Alabama inmate Kenneth Smith was executed by nitrogen asphyxiation on Thursday night (25), marking the first execution of its kind ever carried out in the country.
Smith, 58, was sentenced to death for his role in a 1988 contract murder and had previously survived a botched lethal injection attempt in 2022. At that time, executioners were unable to find the condemned man’s veins, delaying the execution. His lawyers continued to fight against the execution, taking the case to the Supreme Court, but all appeals were denied.
Smith’s legal team – along with experts and death penalty activists – expressed concern that the execution method could lead to excessive pain or even torture.
Alabama is one of only three states – Oklahoma and Mississippi being the other two – that has approved the use of nitrogen for executions. The method aims to replace oxygen in the body with a high concentration of nitrogen, causing death. Nitrogen is not a poisonous gas.
How the procedure went
The execution process began at 7:53 PM, and Smith was declared dead at 8:25 PM, according to officials from the Alabama Department of Corrections.
A mask to administer the nitrogen was placed on Smith. The nitrogen flowed for about 15 minutes. Smith, who was on a gurney, appeared conscious for “several minutes after the execution” and “trembled and convulsed” for about two minutes afterward, media witnesses reported in a joint account.
This was followed by several minutes of deep breathing before his breathing began to slow down “until it was no longer perceptible,” media witnesses said.
A controversial form of capital punishment
A tense debate about whether the new execution method is humane is taking place in the U.S.
In theory, the method involves replacing the inhaled air with 100% nitrogen, depriving the body of oxygen.
Proponents argue that the process is painless, but critics argue that it can be quite cruel and amount to torture.
In recent years, many states that still allow the death penalty have struggled to obtain the necessary ingredients for lethal injections after European manufacturers refused to sell the U.S. drugs that would be used in executions. Since then, these states have been seeking alternative methods to carry out capital punishment.
The crime
Elizabeth Sennett was murdered in 1988 after her husband hired someone who hired two others, including Smith, to kill his wife and make it look like a robbery. The husband, Charles Sennett, was having an extramarital affair and had taken out a life insurance policy on his wife, court records say. The husband committed suicide.
Source: CNN