COLUMBIA, S.C. – The South Carolina Supreme Court has scheduled the state’s next execution for March 7, as the death chamber sees a notable increase in activity.
On Friday, justices denied a request from Brad Sigmon’s legal team to delay the execution date until they could review autopsy results of Marion Bowman, the inmate executed in a recent lethal injection. This marks the third execution in South Carolina since September.
Sigmon’s attorney argued for additional time to understand whether Bowman received two doses of pentobarbital during his execution on January 31. This information is crucial for Sigmon to choose his method of execution—lethal injection, electric chair, or firing squad.
In their court filing, Sigmon’s attorneys stated, “With the information currently available to Mr. Sigmon, he cannot begin to assess, much less contend, which method is the more inhumane.”
Sentenced to death for the brutal 2001 murders of his ex-girlfriend’s parents, Sigmon, 67, attacked the couple with a baseball bat in their Greenville home. He later kidnapped his ex-girlfriend at gunpoint, though she managed to escape unharmed.
“I intended to kill her and then myself. That was my intention all along. If I couldn’t have her, I wasn’t going to let anybody else have her,” Sigmon confessed following his arrest.
Sigmon has until February 21 to make his decision regarding the execution method; otherwise, he will face electrocution. The last death by electrocution in South Carolina occurred in 2008, and the firing squad has yet to be used.
After a 13-year hiatus in executions due to difficulties in obtaining lethal injection drugs, South Carolina resumed executions last year. A newly enacted shield law in 2023 protects the identities of drug suppliers and the execution process.
Inmates’ attorneys have been seeking clarity on the use and administration of pentobarbital for lethal injections. Recent autopsy information revealed that two large doses of the drug were administered 11 minutes apart during Richard Moore’s execution on November 1.
A defense expert indicated that fluid found in Moore’s lungs may have caused him to suffer feelings of drowning and suffocation during the execution process. However, a state anesthesiologist suggested that fluid in the lungs is not uncommon in such cases and noted that witnesses reported Moore was likely unconscious shortly after the sedative was administered.
Prison officials have not disclosed why a second dose was needed for Moore, nor whether Bowman received two doses during his execution, citing the shield law. The first executed inmate, Freddie Owens, requested no autopsy for religious reasons.
As South Carolina resumes executions, it has transitioned from a three-drug lethal injection protocol to utilizing only pentobarbital, aligning with federal and other state execution methods.
Sigmon, along with two other inmates, will proceed without further appeals, and the state Supreme Court has pledged to space out executions by a minimum of five weeks, allowing time for legal considerations.
Since the reinstatement of the death penalty in the U.S. in 1976, South Carolina has executed 46 inmates. The state, which previously executed an average of three inmates per year in the early 2000s, has seen a reduction in its death row population from 63 in early 2011 to 29 currently. About 20 inmates have had their sentences overturned following successful appeals, while others have died of natural causes.
