A man sentenced to death chose to be shot instead of lethal injection or the electric chair

A man sentenced to death for committing two murders in 2001 in South Carolina opted to be shot , an execution that would be the first of its kind in the United States since 2010.

Brad Sigmon, 67, is scheduled to be executed on March 7 in Columbia, the capital of South Carolina, for the 2001 murder of his ex-girlfriend's parents , David and Gladys Larke, whom he beat to death with a baseball bat.

Sigmon had a choice between lethal injection, firing squad or the electric chair, but was left in an "impossible" position and forced to make a "terribly cruel" decision on how to die because the other two methods posed risks of great suffering, said his lawyer Gerald "Bo" King.

"Whether he chose lethal injection or firing squad, he would die in the old electric chair in South Carolina, which could burn and cook him alive," King said in a statement.

"But the alternative is just as monstrous," he added. "If he chose lethal injection, he risked the lingering death suffered by the three men executed in South Carolina since September."

If Sigmon's execution is carried out by firing squad, it will be the first such execution in South Carolina. The last execution by firing squad in Utah was in 2010.

According to the South Carolina Department of Corrections (SCDC), the execution chamber at the prison where Sigmon is being held has been renovated and bulletproof glass divides the witness room and death chamber.

The detainee would be strapped to a metal chair, with a hood covering his head and the target marked on his heart. He would be placed five metres from the three volunteers who were firing rifles from an opening in a wall, according to the SCDC.

The death penalty has been abolished in 23 of the 50 states of the United States.