McMaster disagrees with calls for inquiry on S.C. execution

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS) - South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster said Wednesday that he disagreed with calls for an investigation into a firing squad execution allegedly mishandled by the state.

The comments come days after a pair of state lawmakers sent a letter addressed the governor regarding the April execution of 42-year-old Mikal Mahdi.

Mahdi’s legal team also filed a complaint with the South Carolina Supreme Court, claiming the shooters allegedly missed Mahdi’s heart, which was the intended target area. The complaint also states that two bullet wounds were found and claims one of the shooters’ weapons misfired.

“I think we went through all of those questions in debating the law itself and whether that should be allowed,” said McMaster. “I think that the procedures that were set up and took a lot of study and analysis to set up the procedures. I think they’re proper. I do not think there needs to be any inquiry into it further.”

Mahdi’s attorney also claimed witnesses said they heard him “moan in agony” for nearly a minute after being shot and that he wasn’t pronounced dead until four minutes later.

McMaster said he couldn’t recall hearing that or a “ready, aim, fire” before the gunshots.

The governor is on a call with Department of Corrections officials during executions, which McMaster took from his State House office during Mahdi’s execution.

“We heard some comments, some murmurings prior to...I can’t say whether we heard an echo or something dropping or the wind blowing. You always hear little sounds in there. I can’t say that we heard anything,” he said.

Mahdi was sentenced to death after being convicted of a 2004 crime spree that resulted in the deaths of 29-year-old Christopher Boggs and 56-year-old James Myers, the latter being a captain with the Orangeburg Department of Public Safety.

Copyright 2025 WRDW/WAGT. All rights reserved.