Brad Sigmon, 67, personally requested the unusual punishment after fearing the electric chair would “burn and cook him alive,” his attorney Gerald King wrote in a statement.

A coroner's office has identified the man who authorities say shot two women, then turned the gun on himself at a South Carolina shopping center. Sign up for our Newsletters Greenville police said several 911 calls came just after 5 p.

South Carolina plans to execute its first prisoner by firing squad on March 7 inside the same death chamber it's used for dozens of other executions. Firearms experts say that could be risky.