Man on death row in South Carolina seeks postponement to get autopsy from last execution

A condemned man who is the next person scheduled to be put to death in South Carolina is again asking for his execution be postponed because his lawyers have not yet received the autopsy report from the last execution two weeks ago

The state Supreme Court rejected a similar request earlier this month by Brad Sigmon. But his attorneys said in a motion Friday that the situation has become more urgent because he faces a Feb. 21 deadline to decide whether to die by lethal injection, firing squad or electric chair.

Sigmon's execution is currently scheduled for March 7.

He was convicted in the 2001 baseball bat killings of his ex-girlfriend's parents at their home in Greenville County. They were in separate rooms, and Sigmon went back and forth as he beat them to death, investigators said.

If Sigmon refuses to choose an execution method, he would be electrocuted. His attorneys say he does not want to die in the electric chair, and he plans to pick next week between lethal injection and the firing squad.

But Sigmon is hesitant to choose lethal injection because witnesses to the three previous executions since the state moved to using a massive dose of pentobarbital have said that even though the condemned prisoners appeared to stop breathing and moving in a few minutes, they were not declared dead for at least 20 minutes.

The autopsy report has been released for only one of the executions: Richard Moore, who prison officials say was given two large doses of the sedative pentobarbital 11 minutes apart on Nov. 1.

A defense expert who reviewed the results said fluid found in Moore’s lungs probably made him feel like he was consciously drowning and suffocating during the 23 minutes from when the execution started to when he was pronounced dead.

But another anesthesiologist who reviewed the autopsy for the state said fluid is often found in the lungs after a lethal injection and witness accounts and other evidence gave no indication that Moore was conscious beyond 30 seconds after the sedative was first administered.

Prison officials have not said why Moore needed a second massive dose or whether that is part of their normal procedures, citing a 2023 law that keeps secret the providers of lethal injection drugs, the identities of members of execution teams and the procedures used.

In a sworn statement issued after an execution date is set, Corrections Director Bryan Stirling certifies that each method is available, including saying, “lethal injection is available via a single dose of pentobarbital.”

Sigmon’s lawyers have not yet seen the autopsy report on Marion Bowman, who was executed by lethal injection Jan. 31. There was no autopsy after the execution of Freddie Owens at his request, due to religious reasons.

Sigmon's lawyers are asking for more information about the lethal injection drug — a request rejected before the previous three executions. They also want his date postponed until they can get the autopsy results.

South Carolina went 13 years between executions before restarting them last year after passing the shield law. The state Supreme Court agreed to set executions at least five weeks apart to allow time for prison officials to prepare and for last-minute legal challenges.

Sigmon's lawyers, who also represent others awaiting the death chamber, want that extended to 13 weeks so they can fully review previous autopsies and other reports.

Sigmon, 67, is older than any of the 46 people who have been put to death in South Carolina since capital punishment was reinstated in 1976.

In the early 2000s, the state was carrying out an average of three executions a year. Nine states have put more inmates to death. But since the unintentional pause, the death row population has dwindled to 29 currently, compared with 63 in early 2011.

About 20 have been taken off death row and received different sentences after successful appeals, while others have died of natural causes.

In 2001, after killing the couple, Sigmon kidnapped his ex-girlfriend at gunpoint, but she escaped from his car. He shot at her as she ran but missed, according to prosecutors.

“I couldn’t have her, I wasn’t going to let anybody else have her,” he said in a confession.

At his death penalty trial in 2002, Sigmon spoke to the jury before they deliberated his fate.

“Do I deserve to die? I probably do,” he said. “I don’t want to die. It would kill my mom and my brothers and my sisters and my children.”

Source: independent.co.uk, Jeffery Collins, February 14, 2025

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