If the execution proceeds as scheduled, on April 29, Richard Moore will become the fourth person killed by a firing squad in the U.S. since at least 1967.
A South Carolina man sentenced to death chose to die by firing squad instead of electric chair. Richard Moore,57, is scheduled for execution on April 29, more than 20 years after he was sentenced to die. He made his decision Friday. After years of failing to acquire lethal injection drugs, South Carolina legislators passed a law last year that required people on death row to choose between the electric chair or a three-person firing squad. Moore’s execution date was chosen late last week, and he was given eight days to decide how he wanted to die. If he’s killed as scheduled, Moore will be the first person executed in South Carolina since 2011 — and only the fourth person killed by a firing squad in the U.S. since at least 1967. Defense attorneys have tried multiple legal avenues to prevent Moore’s death. His team has most recently argued that both options in South Carolina are “antiquated and barbaric,” Columbia newspaper The State reported.
