Alabama executes a man with nitrogen gas

ATMORE, Alabama (AP) — Alabama executed a convicted murderer with nitrogen gas Thursday, putting him to death with a first-of-its-kind method that once again placed the US at the forefront of the debate over capital punishment.

The state said the method would be humane, but critics called it cruel and experimental.

Officials said Kenneth Eugene Smith, 58, was pronounced dead at 8:25 p.m. at an Alabama prison after breathing pure nitrogen gas through a face mask to cause oxygen deprivation.

It marked the first time that a new execution method has been used in the United States since lethal injection, now the most commonly used method, was introduced in 1982.

The execution took about 22 minutes, and Smith appeared to remain conscious for several minutes. For at least two minutes, he appeared to shake and writhe on the gurney, sometimes pulling against the restraints. That was followed by several minutes of heavy breathing, until breathing was no longer perceptible.

In a final statement, Smith said: "Tonight Alabama causes humanity to take a step backwards. ... I'm leaving with love, peace and light."

He made the "I love you sign" with his hands toward family members who were witnesses. "Thank you for supporting me. Love, love all of you," Smith said.

Alabama Governor Kay Ivey said afterward that the execution was justice for the murder-for-hire killing of 45-year-old Elizabeth Sennett in 1988.

"After more than 30 years and attempt after attempt to game the system, Mr Smith has answered for his horrendous crimes. ... I pray that Elizabeth Sennett's family can receive closure after all these years dealing with that great loss," Ivey said in a statement.

The state had previously attempted to execute Smith in 2022, but the lethal injection was called off at the last minute because authorities couldn't connect an IV line.

The execution came after a last-minute legal battle in which his attorneys contended the state was making him the test subject for an experimental execution method that could violate the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment. Federal courts rejected Smith's bid to block it, with the latest ruling coming Thursday night from the US Supreme Court.

In his final hours, Smith met with family members and his spiritual adviser, according to a prison spokesperson.

He ate a last meal of T-bone steak, hash browns, toast and eggs slathered in A1 steak sauce, the Reverend Jeff Hood, his spiritual adviser, said by telephone before the execution was carried out.

Sennett was found dead in her home March 18, 1988, with eight stab wounds in the chest and one on each side of her neck. Smith was one of two men convicted in the killing. The other, John Forrest Parker, was executed in 2010.

Prosecutors said they were each paid $1,000 to kill Sennett on behalf of her pastor husband, who was deeply in debt and wanted to collect on insurance. The husband, Charles Sennett Sr., killed himself when the investigation focused on him as a suspect, according to court documents.

Smith's 1989 conviction was overturned, but he was convicted again in 1996. The jury recommended a life sentence by 11-1, but a judge overrode that and sentenced him to death. Alabama no longer allows a judge to override a jury's death penalty decision.

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