Alabama may become the first state to execute a prisoner by breathing pure nitrogen, a death penalty method authorized by three states but never used.
Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall’s office asked the state Supreme Court in a court filing Friday to set an execution date for death row inmate Kenneth Eugene Smith, 58. The filing revealed that Alabama intends to execute him by nitrogen hypoxia.
Smith was one of two men convicted of the 1988 murder-for-hire of a preacher’s wife.
“It is a farce that Kenneth Smith has been able to avoid his death sentence for nearly 35 years after being convicted of the heinous murder-for-hire of an innocent woman, Elizabeth Sennett,” Marshall said in a statement.
Nitrogen hypoxia is caused by forcing the inmate to breathe only nitrogen, depriving them of oxygen and causing death. The air inhaled by people contains 78% nitrogen, but it is harmless when inhaled with oxygen.
Alabama authorized nitrogen hypoxia in 2018 during a shortage of drugs used to perform lethal injections, but the state has not used the method to carry out a death sentence. Oklahoma and Mississippi have also licensed nitrogen hypoxia as a method of execution, but have not used it.
Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall has asked the state Supreme Court to set an execution date.AP
Proponents of the new method of execution have claimed that it would be painless, but opponents have argued that it is a form of human experimentation. The new revelation that Alabama is preparing to use nitrogen hypoxia is expected to spark new legal battles over its constitutionality.
The Equal Justice Initiative, a legal advocacy group that opposes the death penalty, said Alabama has a history of “failed and flawed executions and attempted executions” and that “experimenting with a method never used before is a terrible idea.” ”.
“No state in the country has executed a person via nitrogen hypoxia and Alabama is not in a position to experiment with a completely untested and unused method of executing someone,” said Equal Justice Initiative Senior Attorney Angie Setzer.
Kenneth Eugene Smith was convicted of the 1988 murder-for-hire of a pastor’s wife. Alabama Department of Corrections
Alabama attempted to execute Smith by lethal injection last year, but was unsuccessful due to problems inserting an IV into his veins. This was the second time in two months and the third since 2018 that the state had failed to execute an inmate. Republican Governor Kay Ivey announced the day after Smith’s botched execution that executions would be stayed to allow for an internal review of lethal injection procedures.
Lethal injections in Alabama resumed last month.
The state has been working to develop the nitrogen hypoxia execution method for several years, but has not revealed many details about its plans. Corrections Commissioner John Hamm told reporters last month that the protocol was almost complete.
The attorney general’s court file did not reveal details of how the execution would take place.
Smith and several other Alabama inmates trying to block their executions by lethal injection have argued that they should be allowed to die from nitrogen hypoxia.
Elizabeth Sennett was found dead in the Colbert County home she shared with her husband on March 18, 1988. Prosecutors said Smith was one of two men paid $1,000 each to kill Sennett. on behalf of her husband, who had huge debts and wanted to collect the insurance money.
The victim’s husband and Christ Church pastor, Charles Sennett, committed suicide when the investigation began considering him as a possible suspect, according to court documents. The other man convicted of the murder was executed in 2010.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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