On Thursday, the 25th of January, Alabama convicted murderer Kenneth Eugene Smith was executed using nitrogen gas, the first time such a method has been used in the USA. Smith, who lost appeals arguing that the execution was cruel, in 2022 was unsuccessfully executed by lethal injection, reports the BBC.
Smith, who was convicted in 1989 for the contract killing of Elizabeth Sennett, is the first person in the world to be executed using pure nitrogen gas, according to the Death Penalty Information Centre.
The U.S. Supreme Court has allowed the state of Alabama to proceed with the execution of death row inmate Kenneth Eugene Smith using nitrogen gas. This decision, made on January 24, 2024, marks the first instance of an execution by nitrogen gas in the United States.
Kenneth… pic.twitter.com/kVrdnz3hbd
— Githii (@githii) January 25, 2024
Alabama and two other US states have approved nitrogen hypoxia as an alternative method of execution because of difficulties in obtaining the drugs used in lethal injections.
Before the execution, Smith thanked those who had supported him.
Witnesses observed Smith smiling and saying “I love you” to his family after the gas was released. Smith writhed for about two to four minutes and breathed heavily for about five minutes before he was pronounced dead at 20.25 local time.
When nitrogen is inhaled without oxygen, the body’s cells collapse and death occurs.
John Hamm, Alabama Commissioner of Corrections, explained that Smith’s shaking on the gurney during the execution was an involuntary movement, pointing out that it was expected and a side-effect based on research, and stressed that everything was as expected.
Alabama Governor Kay Ivey described Smith’s death more than 30 years later as a response to his “heinous crimes”. Attorney General Steve Marshall has argued that the nitrogen gas execution is an effective and humane method, rejecting the “dire predictions” of activists and the media, claiming that justice has been served.
The 1 000 dollar scheme, organised by the victim’s husband Charles Sennett, involved Smith and another attacker, John Forrest Parker. Elizabeth Sennett was beaten and stabbed with a knife, and the murder was staged as a home invasion. Charles Sennett committed suicide when investigators were close to solving the crime, and Smith’s accomplice Parker was executed in 2010.
In the final 48 hours before his execution,
Smith was visited by family, friends, a spiritual counsellor and a lawyer. At his last meal, Smith ate steak and eggs with hash browns, writes the BBC.
On Thursday evening, the Supreme Court denied him a last-minute pardon.
In the Supreme Court ruling, three liberal judges dissented from the conservative-led majority ruling, with Justice Sonia Sotomayor criticising the use of Smith as a “guinea pig” for untested methods of execution.
Smith’s execution using nitrogen has also faced criticism from medical professionals, who have warned of possible accidents ranging from violent seizures to survival in a vegetative state.
Last week, the UN Commissioner for Human Rights also had called for a halt to executions, citing the risk of torture or other ill-treatment under international human rights law.
Also read: BNN ANALYSES | As 1 500 tractors roar in Vilnius, conundrum of aligning green and agriculture policies persists
Follow us on Facebook and X!