Killer Kenneth Eugene Smith’s wife reportedly screamed as he thrashed against his restraints during the 22 minutes it took for him to become the first person in the U.S. executed by nitrogen gas, which her son said victim, marked his mother finally getting “justice” 36 years after her murder.
Eugene Smith, who previously survived a botched execution day, appeared to remain conscious for several minutes Thursday when he was forced to inhale toxic gas through a mask, depriving his body of oxygen until he asphyxiated at Holman Prison in Atmore, Alabama.
As the killer pushed against his restraints, his wife, Deanna, who was wearing a “Never Alone” T-shirt, screamed for him from the witness stand, according to reporters at the scene.
Other family members joined her to witness the execution, which lasted about 22 minutes, much longer than the family had been told, according to the family’s spiritual advisor, Jeff Hood.
Hood called it “the worst thing” he had ever seen, stating that even prison officials “were visibly shocked at how bad it went.”
“We didn’t see anyone go unconscious in 30 seconds,” Hood said while standing with Smith’s wife.
“What we saw were minutes of someone fighting for their life,” he said.
Alabama Department of Corrections
Deanna Smith, the wife of convicted murderer Kenneth Eugene Smith, reportedly cried for her husband as he thrashed against his restraints Thursday. DAN ANDERSON/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
“We saw minutes of someone moving from one side to the other. We saw saliva. We saw all kinds of things from her mouth unfold on the mask. “We saw this mask tied to the stretcher and him moving his head forward over and over again.”
He echoed the killer’s final statement that “Alabama made humanity take a step back.”
“Kenny Smith was by no means a perfect person, but we have to make sure this never happens again,” Hood said.
Alabama Prison Commissioner John Hamm said the execution went as planned.
“It seemed like Smith was holding his breath as long as he could,” Hamm said. “He struggled a little against the restraints, but it is an involuntary movement and agonizing breathing. So that was all that was expected.”
Smith was one of two men convicted of the murder-for-hire of a preacher’s wife in 1988. Each man was paid $1,000 to kill Elizabeth Sennett on behalf of her husband, Charles Sennett, who wanted to collect on the insurance.
Sennet was found stabbed to death in her home. The preacher committed suicide a week after her death while detectives pursued him as a suspect.
Sennett’s son, Mike, called the execution a “bittersweet day.”
“We’re not going to be jumping around, shouting ‘hooray’ and all that. “That’s not us,” Mike said at a news conference. “But we’re glad this day is over.”
He described Eugene Smith’s execution as “a weight lifted off his shoulders” and said his family forgave the three men involved in his mother’s murder “years ago.”
“I forgive him,” he said of Smith. “I forgive him [for] what he did. I don’t like what he did, but we forgive them.
“The Bible says bad actions have consequences (and Kenneth Smith made some bad decisions 35 years ago) and his debt was paid tonight,” the son said.
“Elizabeth Dorlene Thorne Sennett got justice tonight.”
With mail cables.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn