The state of Alabama carried out the first execution by nitrogen gas in the United States.
The executed person had received the death sentence for murder Kenneth Smith58. He was executed early today, Friday Finnish time, in Alabama.
Smith was sentenced to 45 years for the 1988 crime by Elizabeth Sennett of murder for hire. Another man was also convicted of the murder and executed in 2010. The men had received a thousand dollar reward for the murder.
According to the state, nitrogen gas is the “most painless and humane” method of execution known. Critics, on the other hand, call it cruel and experimental.
In an execution with nitrogen gas, the condemned is forced to inhale the gas, which causes hypoxia, i.e. an oxygen-free state in the body.
The first new method of execution in decades
The last time a new type of execution, lethal injection, was introduced in the United States in 1982. Since then, injection has become the most common method of execution in the country.
In addition to Alabama, the use of nitrogen gas in executions has been approved by the states of Oklahoma and Mississippi, says CNN. However, nitrogen gas has not yet been used in executions.
States have approved the use of nitrogen gas because the availability of the drug used in injections has become more difficult. This has contributed to the reduction of death sentences in the United States, says the BBC.
UN Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk condemned the execution and estimated that it could even be compared to torture.
Smith’s lawyers tried in the last few meters to argue that the state was making him a test subject for an experimental method of execution, which could violate the Constitution’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment.
According to The New York Times nitrogen gas has been used in some assisted suicides, for example in Europe. In Alabama, however, nitrogen gas was used in different ways. In the United States, only animals have been killed with nitrogen gas before.
Last words and last minutes
“Tonight, Alabama makes humanity take a step back,” Smith said at the beginning of his final words.
– I leave with love, peace and light. Thanks for supporting me. I love all of you.
The state had predicted that nitrogen gas would cause unconsciousness in seconds and death in minutes. A state representative said late Thursday that nitrogen gas was meant to be an effective and humane method of execution — and now it had been proven to be.
Media representatives witnessed the execution. According to CNN, they reported that Smith appeared to be conscious for several minutes after the execution began. After this he had been shaking and writhing for two minutes. Next, Smith had been breathing heavily for several minutes before his breathing began to slow.
He was pronounced dead 22 minutes after the execution began.
– I have seen four executions before and I have never seen a prisoner convulse like Kenneth Smith reacts to nitrogen gas, journalist Lee Hedgepeth told the BBC.
From the warden who followed the execution From John Hamm was asked about Smith’s movement. According to Hammi, the movements were involuntary.
– Everything was expected and was part of the side effects we have seen in nitrogen gas studies, Hamm said. According to him, nothing was different from what was supposed to happen.
Smith’s spiritual supporter Jeff Hood in turn said that the execution did not correspond to the state’s anticipation.
– We did not see a loss of consciousness in 30 seconds. We saw minutes of a fight for life, Hood said.
Son of the murdered: execution brought justice
The son of the murdered woman said at the press conference that Smith’s death brought justice to his mother, but nothing that happened will bring her back.
– Kenneth Smith made bad decisions 35 years ago, and today his debt has been paid.
According to the prosecutors, the murder was organized by the victim’s pastor spouse, who was heavily in debt and was interested in the insurance money. According to court documents, the man committed suicide when the investigation began to focus on him as a suspect.
An attempt was made to execute Smith’s sentence as early as 2022 using a lethal injection. At that time, the authorities could not find a vein for the injection within the prescribed time limit.
Sources: Reuters, AFP, AP