South Carolina death row inmate to choose firing squad, electric chair or lethal injection for execution

A South Carolina death row inmate is being required to choose between a firing squad, lethal injection and the electric chair for his Nov. 1 execution.

Richard Moore, 59, was convicted of the murder of James Mahoney, a convenience store worker, in Spartanburg, South Carolina, in September 1999. 

In 2001, Moore was found guilty of murder, aggravated assault with the intent to kill, armed robbery, and a violation involving a handgun.

The 59-year-old now has until Oct. 18 to decide the way to end his life. If he does not choose, he will be electrocuted.

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According to a certified letter sent to Moore, prison officials said that the state’s electric chair, which was built in 1912, was tested Sept. 3, and was found in working order.

South Carolina formerly used a mix of three drugs but now will use one drug, the sedative pentobarbital, for lethal injections.

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The firing squad method has been allowed in South Carolina, since 2021. Mississippi, Oklahoma, Utah and Idaho are the only other states that allow the firing squad method.

South Carolina Corrections Director Bryan Stirling said that three volunteers have the training and ammunition needed if Moore chooses this route. The three volunteers were trained to fire at a target placed in the heart from 15 feet (4.6 meters) away.

South Carolina has put 44 inmates to death since the death penalty was restarted in the U.S. in 1976. In the early 2000s, it was carrying out an average of three executions a year.

Moore plans to ask Republican Gov. Henry McMaster for mercy and to reduce his sentence to life without parole. No South Carolina governor has ever granted clemency.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.