COLOMBIA, S.C. — The man who shot and killed a non-service police officer in South Carolina is set to become the state’s fifth person since the death penalty resumed last fall after a 13-year suspension.
Mikal Mahdi’s execution will take place at 6pm on April 11 at a prison in Colombia’s capital, the state Supreme Court announced Friday.
The court postponed the potential sixth execution of Stephen Bixby, who killed two police officers in a land dispute in Abbeville County in December 2003. Bixby was scheduled to die in May, but the court ruled that the judge would first need to determine whether he was mentally competent.
Psychologists say they understand what led to Bixby’s death sentence, but also believe that the blood found in his clothes on the night of the murder contains the DNA of Jesus Christ.
The 41-year-old Mahdi can choose between a fatal injection, electric shock, or a shooting squad. The shooting squad was chosen by Brad Sigmon, who became the first prisoner to be executed by a bullet in the United States on March 7th for the first time in 15 years. If Mahdi does not make a decision by March 28th, he will be sent to the electric chair.
Three other prisoners have been executed since September. Freddie Owens on September 20th. Richard Moore on November 1st. Marion Bowman Jr. on January 31st, all due to a fatal injection.
A series of crimes that end with murder
On July 14, 2004, at the age of 21, Mahdi stole a gun and a car in Virginia, arrest records show. The next day, he fatally shot a North Carolina store clerk in the face as the clerk had checked Mahdi’s ID. On July 17, 2004, he carjacked someone at the intersection of Columbia, South Carolina.
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On fleeing these crimes, Mahdi hid in the shelter of James Myers, Public Sheriff’s Officer in Orangeburg, South Carolina on July 18, 2004. He ambushed Myers when he returned from an out-of-town birthday celebration for his wife, sisters and daughter, prosecutors said.
Myers, 56, was shot eight or nine times, including two in his head after falling to the ground. The pathologist testified that at least seven shots were fatal.
Mahdi then burned Myers’ body and escaped. Myers’ wife found her dead in the same shed that her husband used as the wedding background 15 months ago, authorities said.
Mahdi was captured in Florida on July 21, 2004. When one of the officers involved in his arrest discovered what he wanted in South Carolina, he thanked Mahdi for not shooting him. Mahdi replied that the only reason he didn’t do was because he didn’t think he could successfully shoot two officers and their dogs and escape.
As a prisoner, Mahdi was caught three times with the tools he could use to escape. One is an Allen wrench and the other is a homemade handcuff key, one of which was found under his tongue at his trial, court records show. While in the death line he stabbed a guard and hit another worker on a concrete block. Records show that on three occasions, prison employees found sharp metal in his cell.
Mahdi’s defense
At his trial, Mahdi’s lawyer pointed out that he was the second son of a woman he married at the age of 16. His family described a confused childhood, but as frequently seen in other death penalty cases, there was no testimony of abuse or mental illness.
Mahdi pleaded guilty to murder and chose to be sentenced by Judge Clifton Newman. At the time, the judge told the Post and Courier that he was not convinced he believed in the death penalty, but that the case became greater than his belief.
“My challenge and commitment throughout my career in judicial care was to temper justice with mercy and to find the human race of all the defendants I declare,” Newman said when handing over Mahdi’s punishment. “That human sense doesn’t seem to exist in Mikal Dean Mahdi.”
