Policeman's killer to be executed by firing squad in South Carolina

Mikal Mahdi, 42, is to be executed at 6:00 pm (2200 GMT) at a prison in state capital Columbia for the murder of James Myers. Myers, a 56-year-old police captain, was shot nine times after he found Mahdi hiding in a shed on his property. His body was then set on fire. Mahdi also pleaded guilty to murdering a convenience store clerk three days before he killed Myers. South Carolina gives Death Row inmates a choice between lethal injection, the electric chair or the firing squad. Mahdi chose the firing squad.