Brace yourself for a chilling tale from South Carolina, where a death row inmate has chosen a rare and controversial end by firing squad.
According to Breitbart, Stephen Bryant, a 44-year-old convicted of multiple murders in 2004, has elected this method for his execution set for November 14, 2025, marking the third such procedure in the state this year.
Back in October 2004, Bryant unleashed terror in rural Sumter County, starting with the brutal killing of Willard "TJ" Tietjen in his own home after claiming car trouble.
Investigators revealed the horrifying details: Bryant shot Tietjen multiple times, burned his eyes with cigarettes, and scrawled a taunting message on the wall with the victim’s blood.
Authorities also noted a macabre scene with candles placed around Tietjen’s body and a chilling note written in blood on a potholder made by Tietjen’s daughter, daring police to catch the killer.
Tietjen’s daughter, growing frantic after unanswered calls, finally heard a strange voice on the line confessing to her father’s murder—a moment of pure dread.
Prosecutors disclosed that Bryant didn’t stop with Tietjen; during that same bloody period in 2004, he killed two other men by offering them rides, only to shoot them in the back on desolate roads.
Fast forward to today, and Bryant’s decision to face a firing squad has reignited debates over South Carolina’s execution methods, especially after the state added this option during a 13-year pause due to unavailable lethal injection drugs.
Since 1977, only three others in the U.S. have met this fate, all in Utah, with the latest in 2010—a stark reminder of how rare and raw this method remains.
The controversy isn’t just theoretical; the recent execution of Mikal Mahdi by firing squad raised alarms when attorneys argued the shooters nearly missed his heart, possibly prolonging his suffering.
Witnesses heard moans and groans from Mahdi—sounds absent in the first such execution of Brad Sigmon—and it took a grueling 80 seconds for Mahdi to draw his last breath. Prison officials, however, insist everything went as planned, clarifying that shooters need only strike the heart, not obliterate it, and often two bullets hit the same spot in practice.
Experts hired by Mahdi’s legal team countered that autopsy evidence didn’t show the jagged marks expected from multiple bullets, fueling a likely court battle over Bryant’s upcoming execution in the next two weeks.
Bryant’s case also marks the eighth execution in South Carolina since they resumed in September 2024, with others opting for lethal injection despite an electric chair being available, and his will be the 50th since the death penalty’s return 40 years ago.
While Bryant’s crimes are indefensible, his lawyers point to a tormented past, claiming he sought help for haunting memories of childhood abuse and spiraled into drug use, including meth and tainted joints, before the killings—a tragic backdrop that doesn’t erase the horror but begs the question of society’s role in prevention.