US Murderer Slated To Be Executed By Nitrogen Gas Says Death Row Wait Is ‘Torture’

Kenneth Eugene Smith, a murder convict who was arrested in 1989 for stabbing and beating up a preacher’s wife named Elizabeth Sennett to death in a $1,000 killing-for-hire case, will become the first person in the US to be executed by nitrogen gas, BBC News reported. The method is referred to as nitrogen hypoxia. He said that the long wait for execution is like “torture”. 

He was earlier taken for execution in November 2022 by Alabama’s executioners, who failed to execute him even after trying for several hours. This time they have planned to execute Smith again on Thursday, but in an untested authorised plan. This involves suffocating him by making Kenneth inhale pure nitrogen, BBC reported.

In their first attempt, the Alabama executioners strapped him to a gurney in a ‘death chamber’ at Holman Correctional Facility and injected him with a lethal blend of chemicals. However, even after trying for several hours, they were unable to raise a vein and had to abandon the attempt as it was midnight by then and the death warrant issued for the day had expired, BBC News reported.

This time, the US state plans to execute him by strapping an air-tight mask over his face to force him to inhale pure nitrogen, which would starve his body of oxygen, ultimately killing him.

As per BBC’s report, the UN’s High Commissioner for Human Rights has called for a halt as this never-before-used method amounts to torture or other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment.

Smith’s lawyer also requested an injunction, which was rejected by the federal court. However, a final appeal ruling is still outstanding in court.

“My body is simply breaking down, I keep losing weight,” BBC quoted Smith As saying. “I’m nauseous all the time. Panic attacks hit regularly… This is just a small part of what I’ve been dealing with daily. Torture, basically,” he wrote while answering BBC’s questions in writing, as meeting death row prisoners is prohibited in Alabama. He further called for Alabama to “stop [the execution]. Before it’s too late”.

Alabama maintained that execution by nitrogen gas will lead to quick unconsciousness but has not presented any plausible evidence, BBC News reported.

On the contrary, medical experts and campaigners have expressed their concern over the risk of catastrophic mishaps such as violent convulsions and survival in a vegetative state. They have also warned the authorities of a possible gas leak from the mask which could kill others present in the room, including Smith’s religious advocate, who will also be present in the room during the former’s execution. 

Dr Joel Zivot, associate professor in anaesthesiology at Emory University, told BBC, “I guess I have to conclude that Kenneth Smith must be the worst man in America, because Alabama is so hell-bent on killing him, that they’re willing to kill other people to kill him.” 

Talking about an early study conducted on healthy volunteers using nitrogen gas, the doctor told BBC that, “almost all of them at about 15 into 20 seconds of breathing had a generalised seizure.”

A jury recommended that Smith be sentenced to life imprisonment without parole, but the judge overruled it and sentenced him to death in 1996. 

During his trial, Smith had admitted to being present at the time of murder but maintained that he did not take part in the attack, reported BBC.