Final Appeal Rejected for South Carolina Mass Killer
A convicted mass killer from South Carolina is scheduled to be executed by firing squad this Friday after his final attempt to avoid the death penalty was rejected by the state's Supreme Court.
Stephen Bryant, 44, will face execution more than two decades after he terrorised Sumter County during an eight-day crime spree in 2004 that left three people dead and one injured.
A Vicious Crime Spree and Chilling Taunt
Bryant's reign of terror saw him shoot four men, three fatally, in a series of seemingly random attacks that left the local community in fear. His crimes reached a horrifying climax when he murdered 62-year-old Willard 'TJ' Tietjen in his remote home.
After ambushing and killing Tietjen, Bryant remained in the property where he ransacked the house, smoked cigarettes, used the victim's computer, and then wrote a chilling message in his victim's blood: 'victim number four in two weeks, catch me if you can'.
In a further act of cruelty, Bryant answered a call from Tietjen's wife and daughter while still in the home, identifying himself as the 'prowler' and informing them that Tietjen was dead.
Other Victims and Failed Defence
The two other men Bryant killed during his spree were Cliff Gainey and Christopher Burgess. Court records show Bryant had picked both men up and offered them rides before shooting them when they stopped to urinate by the side of the road.
He shot a fourth victim, Clinton Brown, in the same manner, but Brown miraculously survived the attack.
In his final appeal, Bryant's lawyers argued he should be spared execution due to Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder caused by his mother's substance abuse during pregnancy. They also detailed a childhood marked by sexual abuse from four male relatives.
However, the South Carolina Supreme Court ruled late on Monday that even if Bryant was found to suffer from the disorder, it would not change his death sentence.
Execution Method and Recent Precedents
Due to issues obtaining lethal injection drugs, Bryant was allowed to choose his method of execution. He selected death by firing squad over the electric chair.
This means that on November 14, three volunteers will fire shots at him from just 15 feet away while he is strapped to a metal chair.
Bryant will become the third man executed by firing squad in South Carolina this year. The method has faced scrutiny after reports that killer Mikal Mahdi, 42, suffered excruciating pain when shooters missed his heart during his execution in May.
With his appeal rejected, Bryant is set to be the seventh inmate put to death in South Carolina since the state restarted executions in September last year.
