A convicted triple-murderer, Stephen Bryant, who has been on death row in South Carolina for 17 years, has made his choice for his impending execution method. Bryant, now 44, confessed to killing three out of four men in a crime spree in 2004. His fate was sealed when he murdered Willard “TJ” Tietjen, 62, and left a chilling message in blood that read “catch me if u can.”
After more than 15 years since his conviction for the heinous crimes, Bryant is scheduled to be executed in less than two weeks, with the method of his choosing being a firing squad. The volunteers will shoot him from a distance of 15 feet on November 14, following the Supreme Court’s rejection of his appeal to overturn his sentence. This execution date falls just over two decades after he killed Tietjen.
During Bryant’s trial, it was revealed that he feigned car trouble to approach Tietjen, then proceeded to ransack his home, use his computer, and even answer a call from Tietjen’s wife and daughter to inform them of his death. Tietjen’s daughter, Kimberly Dees, testified that Bryant callously confessed to killing her father after shooting him nine times and burning his eyes with cigarettes.
Investigators found Tietjen’s body surrounded by candles with the message written in his blood using a potholder made by his daughter. Bryant was also found guilty of killing two other men in Sumter County in 2004. His execution, following the Supreme Court’s refusal to review his sentence, will take place next month.
Bryant will join Mikal Mahdi, another convicted spree killer, in being executed by firing squad. Mahdi, who was sentenced to death for a multi-state crime spree culminating in the murder of a police officer in South Carolina, met his fate earlier this year via a firing squad after a harrowing experience when the initial shots missed his heart.