First person to be executed by firing squad in the US in 15 years shared final plea before death

Murderer Brad Sigmon was shot dead by a three-person firing squad after calling for an end to the death penalty.

After over 20 years on death row, Sigmon was subject to one of the rarest forms of execution on Friday (7 March) as he became the first person to be executed by firing squad in nearly 15 years.

The killer, from South Carolina, was sentenced to death in 2002 after brutally beating his ex-girlfriend’s parents to death, David and Gladys Larke, and also attempted to kidnap his ex-girlfriend the year prior.

Associated Press reporter Jeffrey Collins, who was just one of three people from the media that witnessed the execution, said (via CBS): "The curtain opened, and he looked towards his attorney who was on the front row of the witness.

Brad Sigmon in 2002 (Brad Keith Sigmon's legal team)

"They kind of had an exchange. I couldn’t tell because his mouth was covered what they were mouthing back and forth to each other but it looked like he was just saying he was okay to his attorney."

He noted that the process took less than 10 minutes from start to finish, as he watched behind a bullet-proof window.

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

Death by firing squad is said to be one of the quickest ways to die, and it takes significantly less time than what is needed for the lethal injection or electrocution.

Prior to his execution, Sigmon called for an end to the death penalty in his final statement.

The 67-year-old said: "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 killer pictured more recently (South Carolina Department of Corrections)

"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 went on to quote passages from the Bible, one of which included: "Matthew 5:38-39 says, 'You have heard that it has been said, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth but I say unto you that you do not resist an evil person. Whosoever shall smite me on the right cheek, turn to him the other one as well'."

Seemingly addressing the executioners, who were three unnamed volunteers from the Department of Corrections, he added: "Nowhere does God in the New Testament give man the authority to kill another man. That is why the Bible is divided into the Old Testament and the New Testament."

"We are now under God’s grace and mercy," Sigmon concluded.

He was pronounced dead at 6:08 pm local time.

Sigmon is the fourth person to receive this form of the death penalty since capital punishment was reintroduced in the US in 1976.