South Carolina Executes Brad Sigmon by Firing Squad on March 7, 2025
Brad Sigmon, South Carolina
Updated: Tuesday, March 11, 2025
Brad Sigmon was executed in South Carolina on Friday, March 7, 2025. He was the first inmate executed by firing squad inside the Broad River Capital Punishment Facility at the Broad River Correctional Institute, in Columbia, South Carolina. Brad was 67 years of age. He was convicted of murdering David and Gladys Larke, in their Greenville County, South Carolina home in 2002. Brad spent the last 22 years of his life on South Carolina’s death row.
Brad did not have an easy childhood, as he was often neglected. He has an extensive history of drugs use. Brad also suffered from a recurrent major depressive disorder and a chemical dependency disorder.
Brad Sigmon and Rebecca Larke began dating in 1999. Their relationship became intimate and by 2002, they were living together in a trailer. They lived next to the trailer of David and Gladys Larke, Rebecca’s parents. In 2002, Rebecca informed Sigmon that she did not want to see him anymore and asked him to move out. David also served Sigmon with eviction papers.
Approximately one week after Sigmon was asked to leave, he was smoking crack cocaine and drinking with his friend Eugene Strube, in Rebecca’s trailer. While doing drugs and drinking, Sigmon made a plan to tie up Rebecca’s parents and kidnap Rebecca.
The following day, after Rebecca left the trailer, Sigmon and Strube left Rebecca’s trailer, however, on the way to her parents’ trailer, Strube decided he no longer wanted to participate and left. Sigmon grabbed a baseball bat and entered the trailer belonging to David and Gladys.
Upon seeing Sigmon, David told Gladys to grab his gun. Before she could do so, Sigmon hit David over the head with the baseball bat several times. Sigmon then ran after Gladys, hitting her several times. He returned to where David lay and hit him several more times because he was still moving. Sigmon then checked on Gladys, saw she was still moving, and hit her several more times.
Sigmon took David’s gun and waited for Rebecca to return home. He forced her into a vehicle, planning to drive the two of them to North Carolina. However, Rebecca managed to jump out of the car. Sigmon shot at her but fled when he read out of bullets. Rebecca was injured but was able to contact the police and tell them what happened. Police went to check on her parents and discovered that both had died from their injuries.
Sigmon was later arrested in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, where he was located after he called his mother, who agreed to help the police. After his arrest, Sigmon confessed to the murders of David and Gladys. He also admitted to intending to murder Rebecca and then commit suicide. He was tried, convicted, and sentenced to death.
A recently passed law now allows South Carolina inmates to choose between lethal injection, electrocution, or the firing squad as the method of their execution, with the electric chair being the default option if the inmate does not make a choice. Sigmon chose to be executed by electrocution as he was concerned regarding the effectiveness of lethal injection and did not want to be electrocuted.
Pray for peace and healing for the family of David and Gladys. Pray for strength for the family of Brad Sigmon.
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