Marion Bowman Jr., convicted of murdering Kandee Martin in 2001, will be executed on Jan. 31 in South Carolina.
COLUMBIA, S.C. — A South Carolina inmate convicted of murdering a 21-year-old woman, putting her in a car trunk and setting it on fire, will be put to death at the end of the month.
The South Carolina Department of Corrections confirmed that 44-year-old Marion Bowman Jr.‘s execution date has been set for Jan. 31. Fourteen days before his execution, Bowman will be tasked with choosing how he will die: by lethal injection, electric chair or firing squad.
Bowman was sentenced to death in 2002 on charges of murder and arson tied to the 2001 death of 21-year-old Kandee Martin in Dorchester County.
The South Carolina Supreme Court set the date following a brief pause, which the Associated Press said was requested by the attorneys of four inmates who didn’t have any appeals left. They argued that keeping the schedule uninterrupted for six consecutive executions with no delay would “take a substantial toll on all involved, particularly during a time of year that is so important to families.”
Although state attorneys argued that prison officials were prepared to maintain the original schedule, a pause occurred in December.
Had that not occurred, Bowman could have been executed on Dec. 6. Richard Moore was the last inmate to be executed in South Carolina on Nov. 1, 2024.
