and the first ever in the modern history of the state on Friday.
Brad Keith Sigmon is expected to be tied to a specially made chair and have a hood above his head, while three volunteer correction staff focus on oriented rifles in his heart and each fire a living round, according to the implementation protocols of the state.
Sigmon, 67, was convicted of the murders in 2001 of Gladys and David Larke, who were beaten to death with a baseball in their house in the small city in the northwest of South Carolina. Sigmon, who chose the shooting team above deadly injection or the electric chair, has always admitted that he killed the Larkes.
“Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I am guilty,” said Sigmon jury members during his trial, according to archived reporting in the Greenville News, part of the USA Today Network. “I have no excuse for what I did. It's my fault and I try to blame anyone else, and I'm sorry.”
Sigmon's ex-girlfriend, Rebecca Armstrong, told USA Today-in her first interview in the 24 years since the murder of her parents-that the actions of Sigmon tore her family apart and that “he should answer for what he did”, although she does not believe in the death penalty.
This is what you need to know about the execution of Sigmon, how the shooting team will work and what the family of its victims has to say.
When and where is Brad Keith Sigmon performed?
Sigmon will be performed just after 6 p.m. at the Broad River Correctional Institute in Columbia, South Carolina.
How is Brad Keith Sigmon performed?
Sigmon is stopped in a metal chair, a hood above his head, in the corner of a room that is shared by the electric chair of the state, “that cannot be moved”, according to the version protocols of the South Carolina Department of Corrections to USA Today.
The Fire Squad team – Three Voluntary Corrections staff – is behind a wall with loaded guns on 15 feet of Sigmon. The wall will have an opening for the weapons.
“A small goal will be placed over his heart by a member of the execution team,” the department said. “After the director has read the execution warrant, the team will shoot … After the prisoner has been declared dead, the curtain will be pulled and witnesses will be led away.”
Witnesses of the execution, in which usually family members of both the prisoners and the victims, members of the news media, lawyers and prison staff, “will see the correct profile of the prisoner.”
The department said that bullet -resistant glass was installed between the Death Chamber and the Witness Chamber.
What was Brad Keith Sigmon convicted for?
On April 27, 2001, Sigmon appeared in the house of David and Gladys Larke with a plan he came up with while doing crack cocaine the night before: he went to them and kidnapped his ex, he told the police.
Instead, he killed the couple with a baseball bat and hit each of them nine times, according to the police and a report from a medical investigation. Sigmon kidnapped Armstrong in his car, but she jumped out of the moving vehicle and was able to escape, although Sigmon once shot her in the foot before his gun hit without bullets.
During his 2002 trial, Sigmon told Sigmon that he had no excuse for what he did and said that when Armstrong fell on him out of love, it “dropped out”, said the Greenville News.
“I was obsessed with her,” he said jury members. “I loved her? More than whatever in the world.”
He continued to tell jury members that the death penalty was probably suitable in his case and said, “I hate what I did.”
'Do I earn to die? I probably do that, “he said.” I don't want to die … I just want to live in the interest of my family. “
The Larks family says they were their 'glue'
Jury members in the murder process of Sigmon also heard from family members of David and Gladys Larke, who were 62 and 59 respectively when they were killed. Their adult children cried on the witness bank and spoke about their destruction.
“I am who I am because of him (my father) and my mother,” said Darrell Larke, according to Greenville News. “He taught me how to fish, how to hunt, how to enjoy life, how I can be responsible.”
Armstrong told USA Today this week that her parents were simple national people who had five children and were always looking for everyone. Her mother led a party to cook for the whole family and her father “had a good heart” that was quickly forgiven and asked forgiveness.
“They were the glue of the family,” said Armstrong, adding that they missed the births of some of their eight grandchildren and five great -grandchildren since they were killed. “He removed that.”
She said she was not going to attend the execution, but her son, Ricky Sims, told The Greenville News that he will be there, with the few boots that were the last gift that his grandparents ever gave him.
“He is going to pay for what he did,” said Sims. “He took two people who would have done everything for their family. They were the rock of our family … they didn't deserve it. “
Rebecca Barbare, who now goes along Rebecca Armstrong, sits and watches while lawyers speaks about testimonials given by her ex-boyfriend Brad Keith Sigmon on July 18, 2002.
Who were Gladys and David Larke? More about the couple killed by Brad Keith Sigmon
Who is Brad Keith Sigmon?
Before the murders, Sigmon was “a hard worker and a loving brother who worked as a teenager in the factory to ensure that his brothers and sisters could eat,” said his lawyer, Gerald “Bo” King, in a statement.
He said that Sigmon became a “tortured” man because of a non -diagnosed psychological disorder that caused “irrational and impulsive episodes” something that he tried to treat with street drugs.
“And that Brad, who was already struggling with organic brain damage and sorrow from his violent youth, collapsed for a psychotic break,” said King. “The jury who condemned him had no idea how his mental health was seriously in danger, or that he was probably incompetent, even to be justified.”
Armstrong said she and Sigmon were five years old best friends before their romance started and lasted another five years. Armstrong, who had three children when she met Sigmon, said that although he had anger problems and hit her once, she never imagined that he was capable of evil he committed.
Since he is in prison, King said that Sigmon has been “transformed” in a repentant, God-loving man and a “peaceful, familiar presence in the death cell.”
“He serves as an informal chaplain for his colleague prisoners,” said King. “He is a source of strength for his brothers and sisters and children. He is also in a decreasing health and is a danger to anyone.”
What is the modern history of the shooting team in the US?
Five States – South Carolina Mississippi, Utah, Oklahoma and Idaho – have legalized Squadrons as an implementation method, the most recently Idaho in 2023.
The last prisoner in the US who was killed by the shooting team was in 2010, when Utah Ronnie Lee Gardner executed for killing a man during a robbery. Both other executions of the shooting team were in Utah, Gary Mark Gilmore in 1977 and John Albert Taylor in 1996.
Among the witnesses of Gardner's execution was an associated Press reporter who said that five volunteer prison workers shot at him from about 25 feet with .30-caliber guns, aimed at a target over his chest while he was sitting in a chair. One of the guns had a blank, so none of the volunteers knew if they were firing a fatal bullet, AP reported.
King, the lawyer of Sigmon, said in a statement that “there is no righteousness” with the execution of Friday.
“Everything about this barbaric, sanctioned atrocation of the choice to the self-is method very cruel,” he said. “We don't just have to be shocked – we must be furious.”
Contributions: Terry Benjamin II, The Greenville News
This article originally appeared on USA Today: Firing Squad: What to know about today's performance in South Carolina
