2023-09-17 23:55:08
by Monica Ricci Sargentini
It would be the first state in the world to use this method which deprives the condemned man of oxygen and suffocates him. Humanitarian associations are in revolt
Alabama is set to become the first state in the world to kill an inmate by forcing him to breathe pure nitrogen. On Friday, Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall’s office announced its intention to carry out the death sentence of
Kenneth Eugene Smith
, 58, from nitrogen hypoxia, which deprives prisoners of oxygen and suffocates them. So far in the United States only three states have authorized the use of this method for executions – Alabama, Oklahoma and Mississippi – but none have yet used it.
Smith was convicted in 1988 of the murder-for-hire of Elizabeth Sennett, the wife of a pastor at the Westside Church of Christ in Sheffield, northern Alabama. The latter, who was having an affair, planned to cash in on various life insurance policies taken out by his wife. Smith should have been killed last year by lethal injection but, after four hours of attempts, the execution failed because it was not possible to insert the IV into his veins.
Alabama is not in a position to experiment with a method it has never used. All this is cruel and reckless, the NGO Equal Justice Initiative told the Associated Press. Nitrogen makes up 78% of the air around us and is safe to breathe. However, when oxygen is removed it becomes deadly, leading to loss of consciousness and death by asphyxiation.
The inmate says he is absolutely terrified after the failed attempt to kill him with a lethal injection. In his interview with
Sunday Times
who told his story yesterday, recalled how one of his executioners told him: The lethal injection is painless, with nitrogen no one knows what will happen.
Last month, Alabama’s attorney general called for the execution to be carried out again, this time using nitrogen hypoxia.
Smith is one of 166 people awaiting execution in Alabama, which is proportionately the largest death row in the US. The death penalty is in force in 24 of the 50 American states, while three others are in limbo because current governors refuse to sign the death sentences.
More than half of Americans support capital punishment in some circumstances, but support is waning. Additionally, drug companies are increasingly reluctant to supply the toxic drugs needed for executions, which is one reason why Alabama and other states are seeking methods other than lethal injection. South Carolina, for example, now forces prisoners on death row to choose between the firing squad and the electric chair.
September 17, 2023 (changed September 17, 2023 | 1:06 pm)
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