An Associated Press reporter who had seen the execution of a murderer convicted of firing South Carolina explained the experience, saying the murder was “etched” into his mind.
Jeffrey Collins, who witnessed 21 years of executions in the press in South Carolina and killed 11 people using three methods, wrote a short essay on the experience.
He witnessed the death of Brad Sigmon, who shot three volunteers from prison services on Friday evening. Sigmon was the oldest person to be executed in state history, and his death was part of a series of rapid killings the state pursued to revive the death penalty over the past six months.
After a 13-year suspension, South Carolina now directs men to death row inmates, allowing them to choose an electric chair, a deadly injection, or a launch squad. This development has been widely criticized by human rights activists and death penalty groups.
Convicted of murdering David and Gladys Lalke, parents of ex-girlfriends in 2001, Sigmon chose to be shot and killed due to unclear information about the drugs used in legal injections and the fears that work could take a long time.
“As a journalist, you want to prepare for the assignment. You study the cases. You read about the subject,” Collins wrote.
“In two weeks since I learned how Sigmon dies, I read the damage that can be brought about by a shooting squad and a bullet. I saw an autopsy photo of the last man who was shot in Utah in 2010.
“I also helped transcript his trial. It took two minutes for the prosecutors to attack Sigmon's parents nine times each with a baseball bat, and then went to death until they went back and forth between different rooms in Greenville County homes in 2001,” he added.
Collins then detailed his shooting squad and his experiences in witnessing it.
“It's impossible to know what to expect when you've never seen someone shot in a nearby area right in front of you,” he said.
“The shooting squad is certainly faster and more violent than a deadly injection. It's also much more tense. After Sigmon's lawyer read his final statement, my mind began to slap a bit. The hood was placed on Sigmon's head, and the staff opened a black plushade guarded where the three prison system volunteer shooters were.”
“Around two minutes later they were fired. There were no warnings or countdowns. The sudden crack in the rifle surprised me. And the white target of Red Bullseye on his chest immediately disappeared, with Sigmon's whole body flinching, prominently visible in his black prison jumpsuit,” he wrote.
“A small, fist-sized, jagged red spot appeared where Sigmon was shot. His chest moved a few times. Outside the cracks in his rifle, there was no sound.
“The doctor came out in less than a minute, but his exam took about a minute more. Sigmon was declared dead at 6:08pm.
“We then left through the same door we entered,” he added.
Sigmon's lawyers said it was “a bar” to let death row inmates choose a way to die, and argued that they had an obligation to provide more information about deadly injection drugs. His final words included a plea to end the death penalty.
His final words were shared and partially read by his lawyer. The eyes were used as justification for the ju judge in search of the death penalty. At the time I was ignorant to know how wrong it was. ”
Collins' essay also detailed the effects of witnessing a shooting.
“I will never forget the cracks in my rifle on Friday, and its target will disappear. It is also engraved in my mind: Sigmon is trying to speak to his lawyer, speak to him, and let him know that he is OK before the hood continues,” he wrote.
