Kenneth Eugene Smith convulsed for four minutes Thursday night as the state of Alabama carried out the first ever execution by nitrogen gas.
Smith, convicted in 1996 of carrying out the 1989 murder-for hire of Elizabeth Sennett, was pronounced dead just before 8:30 p.m., the Montgomery Advertiser reported.
Sennett’s husband, Church of Christ pastor Charles Sennett, committed suicide days after his wife’s murder when it became apparent that investigators had learned he was responsible. He hired Smith to carry out the murder because he was in debt and wanted the collect the insurance money.
A jury voted 11-1 to sentence Smith to life in prison, but the judge overruled the jury and sentenced him to death. The state legislature has since removed that ability from the bench.
Execution by nitrogen gas is considered highly experimental. It’s not even used by veterinarians for euthanasia because it causes extreme distress and convulsions.
Alabama opted to go for the nitrogen hypoxia execution, in which the condemned is forced to breathe pure nitrogen, after an earlier attempt to execute Smith by more routine measures failed. American states that still execute prisoners have been forced to look to more extreme measures to carry out death penalties after drug companies began to refuse to sell the drugs for the purpose of execution.
Smith lost his last appeal to stop the execution his attorneys called “cruel and unusual punishment” earlier this month, as CrimeOnline reported.
Smith was given the opportunity to make a final statement, although his words were difficult to hear because of the death mask over his face, the Advertiser reported.
“Tonight, Alabama caused humanity to take a step backward,” he said, ending with “Thank you for supporting me. I love all of you.”
After the execution, Department of Corrections Commissioner John Q. Hamm told reporters that Smith’s reactions were “nothing out of the ordinary.”
“It appeared Smith held his breath for as long as he could, and struggled against his restraints,” he said. “This was expected.”
Sennett’s son, Mike Sennett, spoke after the execution and said the family was “not going to be jumping around, hooting and holelring ‘hooray’ and all that, the New York Post said.
“That’s not us,” he said. “But we’re glad this day is over.”
“I forgive him,” he added. “I forgive him [for] what he done. I don’t like what he done, but they are forgiven from us. … Elizabeth Dorlene Thorne Sennett got her justice tonight.”
Mike Sennett did not mention his father, who paid Smith $1,000 to kill his wife.
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[Featured image: Kenneth Eugene Smith/Alabama Department of Corrections via AP]
