A death row inmate in South Carolina, known for a particularly gruesome crime, has selected firing squad as his method of execution.

According to a report from Atlanta’s 11 Alive News, Stephen Bryant, aged 44, made this decision on Friday. Bryant’s execution choice is tied to a heinous murder he committed over two decades ago, which included an eerie message left for authorities.

Bryant was found guilty of murdering Willard “TJ” Tietjen. Following the murder at Tietjen’s residence, Bryant confessed to using cigarettes to burn the victim’s eyes.

In a disturbing act, Bryant used Tietjen’s blood to scrawl a message, dipping a potholder into the blood to write, “victim 4 in 2 weeks. catch me if u can.” This cryptic note hinted at a supposed spree of four victims over a two-week period, and candles were arranged around Tietjen’s corpse.

During the trial, Bryant’s daughter, Kimberly Dees, shared her growing alarm as her attempts to reach her father by phone went unanswered.

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.

[Feature Photo via South Department of Corrections]