A South Carolina death row inmate who burned his victim’s eyes and wrote a message in the victim’s blood has chosen to die by firing squad.
Atlanta’s 11 Alive News reported that on Friday, Stephen Bryant, 44, opted for execution by firing squad. His sentence stems from a brutal murder and a chilling message he left for investigators more than 20 years ago.
Bryant was convicted for the fatal shooting of Willard “TJ” Tietjen. After the killing at Tietjen’s home, Bryant admitted burning the victim’s eyes with cigarettes.
Bryant also used Tietjen’s blood as paint, dipping a potholder in the blood to write, “victim 4 in 2 weeks. catch me if u can,” alluding to an alleged string of four victims in two weeks. Candles were lit around Tietjen’s body.
Bryant’s daughter, Kimberly Dees, testified that she tried to call her father several times and grew more concerned with each unanswered call.
On her sixth call, a stranger answered.
When she insisted on speaking with her father, the caller told her, “You can’t, I killed him,” then identified himself as “the prowler,” Dees told the judge who imposed Bryant’s sentence, according to FOX 5 Atlanta.
Prosecutors also accused Bryant of fatally shooting two other men in October 2004 in Sumter County — one before Tietjen’s death and one shortly after.
They say Bryant offered the men rides and shot them in the back as they stopped to urinate on the side of rural roads.
Bryant’s defense argued that extreme distress and a history of trauma, including childhood sexual abuse by four male relatives, preceded his actions.
They said Bryant repeatedly sought help but could not obtain it and turned to drugs, including methamphetamine and laced joints, according to Fox 26.
Despite Bryant’s past traumas, the court found that the severity and calculated nature of the crimes, including the message written in blood, warranted a death sentence.
Bryant is scheduled to face a firing squad of three volunteers firing from 15 feet away on November 14. According to CBS News, he will be the third person executed by firing squad in South Carolina this year; only three people in the United States have been executed by firing squad since 1977, all in Utah.
For the latest true crime and justice news, subscribe to the ‘Crime Stories with Nancy Grace’ podcast.
[Feature Photo via South Department of Corrections]
