An Alabama death row inmate was put to death by using nitrogen gas on Thursday evening.
Kenneth Eugene Smith, 58, died at 8:25pm local time at the William C. Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore, authorities confirmed.
Smith was executed by nitrogen hypoxia – the first execution of its kind in the nation. The convicted murderer was strapped to a gurney and forced to breathe nitrogen gas through a mask apparatus, depriving him of oxygen.
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey said in a statement: “On March 18, 1988, 45-year-old Elizabeth Sennett’s life was brutally taken from her by Kenneth Eugene Smith. After more than 30 years and attempt after attempt to game the system, Mr. Smith has answered for his horrendous crimes.
“The execution was lawfully carried out by nitrogen hypoxia, the method previously requested by Mr. Smith as an alternative to lethal injection. At long last, Mr. Smith got what he asked for, and this case can finally be put to rest. I pray that Elizabeth Sennett’s family can receive closure after all these years dealing with that great loss.”
READ MORE: Death row inmate’s haunting last words before he was first to be killed with nitrogen gas
Surviving his first execution left Smith with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and bouts of vomiting, so as a precaution, prison officials gave Smith his last meal of solid food by 10am on Thursday.
The Rev. Jeff Hood, Smith’s spiritual adviser, said his final meal consisted of a Waffle House order: a T-bone steak, hash browns, and scrambled eggs.
Hood said on Thursday afternoon: “He’s terrified at the torture that could come. But he’s also at peace. One of the things he told me is he is finally getting out.”
Smith’s execution was the first attempt to use a new execution method since the 1982 introduction of lethal injection, now the most common execution method in the US.
Smith’s attorneys asked the US Supreme Court to halt the execution to review claims that the new method violates the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment and deserves more legal scrutiny before it is used on a person.
His attorneys wrote: “There is little research regarding death by nitrogen hypoxia. When the State is considering using a novel form of execution that has never been attempted anywhere, the public has an interest in ensuring the State has researched the method adequately and established procedures to minimize the pain and suffering of the condemned person.”
Smith was one of two men convicted in the 1988 murder-for-hire slaying of Elizabeth Sennett. Prosecutors said he and the other man 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 victim’s son, Charles Sennett Jr., said in an interview with WAAY-TV that Smith “has to pay for what he’s done.”
The son said: “And some of these people out there say, ‘Well, he doesn’t need to suffer like that.’ Well, he didn’t ask Mama how to suffer? They just did it. They stabbed her — multiple times.”
Some states are looking for new ways to execute people because the drugs used in lethal injections have become difficult to find.
Three states — Alabama, Mississippi, and Oklahoma — have authorized nitrogen hypoxia as an execution method, but no state has attempted to use the untested method until now.
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