United Nations Says Alabama Execution With Nitrogen Could Be Torture
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Alabama death row inmate Kenneth Eugene Smith has been executed by nitrogen gas – making him the first person in US history to be put to death through the controversial method.
Smith, 58, was pronounced dead at 8.25pm CT on Thursday at the William C Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore, Alabama, almost three decades after he was convicted in the 1988 murder-for-hire plot of Elizabeth Sennett.
His religious adviser Reverend Jeff Hood, who witnessed the execution, told reporters what he saw was a man “struggling for their life” for a staggering 22 minutes.
The White House condemned the execution on Friday. “It is very troubling to us as an administration. It is very troubling to us here at the White House,” press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said.
Alabama authorities insist the execution went to plan, despite predicting the untested method would lead to unconsciousness within seconds and death in minutes.
But, witnesses said Smith appeared conscious for several minutes, shaking and writhing on the gurney.
“We didn’t see somebody go unconscious in 30 seconds,” said Rev Hood. “What we saw was minutes of someone struggling for their life.”
Smith’s death came after the US Supreme Court denied a final, 11th-hour bid to stay of execution. The ruling received dissent from Justice Sonia Sotomayor who wrote that the state had selected Smith as a “guinea pig” by using the untested method.
Speaking at a news conference on Friday, Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said that 43 more death row inmates have elected to die by nitrogen hypoxia. People incarcerated on death row are able to chose their preferred method from electrocution, lethal injection or nitrogen hypoxia.
“What occurred last night was textbook,” AG Marshall said. “As of last night, nitrogen hypoxia as a means of execution is no longer an untested method. It is a proven one.”
Kenneth Smith’s nitrogen execution will be used again, AG says
The execution of Kennth Smith using nitrogen hypoxia was “textbook” and will be used again, Alabama’s attorney general Steve Marshall said in a news conference on Friday.
It was the first time nitrogen hypoxia was used for an execution.
“What occurred last night was textbook,” AG Marshall said. “As of last night, nitrogen hypoxia as a means of execution is no longer an untested method. It is a proven one.”
Alabama AG Steve Marshall (R) touts the execution of death row inmate Kenneth Smith by nitrogen gas.
Andrea Cavallier27 January 2024 22:30
What was Kenneth Smith’s last meal?
Kenneth Smith was visited in prison by his wife and sons, who also witnessed his execution by nitrogen on Thursday.
His last meal was steak, eggs and hash browns.
Moments before the execution, he said: “Tonight, Alabama causes humanity to take a step backwards… Thank you for supporting me. Love you all”.
He then turned to his family and signed the words “I love you”.
Michelle Del Rey reports:
Andrea Cavallier27 January 2024 19:25
Who was Kenneth Smith’s victim, Elizabeth Sennett?
Elizabeth Dorlene Sennett was murdered on 18 March 1988 by Kenneth Smith in a brutal attack inside her home in Colbert County, Alabama.
She was beaten by a fireplace implement and stabbed 10 times in the chest and neck, her death staged to look like a home invasion and burglary.
Sennett was the wife of Church of Christ pastor Charles Sennett, who allegedly paid Smith and another man $1,000 to kill her. The other man, John Forrest Parker, was executed in 2010.
The pastor was allegedly deeply in debt and wanted to collect on insurance from her death, according to court documents. He killed himself when the investigation focused on him as a suspect.
Smith was convicted in the murder-for-hire plot and in 1989, he was sentenced to death for capital murder, but it was overturned on appeal in 1992.
A jury then sentenced him to life without parole by a vote of 11 to one.
Smith ultimately wasn’t spared a death sentence, as a judge overruled the jury and handed him the death penalty for a second time in 1996.
Elizabeth Dorlene Sennett
(Supplied)
Andrea Cavallier27 January 2024 18:00
WATCH: Pastor who witnessed Kenneth Smith’s execution describes it as a ‘horror show’
Witness describes Kenneth Smith’s historic nitrogen gas execution
Andrea Cavallier27 January 2024 17:00
Why was Kenneth Eugene Smith on death row?
Kenneth Eugene Smith became the first person in the world to be put to death using nitrogen gas after his execution was carried out on Thursday at an Alabama prison.
But how did Smith end up on death row in the first place? Read more:
Andrea Cavallier27 January 2024 16:00
Why do we treat our pets more humanely than a death row inmate?
Authorities in Alabama have come up with a grim and as-yet untested alternative to lethal injection and electric chair – being gassed to death with pure nitrogen, a reputedly ‘painless’ procedure that slowly starves the criminal of oxygen until they die. But would you use it to put down a sickly pet, asks Sean O’Grady.
Read Sean’s full piece here:
Why do we treat our pets more humanely than a death row inmate?
Authorities in Alabama have come up with a grim and as-yet untested alternative to lethal injection and electric chair – being gassed to death with pure nitrogen, a reputedly ‘painless’ procedure that slowly starves the criminal of oxygen until they die. But would you use it to put down a sickly pet, asks Sean O’Grady
Matt Mathers27 January 2024 14:42
ICYMI: Racism, gruesome errors, and botched executions
The last time Alabama attempted to execute Kenneth Eugene Smith, he was one of four death row inmates who were set to be killed across four states in just over 48 hours.
As Josh Marcus wrote for The Independent’s End the Death Penalty campaign at the time, the separate cases showed how capital punishment states struggle with the basics of swift, humane executions.
Then, Alabama botched Smith’s execution when it failed to a suitable vein in which to deliver the lethal drugs.
His execution by nitrogen hypoxia is due to be carried out by officials in the same chamber at the Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore, Alabama, on Thursday.
Read Josh’s full story from November 2022 below.
Mike Bedigan27 January 2024 14:00
ICYMI: What happened at the nation’s first nitrogen gas execution: An AP eyewitness account
As witnesses including five news reporters watched through a window, Kenneth Eugene Smith, who was convicted and sentenced to die in the 1988 murder-for hire slaying of Elizabeth Sennett, convulsed on a gurney as Alabama carried out the nation’s first execution using nitrogen gas.
Critics who had worried the new execution method would be cruel and experimental said Smith’s final moments Thursday night proved they were right. Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, however, characterized it on Friday as a “textbook” execution.
Matt Mathers27 January 2024 13:30
ICYMI: Kenneth Smith killed by nitrogen gas in first death row case of its kind
The 58-year-old was strapped to a gurney and fitted with a mask and a breathing tube that controlled the gas, slowly depriving him of oxygen, at William C Holman prison in Atmore, Alabama last night.
Matt Mathers27 January 2024 13:00
Why Kenneth Smith is being denied food ahead of nitrogen execution
Ahead of his planned execution on Thursday, Kenneth Smith received his last meal at 10am.
He is not be allowed to consume liquids after 4pm, approximately two hours before the execution. Alabama inmates are provided three meals a day.
Read the full story here:
Mike Bedigan27 January 2024 13:00
