Brad Keith Sigmon, 67 was executed by firing squad on March 8, 2025 for bludgeoning his ex-girlfriend’s parents, David and Gladys Larke in 2001. After spending more than twenty years in prison for the crime, he ultimately met his end.
Sigmon was in a relationship with Rebecca Barbare and the two were together for almost three years. The couple lived in a trailer park near Rebecca’s parents’ house and it was she who decided to end the relationship. This did not sit well with Sigmon and after a night of heavy drinking and taking crack cocaine, he decided to take revenge. Court documents revealed that he had told an acquaintance, “I’m going to get Becky for leaving me” and added, “I’ll tie her parents up.”
View this post on Instagram
Sigmon broke into the Larke residence, wielding a baseball bat. He struck David and Gladys with violent ferocity. Both endured nine horrific blows to the head. During the trial, it came to light that “David’s skull was almost broken in two.” After the killings, Sigmon took David’s gun and tried to force Rebecca into a vehicle. She managed to escape, even as Sigmon kept firing at her.
Sigmon then went on the run for 11 days, triggering a manhunt. He was eventually captured by authorities in Tennessee. In 2002, Sigmon’s conviction earned him a death sentence. The lengthy appeals ultimately ran out, leaving him to choose between the electric chair and firing squad.
As Sigmon chose the firing squad, his attorney spoke of his fear, saying he dreaded the electric chair, terrified it would ‘burn and cook him alive.” As reported by Mirror US, “Sigmon was strapped into a chair in the South Carolina Department of Corrections’s death chamber. A hood was placed over his head and a bullseye target was positioned on his chest. Behind a curtain, three volunteer riflemen stood less than fifteen feet away, with a basin set underneath the chair to collect any stray blood.”
Convicted double murderer Brad Sigmon will die by firing squad in South Carolina on Friday.
It marks the first execution of its kind in 15 years across America.
Follow: @AFpost pic.twitter.com/qfF7As8IXN
— AF Post (@AFpost) March 5, 2025
Witnessing the execution were three Larke family members and Sigmon’s spiritual adviser. Facing death, Sigmon’s last thoughts were read aloud by his lawyer. In his closing message, Sigmon pleaded for compassion, “I want my closing statement to be one of love and a calling to my fellow Christians to help us end the death penalty. 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… We are now under God’s grace and mercy.”
At 6:05 p.m., the rifles fired. Observers described Sigmon’s chest rising and falling several times after the 308 Winchester Tap Urban bullets struck.
Whether Sigmon’s execution brought the Larke family members any solace or sense of closure remains a mystery. The death penalty itself remains a topic of debate with many speaking against it primarily based on the fact that taking one life would not bring back the one that has already gone.
However, there are views in favor of this mode of punishment as well and 1it ultimately depends on the severity of the crime and state law whether someone receives the death penalty.
