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Firing Squad Execution in South Carolina Went Terribly Wrong: Autopsy

Mikal Mahdi was executed last month, but the marksmen tasked with carrying out the grim task missed his heart, according to a new autopsy report.

A firing squad execution carried out in South Carolina went wrong, leaving the subject alive and in pain for nearly a minute after the marksmen missed their target, according to an autopsy. Mikal Mahdi was the second person put to death in South Carolina this year on April 11 when he was strapped to a chair with a red target placed on his heart. A hood was also placed over his head before the shooting commenced. But the state’s shooters apparently missed their target, extending his suffering for much longer than the “10-to-15 second” window that experts predicted. He was declared dead four minutes later after crying out, groaning twice, and breathing for around 80 seconds. A new autopsy report report raises questions about how many shots were fired, while adding that they mostly missed their target, hitting the pancreas, liver and lower lung, according to The Guardian. Mahdi endured a “more prolonged death process than was expected had the execution been conducted successfully according to the protocol.” He experienced “excruciating conscious pain and suffering for about 30 to 60 seconds,” said Dr Jonathan Arden, a forensic pathologist retained by Mahdi’s lawyers. Mahdi was sentenced to death in 2006 after committing a multi-state crime spree during which he killed a gas station clerk and an off-duty police officer.