Mikal Mahdi was just 21 years old when he began a crime spree that spanned four states and included two murders.

One of the victims was James Myers, a 56-year-old police captain with the Orangeburg Public Safety Department in South Carolina.

Joseph Scott Morgan and Dave Mack discuss the crimes that led to Mahdi’s death sentence— and how the firing squad, once viewed as a more humane alternative to other execution methods, didn’t go as planned.

Did all three shooters miss the mark on Mikal Mahdi— or was the "mark" misplaced?

Transcript Highlights
00:02.40 Introduction

01:13.17 A botched execution

05:18.91 Mikal Mahdi killed South Carolina Public Safety Officer James Myers in 2004

10:08.71 Mikal Mahdi ended writhing in pain while strapped to a chair

14:40.64 French Guillotine - used as a deterrent

19:55.79 Electrocution of Ted Bundy

25:05.72 Prison Employees volunteer to carry out execution

30:15.15 Three shooters, two bullet holes, not one heart hit

35:10.71 Static Target from 5 yards away

39:48.66 Was this a "botched execution"?

45:02.64 Was the "marker" misplaced?

47:02.47 Conclusion

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Firing Squad Execution FAIL! Three Shooters MISS the Mark from 5 Yards Away