Kenneth Eugene Smith lost two final appeals to the Supreme Court and one to a federal appeals court, arguing the execution was a cruel and unusual punishment.
ADVERTISEMENTA man who was paid $1,000 (about €922) to kill an Alabama woman more than 30 years ago has been put to death with pure nitrogen gas in a first-of-its-kind execution which places the United States at the forefront of the debate over capital punishment once again.
Kenneth Eugene Smith, 58, appeared to shake and convulse at the start before being pronounced dead at 8:25pm local time on Thursday at an Alabama prison after breathing the gas through a face mask to cause oxygen deprivation. It marked the first time a new execution method was used in the US since 1982, when lethal injection was introduced and later became the most common method.
The execution took about 22 minutes from the time between the opening and closing of the curtains to the viewing room.
For at least two minutes, Smith appeared to shake and writhe on the gurney, sometimes pulling against the restraints. That was followed by several minutes of heavy breathing, until breathing was no longer perceptible.
“Tonight Alabama causes humanity to take a step backwards," Smith said in a final statement, "I’m leaving with love, peace and light.”
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey said the execution was justice for the murder-for-hire killing of 45-year-old Elizabeth Sennett in 1988.
“After more than 30 years and attempt after attempt to game the system, Mr. Smith has answered for his horrendous crimes,” Ivey said in a statement. “I pray that Elizabeth Sennett’s family can receive closure after all these years dealing with that great loss.”
The execution came after a last-minute legal battle in which his attorneys contended the state was making him the test subject for an experimental execution method that could violate the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment. Federal courts rejected Smith’s bid to block it, with the latest ruling coming Thursday night from the US Supreme Court.
Sennett was found dead in her home March 18, 1988, with eight stab wounds in the chest and one on each side of her neck. Smith was one of two men convicted in the killing. The other, John Forrest Parker, was executed in 2010.
Prosecutors said they were each paid the $1,000 to kill Sennett on behalf of her pastor husband, who was deeply in debt and wanted to collect on insurance. Her husband, Charles Sennett Sr., took his own life when the investigation focused on him as a suspect, according to court documents.