Eerie reason why some US states brought back controversial death row execution method

In March of this year, convicted killer Brad Sigmon became the first death row inmate to be executed via a gory method that had previously been banned in the United States for over 15 years.

It was previously ruled that the South Carolina murderer - who was sentenced to death back in 2002 for the fatal beating of his ex-girlfriend's parents, David and Gladys Larke - would die via lethal injection.

The date of Sigmon's death was initially planned for February 2021, but following a number of disturbing complications (which we'll get into later), the method of execution was suddenly changed.

Following several delays, the 67-year-old was put to death on 7 March by firing squad - a previously forbidden means of execution.

Sigmon was put to death earlier this year (South Carolina Department of Corrections)

The firing squad was once believed a quick, effective means of killing, which federal officials argued saw minimal pain inflicted. By the time the late 90s/early 00s rolled around, however, the method had been banned in the majority of death penalty states.

As a result, the lethal injection became the most common means of execution, with lawmakers insisting it was a more humane way to cause death.

However, in recent years, other methods have resurged as a result of a series of eerie complications.

Around the same time that Sigmon's execution date was set, a nationwide shortage of the drugs needed to facilitate a lethal injection execution hit headlines across America.

The shortage had been triggered by existing prison supplies having expired, and pharmaceutical firms refusing to dispense any more, in protest against capital punishment.

According to CNN, another ongoing ethical debate at the time argued that the lethal injection wasn't always a successful means of execution.

Firing squad executions were previously banned (Getty Stock Images)

The case of Oklahoma rapist and murderer Clayton Lockett was often referenced by opponents of lethal injection, after a number of untested drugs saw it taking over 43 minutes for his life to end.

According to USA Today, the convict writhed, groaned and convulsed throughout his execution, in a case that drew national and international attention.

As a result, there has been revived interest in other methods of administering the death penalty - including the previously banned firing squad, a primarily military method.

It was eventually ruled that the controversial execution method would once again be practiced in a number of states, and it was first used in South Carolina on Sigmon.

A number of prison employees had volunteered to end Sigmon's life in March of this year. The killer was sat in a chair in the courtyard of the state's Broad River Correctional Institution, a basin being placed underneath his body to catch his blood.

There was previously a shortage of the drugs needed for a lethal injection (Getty Stock Images)

A hood was then placed over his face, and target placed onto his chest.

A number of lawyers, religious counsellors and members of his victims' family witnessed his death, which AP News journalist Jeffrey Collins who was also in attendance later described as having come with 'no warning or countdown'.

"At that point, his arm tensed up when he got shot," Collins also recalled. "There was kind of this brief moment of tensing."