15年来首次，美国对杀人犯执行枪决

据报道，当地时间3月7日晚，美国南卡罗来纳州对67岁的死囚布拉德·西格蒙执行了枪决（executed by firing squad）。这是自2010年以来美国首次采用枪决方式执行死刑，也是自1976年恢复死刑以来全美第四例枪决处决。

A convicted double murderer has been executed by firing squad – the first such execution in the United States since 2010, according to the South Carolina Department of Corrections. The execution of Brad Sigmon, 67, by the South Carolina Department of Corrections on Friday is only the fourth firing squad execution in the US since capital punishment was reinstated in 1976, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.

布拉德·西格蒙

西格蒙因在2001年用棒球棒残忍杀害前女友的父母而被判处死刑。据报道，他犯案时还持枪绑架了前女友，但后者成功逃脱。

Sigmon was convicted of the 2001 bludgeoning deaths of his ex-girlfriend's parents. After their murders, Sigmon kidnapped his ex-girlfriend at gunpoint, but she managed to escape.

在行刑前，他选择了枪决，而非电椅或注射死刑。南卡罗来纳州惩教部门表示，西格蒙于7日晚被枪决，随后被宣布死亡。

Sigmon chose firing squad over the two other state-approved methods of execution, lethal injection or the electric chair. He was pronounced dead by a physician at 6:08 pm ET, officials said at a news conference Friday.

西格蒙的律师透露，西格蒙选择枪决是因为他不想慢慢死去——在其看来，电椅会“将他活活烤熟”；注射死刑的药物信息不透明，可能导致“长期且可能折磨性的死亡”，或许还会“使液体涌入肺部，将他淹死”。

Sigmon's lawyers said he chose the firing squad because the electric chair would "cook him alive", and he feared that a lethal injection of pentobarbital into his veins would send a rush of fluid and blood into his lungs and drown him.

据报道，西格蒙在被执行枪决前要求吃一份肯德基（KFC）作为“最后一餐”，其中包括土豆泥和青豆。

Sigmon received his special requested meal Wednesday night. He was given an individual meal from Kentucky Fried Chicken that included mashed potatoes and green beans.

南卡罗来纳州允许死刑犯选择三种执行方式：注射、电椅或行刑队（即枪决）。枪决在美国历史上较为罕见，自1997年以来，只有三名囚犯被行刑队处决，均发生在犹他州。

Only three other inmates have been executed by firing squad since 1977, all of them in Utah.

死刑室

西格蒙的处决再次引发了关于死刑执行方式的伦理讨论。俄亥俄州立大学医学院外科学名誉教授乔纳森·格罗纳认为，枪决更为迅速和人道。

来源：红星新闻客户端 CNN

China Daily精读计划

每天20分钟，英语全面提升！