Kenneth Smith, a convicted killer, was executed by nitrogen gas asphyxiation on Thursday night in Alabama, according to Governor Kay Ivey. This was the state’s first attempt at a less complicated method than lethal injections.
The new technique, according to the authorities, is “the most painless and humane method of execution known to man.”
Smith, who escaped Alabama’s previous disastrous attempt to execute him by lethal injection, was represented by attorneys for the United Nations and human rights experts who worked to stop it, arguing that the procedure was experimental, dangerous, and may result in a tortuous death or non-fatal injuries.
Later on Thursday night, reporters who witnessed Smith’s execution were scheduled to receive a briefing from Alabama prison officials and journalists.
Smith was one of the few prisoners to have already escaped one attempt at execution when he was found guilty of a 1988 murder-for-hire. The execution by lethal injection was postponed in November 2022 by Alabama officials due to difficulties lasting hours to get the needle into his body through an intravenous line.
“Kenneth Eugene Smith brutally took 45-year-old Elizabeth Sennett’s life on March 18, 1988,” Governor Ivery said in a statement. “After more than 30 years and attempt after attempt to game the system, Mr. Smith has answered for his horrendous crimes.”
