Alabama set to execute inmate with nitrogen gas, a never before used method sun-sentinel.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from sun-sentinel.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Alabama has executed a man with nitrogen gas, putting him to death with a first-of-its-kind method that once again put the U.S. at the forefront of the debate over capital punishment. Officials said Kenneth Eugene Smith was pronounced dead at 8:25 p.m. Thursday at an Alabama prison. It marked the first time a new execution method has been used since lethal injection was introduced in 1982. The execution came after a last-minute legal battle in which Smith’s attorneys said the state was making him the test subject for an experimental execution method that could violate the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment. Smith was one of two men convicted in the 1988 murder-for-hire slaying of Elizabeth Sennett, a pastor’s wife.
Alabama will attempt to put an inmate to death with nitrogen gas, a never before used execution method that the state claims will be humane but critics call cruel and experimental.
The method involves putting a respirator-type face mask over the nose and mouth to replace breathable air with nitrogen, causing death from lack of oxygen.
The method involves putting a respirator-type face mask over the nose and mouth to replace breathable air with nitrogen, causing death from lack of oxygen.