firing squad

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Utah: Prisoner With Dementia Won't Face Firing Squad
Inmate Who
Was Spared
Firing Squad
Dies
UPDATED
Nov 27, 2025 2:30 AM CST

Inmate Who Was Spared Firing Squad Dies

Lawyers argued Ralph Leroy Menzies couldn't understand why he was facing execution

(Newser) - A Utah man who was spared execution this fall after developing dementia during his 37 years on death row died Wednesday of apparent natural causes, according to the state's Department of Corrections. Ralph Leroy Menzies, 67, was set to die by firing squad in September, but the Utah Supreme...

SC Carries Out 3rd Firing Squad Execution of the Year

Stephen Bryant killed 3 people in 2004

(Newser) - A South Carolina firing squad executed a man Friday, the third person to die by that method in the state this year. Three prison employees, all with live ammunition, volunteered to carry out the execution of Stephen Bryant, 44, who was pronounced dead at 6:05pm. Bryant killed three people...

State May Be First to Mainly Use Firing Squads in Executions

Idaho is aiming for this method, using remote-control system

(Newser) - Idaho is preparing to make firing squads its main execution method, a first for any US state, as it works to build a new death chamber south of Boise, to be ready by next summer. Under a new state law, firing squad executions will take priority starting in July...

Man With Dementia Set for Execution by Firing Squad

Lawyers for Ralph Leroy Menzies file appeal as judge sets execution date for Sept. 5

(Newser) - A Utah judge on Wednesday set an execution date for a man with dementia who has been on death row for 37 years, even as his lawyers file appeals and argue his condition is worsening. Ralph Leroy Menzies, 67, is to be executed Sept. 5 for abducting and killing Utah...

Lawsuit: Firing Squad 'Intended to Miss'

Lawyers for condemned SC inmate say shots were meant to cause 'extreme suffering'

(Newser) - An inmate scheduled to die by lethal injection in South Carolina on Friday challenged the state's execution methods in a lawsuit, arguing that lethal injection, the electric chair, and the firing squad are all cruel and unusual punishments. Lawyers for Steven Stanko claimed that in the April firing squad...

Pathologist: SC Botched Firing Squad Execution

Physician says Mikal Mahdi was in excruciating pain for as long as a minute

(Newser) - A man who was put to death last month in South Carolina's second firing squad execution was conscious and likely in extreme pain for as long as a minute after the bullets, meant to quickly stop his heart, struck him lower than expected, according to a pathologist hired by...

South Carolina Executes Another by Firing Squad

Mikal Mahdi is the second in 5 weeks

(Newser) - A firing squad on Friday executed a South Carolina man who killed an off-duty police officer, the second time the rare execution method has been used by the state in the past five weeks. Details, via the AP :
  • Mikal Mahdi, 42, gave no final statement and did not look to
...

South Carolina Executes Prisoner via Firing Squad

Brad Sigmon, 67, chose the rarely used method

(Newser) - South Carolina executed death row inmate Brad Sigmon on Friday, going through with the nation's first execution by firing squad in 15 years.
  • Brad Sigmon, 67, did not receive a last-minute reprieve from the governor or the Supreme Court. He was pronounced dead at 6:08pm Eastern, reports the
...

Experts on SC's New Firing Squad: 'It's Going to Be Traumatic'

They're concerned about ricochets, dangerous fumes, hearing damage, and 'gore'

(Newser) - Witnesses to South Carolina's planned firing squad execution of convicted killer Brad Sigmon, the first of its kind in the state, will watch Friday from behind "bullet-resistant" glass. But experts nonetheless fear ricochets are possible, along with hearing damage and exposure to dangerous fumes, NPR reports. According to...

How SC's Firing Squad Execution Will Happen

3 volunteers will fire rifles at Brad Sigmon, strapped to a chair with a hood over his head

(Newser) - When a South Carolina man who killed his ex-girlfriend's parents with a baseball bat steps into the death row chamber Friday night, it won't be lethal injection or electrocution that ends his life. It will be three people holding rifles about 15 feet away who will complete his...

South Carolina Inmate Chooses Firing Squad

Brad Sigmon's execution by that manner on March 7 would be the state's first

(Newser) - South Carolina is now on track to carry out its first-ever execution by firing squad next month. Death row inmate Brad Sigmon, 67, chose the option over electrocution and lethal injection, reports the New York Times . He is scheduled to die on March 7.
  • Rarity: The state made the option
...

He Hates the Death Penalty, Advocates for Firing Squads

Texas doctor views them as the most humane method of execution

(Newser) - James Williams, an ER doctor in Texas, occupies what for him is an uncomfortable place in the conversation about the death penalty. He tells the Marshall Project that he is "mostly opposed to capital punishment," and yet he has emerged as perhaps the nation's foremost expert on...

SC Supreme Court Deems 3 Execution Methods Legal

Gives OK to firing squad, lethal injection, electric chair

(Newser) - The South Carolina Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that the state's death penalty, which now includes a firing squad as well as lethal injection and the electric chair, is legal. All five justices agreed with at least part of the ruling, opening the door to restart executions in a state...

Idaho Poised to Allow Firing-Squad Executions

Bill is headed for governor's desk

(Newser) - Idaho is poised to allow firing squads to execute condemned inmates when the state can't get lethal-injection drugs, under a bill the Legislature passed Monday with a veto-proof majority. Firing squads will be used only if the state cannot obtain the drugs needed for lethal injections—and one death...

Judge Rules Against 2 Execution Methods in SC

Electric chair, firing squad are unconstitutonal, she says

(Newser) - A South Carolina judge ruled this week that the state's newly created execution firing squad, as well as its use of the electric chair, are unconstitutional, siding with four death row inmates in a decision sure to be swiftly appealed as the state struggles to implement its new execution...

SCOTUS Sides With Inmate Who Asked for Firing Squad

Michael Wade Nance says lethal injection would be unusually painful for him

(Newser) - Update: The Supreme Court has narrowly ruled in favor of a condemned Georgia inmate who has requested death by firing squad because he has a medical condition that would make lethal injection a long and extremely painful process. In a 5-4 decision, the court ruled that Michael Nance could proceed...

Electric Chair or Firing Squad? Inmate Says Neither

Richard Moore asks courts to decide whether either is unconstitutional

(Newser) - A South Carolina inmate scheduled to die either by a firing squad or in the electric chair later this month is asking the state Supreme Court to halt his execution until judges can determine if either method is cruel and unusual punishment. Richard Bernard Moore is to die April 29...

South Carolina Judge Won't Block 2 Controversial Executions

They're scheduled for June 18 and June 25

(Newser) - A South Carolina judge on Tuesday refused to block two executions set for later this month as she considers a lawsuit over the state’s new capital punishment law, which effectively forces condemned prisoners to choose to die by either the electric chair or firing squad. State Circuit Judge Jocelyn...

Lawmakers Add Firing Squad to Execution Options

South Carolina has run short of lethal injection drugs

(Newser) - The South Carolina House voted Wednesday to add a firing squad to the state's execution methods during a lack of lethal injection drugs—a measure meant to restart executions in a state that once had one of the busiest death chambers in the nation. The bill, approved by a...

Convicted Killer Wants Firing Squad Considered

Nevada inmate's lawyers say 3-drug combo state wants to use is cruel and unusual

(Newser) - A convicted killer who is fighting a possible June execution date that would make him the first person put to death in Nevada in 15 years is calling for the state to consider the firing squad as an option, a rare method in the United States. Attorneys for Zane Michael...

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