Last Man Executed by Firing Squad Gave Chilling Reason for Choosing the Bullet Over the Needle

The execution of Brad Sigmon on March 7th has reignited a disturbing conversation about one of the most brutal forms of capital punishment still allowed in the United States—the firing squad.

​While most death row inmates face lethal injection or the electric chair, Sigmon, 67, made a haunting choice. He opted to die by bullet—becoming only the fourth person in nearly 50 years to be executed by firing squad in the U.S. since 1976.

Before him stood Ronnie Lee Gardner, who faced the same grim end in 2010. And when asked why he willingly chose to be shot to death, Gardner’s explanation was as shocking as the punishment itself.

“I like the firing squad,” Gardner told Deseret News back in 1996. “It’s so much easier… and there’s no mistakes.”

For Gardner, it wasn’t just about speed or certainty. His decision was deeply rooted in his Mormon background, influenced by the now-disavowed idea of "blood atonement"—a belief that only by shedding one’s own blood could true forgiveness be found. Though modern-day Mormon leaders have distanced themselves from this concept, Gardner clung to it as a personal form of reckoning.

And he was determined to see it through. In fact, he even threatened to sue the state of Utah if he wasn’t allowed to die by firing squad. He got his wish.

Gardner’s violent past was long and brutal. In 1985, while awaiting trial for the murder of bartender Melvyn Otterstrom, he attempted an escape from a Salt Lake City courthouse. In the chaos, he gunned down attorney Michael Burdell in cold blood. Years later, he was also charged for stabbing a fellow inmate—though that charge was dropped when the man survived.

His execution in June 2010 was grim and clinical: five anonymous marksmen, all trained law enforcement officers, took aim from 25 feet away and fired into a target over his heart. He was the last to die in this method—until now.

Ahead of Sigmon’s execution, Gardner’s older brother Randy pleaded with South Carolina officials to rethink their path, calling the method “vicious,” “barbaric,” and “cruel beyond belief.” Speaking at a press conference hosted by South Carolinians Against the Death Penalty (SCADP), he recalled watching his brother’s final moments.

“I saw what those bullets did,” Randy said. “I have the autopsy photos. I was there when it happened. It makes me sick to think someone in this day and age is still forced to choose between being electrocuted, injected, or gunned down.”

Randy believes Gardner chose the firing squad because he wanted to die the same way he had killed—with a bullet. “He thought he deserved it,” he admitted. “But he didn’t know what I know now. If he had, he would have opposed the death penalty.”

Others echoed similar sentiments. Gary DeLand, former head of Utah’s Department of Corrections, described Gardner as someone “who enjoyed violence for sport,” saying he was kept isolated in prison due to the danger he posed to others. “We may never know why he chose the firing squad,” DeLand said, “but some prisoners pick it just so someone else has to clean up the mess.”

Donna Nu, Burdell’s fiancée, believes Gardner’s choice was meant to make a statement. “He may have wanted to show just how brutal this practice really is,” she told the BBC. “It’s hard to ignore what’s happening when bullets are involved. Lethal injection sanitizes it. Firing squads confront us with the barbarity.”

And maybe that was Gardner’s final message. Not of redemption, not of regret—but a grim reminder of just how savage state-sanctioned death can be.