Double murderer executed by firing squad but continues breathing after three shots

The killer shattered the skulls of his ex’s parents while under the influence of crack cocaine

A double murderer has been executed by firing squad - yet he continued to breathe after being shot three times in the chest.

Brad Sigmon is the first person in 15 years to opt for execution by firing squad, facing his lethal penalty on Friday night.

Brad Sigmon, 67, has been executed by firing squad in South CarolinaCredit: AFP

The chair Sigmon was executed on, left, alongside the electric chair, right, at the South Carolina Department of CorrectionsCredit: AP

Protesters gathered outside the South Carolina Department of Corrections ahead of the executionCredit: Reuters

David and Gladys Larke were murdered by Brad with a baseball bat in 2001Credit: Court documents

He died after three special bullets were shot at his heart by three volunteer riflemen at the South Carolina Department of Corrections in Columbia.

Sigmon, 67, was convicted of beating to death with a baseball bat his ex-girlfriend’s parents, David and Gladys Larke, at their Taylors home in 2001.

He chose the firing squad over the electric chair or lethal injection, which he feared would cook him alive and make it feel like he was drowning.

The death row inmate of 23 years wore a black jumpsuit with a hood over his head as he was strapped into a chair.

A bullseye target showed the executioners where to shoot as they took aim from 15ft away behind a curtain.

Sigmon breathed heavily as he awaited the rain of bullets.

All three gunmen opened fire at the same time, in front of about a dozen witnesses.

Sigmon tensed briefly when he was shot, the target was blasted off his chest, and he appeared to give another breath or two as a red stain spread across his chest.

A doctor entered the death chamber to examine Sigmon about a minute later, before declaring him dead at 6:08 p.m.

Gerald "Bo" King, Sigmon’s lawyer, said the decision was because he feared a lack of transparency could be covering up how painful these methods really are.

Sigmon made a last gasp for life on Wednesday, when he pleaded with the Supreme Court to halt his execution.

He argued that South Carolina’s refusal to disclose information about its lethal injection procedure violates his due-process rights.

Gerald "Bo" King, Simgon’s lawyer, said it took around 20 minutes for the last three men executed in the state to die from the lethal injection.

He said Sigmon faced "an impossible choice" between bullets that will "break the bones in his chest and destroy his heart" and a having his "lungs filling with blood and fluid" after the injection.

Bo also said Sigmon avoided the chair because he feared it would "burn and cook him alive".

A group of protesters holding signs with messages such as "All life is precious" and "Execute justice not people" gathered outside the prison before Sigmon’s execution.

BRUTAL MURDER

Sigmon pulped the couple in April 2001, just a week after breaking up with their daughter, Rebecca Barbare.

He and Rebeca had been in a relationship for around three years, living in a trailer park near David and Gladys’s home.

After a night of crack cocaine and drinking, Sigmon told a friend he was going to "get Becky for leaving him" and would "tie her parents up", according to court documents.

When Rebecca took her kids to school, Sigmon showed up at her parents’ house armed with a baseball bat.

He bludgeoned them alternately, striking each nine times over the head.

A 2014 photo of Brad SigmonCredit: AP

Three volunteer gunmen fired rounds at SigmonCredit: AP

A table fitted with restraints to hold down death row inmates as they receive the lethal injectionCredit: Getty

David’s "skull was [...] almost broken in two", the court heard during the 2002 trial.

Sigmon then stole David’s gun and waiting for Rebecca to get back.

He marched her into the car at gunpoint but she managed to escape, fleeing as he blasted shots in her direction, according to the court docs.

The murderer fled the state but was captured after 11 days on the run in Tennessee.

When he was arrested, Sigmon told detectives he had planned to murder Rebecca and then turn the gun on himself.

He said: "I couldn’t have her. I wasn’t going to let anybody else have her."

RARE METHOD

Just three convicts have been executed by firing squad in the US since 1976 - and all of them in Utah.

Rebecca, Sigmon’s ex, told USA Today she does not believe in the death penalty, but that he “should answer for what he’s done”.

Randy Gardner, brother of Ronnie Lee Gardner, the last man to be killed by firing squad in the US, has slammed the fact the method still exists.

South Carolina lets convicts on death row choose their execution method out of lethal injection, electric chair or firing squadCredit: Reuters

South Carolina allows spectators to watch executions of convictsCredit: Getty

The South Carolina Department of Corrections, where Sigmon was executedCredit: Reuters

He said: "I think its horrendous. I think it’s very barbaric.

"I didn’t witness my brother’s execution, but I got to see his body after.

"I’ve got the autopsy photos of what it looked like, and it’s just mutilated my brother’s body. I think it’s terrible."

Randy said he is against capital punishment entirely, adding: "To me, it’s revenge."

The majority of executions in South Carolina are by electrocution, though the three most recent were by lethal injection.

But it has posed some issues.

Some states have struggled to get hold of the required drugs due to an EU ban on selling them.

And in some cases, executioners have found it difficult to hit a vein with the needle.

In January, autopsy reports revealed that convicts suffered pain similar to the sensation of drowning as they were executed with the injection.

Citing the reports, the US Department of Justice withdrew its lethal injection protocol for federal executions.

There are just five states nationwide that still offer the death method.