COLUMBIA, SC - An inmate on death row in South Carolina will be executed in November after the death warrant was issued by the Supreme Court of South Carolina on October 17.
The inmate, 44-year-old Stephen Corey Bryant, was convicted of killing three people two decades ago. The death warrant came after the Court turned down a request by Bryant's attorneys, who had recently asked for a postponement because of the U.S. government shutdown, People reported.
Bryant, who is scheduled to be executed on November 14, will be the fifth person to be executed in South Carolina this year. He has his choice of either lethal injection, firing squad, or electrocution.
Bryant was convicted of fatally shooting three people during a week-long burglary and killing spree in the fall of 2004. He was 23-years-old at the time when he killed his 36-year-old coworker, Clifton Gainey, on October 9, 2004 and then burglarized his home. Two days later, he killed 62-year-old Willard Tietjen in his home.
Tietjen was fatally shot and his face and eyes were also burned with cigarettes. Bryant reportedly left notes written in blood on the wall of Tietjen's home, one of which read: "victim number four in two weeks, catch me if you can." He also taunted the victim's wife and daughter when he answered Tietjen's phone.
The daughter called him several times, and on the sixth call, she said a strange voice answered. The person on the other end told her she had the right number. She testified that she demanded to speak to her father. "And he said, 'you can't, I killed him.' And I said, 'this isn't funny, who are you?' He said, 'I'm the prowler.' And I said, 'excuse me, who are you?' He said, 'I'm the prowler.'"
Two days later, he killed 35-year-old Chris Burgess after meeting him at a convenience store. In 2008, Bryan pleaded guilty to the alleged crimes.
His lawyers argued that he had asked for mental health counseling prior to the murders because he allegedly kept reliving sexual abuse he claimed occurred while his was a child, according to court records cited by the Post and Courier. Bryant was first institutionalized at 11-years-old, and he regularly abused methamphetamine, Benadryl, and marijuana sprayed with RAID insecticide.
In a 2011 denial of an appeal sought by the defense, the South Carolina Supreme Court noted that Bryan was "unquestionable a deeply troubled individual."
Bryant has until October 31 to choose if he wants to die by lethal injection, firing squad, or execution. After an unintentional pause in executions, four inmates have chosen lethal injection and two have died by the firing squad, CBS News reported. A total of 38 men have been executed so far this year in the United States, with an inmate scheduled on October 31 to die by lethal injection in Arizona.
The inmate, 44-year-old Stephen Corey Bryant, was convicted of killing three people two decades ago. The death warrant came after the Court turned down a request by Bryant's attorneys, who had recently asked for a postponement because of the U.S. government shutdown, People reported.
Bryant, who is scheduled to be executed on November 14, will be the fifth person to be executed in South Carolina this year. He has his choice of either lethal injection, firing squad, or electrocution.
Bryant was convicted of fatally shooting three people during a week-long burglary and killing spree in the fall of 2004. He was 23-years-old at the time when he killed his 36-year-old coworker, Clifton Gainey, on October 9, 2004 and then burglarized his home. Two days later, he killed 62-year-old Willard Tietjen in his home.
Tietjen was fatally shot and his face and eyes were also burned with cigarettes. Bryant reportedly left notes written in blood on the wall of Tietjen's home, one of which read: "victim number four in two weeks, catch me if you can." He also taunted the victim's wife and daughter when he answered Tietjen's phone.
The daughter called him several times, and on the sixth call, she said a strange voice answered. The person on the other end told her she had the right number. She testified that she demanded to speak to her father. "And he said, 'you can't, I killed him.' And I said, 'this isn't funny, who are you?' He said, 'I'm the prowler.' And I said, 'excuse me, who are you?' He said, 'I'm the prowler.'"
Two days later, he killed 35-year-old Chris Burgess after meeting him at a convenience store. In 2008, Bryan pleaded guilty to the alleged crimes.
His lawyers argued that he had asked for mental health counseling prior to the murders because he allegedly kept reliving sexual abuse he claimed occurred while his was a child, according to court records cited by the Post and Courier. Bryant was first institutionalized at 11-years-old, and he regularly abused methamphetamine, Benadryl, and marijuana sprayed with RAID insecticide.
In a 2011 denial of an appeal sought by the defense, the South Carolina Supreme Court noted that Bryan was "unquestionable a deeply troubled individual."
Bryant has until October 31 to choose if he wants to die by lethal injection, firing squad, or execution. After an unintentional pause in executions, four inmates have chosen lethal injection and two have died by the firing squad, CBS News reported. A total of 38 men have been executed so far this year in the United States, with an inmate scheduled on October 31 to die by lethal injection in Arizona.
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Comments
2025-10-31T18:51-0400 | Comment by: Jon
A firing squad will dispatch this vermin, PRONTO! Let's be done with it and incinerate the remains so it doesn't spread its infection to the rest of the world.