Will Potter, Neilin Gray Desai, Jen Smith, Dailymail.Com Chief Reporter
00:57 January 26, 2024, updated 01:59 January 26, 2024
- Kenneth Eugene Smith will be executed tonight in Atmore, Alabama after SCOTUS denies his desperate final request
- Later tonight, he will become the first person in history to die from nitrogen hypoxia after being suffocated by a gas mask.
The Supreme Court denied Kenneth Eugene Smith's Hail Mary request for a stay of execution. This means that he will become the first death row inmate in history to be sentenced to death using nitrogen gas.
Smith was scheduled to be executed tonight at 6 p.m. at the William C. Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore, Alabama, but his death warrant has been extended until 6 a.m.
The Supreme Court voted 6-3 to allow the execution to proceed, with three Democratic appointees, Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Ketanji Brown Jackson, and Elana Kagan, dissenting from their conservative colleagues. .
Smith had begged for the experiment to be stopped, citing concerns that the experimental gassing method would cause excruciating pain and cause vomiting. Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall insisted the controversial method was “not painful” for Smith.
Smith is now headed to the execution chamber, but prison chaplain John Ewell told dailymail.com that Smith is “really struggling” to accept his fate.
The Supreme Court yesterday rejected the stay application. Today, as his execution approaches, he filed another request, but the judge rejected his desperate plea and sent him to court.
One of the main reasons Alabama used nitrogen gas to execute Smith was that American prisons have had widespread difficulty obtaining lethal injection drugs in recent years.
Despite warnings from human rights groups against the use of this technique, AG Marshall argued that Smith's concerns were unfounded, and SCOTUS ultimately agreed with the decision.
Justice Sotomayor wrote in his dissent that the method of execution was cruel because Smith would be wearing a mask that had never been fitted to his face until the moment he was tied up, and authorities would not intervene even if he began to suffocate. I wrote that I felt that way. His own vomit.
Mr. Smith also has a chance to say his final words, but is forced to say them through a gas mask before the nitrogen gas is activated.
Mr Sotomayor felt Mr Smith was a “surprise candidate” for an untested method — the last execution scheduled for November 2022 was due to an attempt to inject him with an IV line. It failed over time and was discontinued with painful consequences.
She said she has been suffering from PTSD since he was released from the gallows, “remembering that time he was strapped to the stretcher.”
“After failing to kill Smith on the first attempt, the state of Alabama chose him as a 'guinea pig' to test a never-before-tried execution method,” Sotomayor wrote.
“The world is watching”
Marshall has previously cited experts, including euthanasia expert Dr. Philip Nitsche, as arguing that nitrogen hypoxia is a “peaceful” way to end a person's life.
Mr. Nitsche, testifying for Mr. Smith's defense team, argued that the risk was from the gas being administered through a one-size-fits-all gas mask.
But Marshall said the state's masks have been tested and are strong enough to prevent oxygen from escaping, and Smith, who is choking on nitrogen gas, would be barely able to breathe.
He cited Nitschke's support for nitrogen hypoxia in assisted suicide as further evidence of how painless executions can be.
“Among the many problems for Smith was his star witness, Dr. Philip Nitschke, who might have been better off testifying for the state.
“Before joining Smith's campaign, Dr. Nitschke said those who criticized Alabama's methods were 'misrepresenting the science,'” Marshall wrote.
Dr. Nitschke – Colloquially known as “Dr. “Death” – In the past, we have described this method as “quick,” “effective,” “peaceful,” and “reliable.”
He also dismissed Smith's concerns about vomiting on masks.
Grabbing at straws, Mr. Smith ranted about how to supply nitrogen. First, the masks were too loose, allowing air to get inside. However, the country dispelled those concerns when it produced masks.
Second, Smith said that in the exact few seconds between the gas entering his mask and the time he lost consciousness, he would vomit and suffocate. But the district court found (twice) that Mr. Smith's fears were “speculative,” “theoretical,” and “unlikely.”
Smith claimed that he suffered from nausea and could vomit during the execution.
However, on cross-examination, Smith's expert, Katherine Porterfield, admitted that Smith did not report vomiting. '
He added that if Smith vomited into the mask before the gas was administered, the medical team in place would remove it and clean it.
They don't intervene if he vomits into the mask after the gas is released.
Mr Smith said this was a “highly theoretical” scenario based on “an unlikely chain of events”.
Opinions were divided over the method of execution, with some believing Smith's crimes in 1988 merited the death penalty.
Smith, 22, was one of two people convicted of murder for killing Elizabeth Sennett, 45, the wife of preacher Charles Sennett Sr. He paid the men to kill him.
His first conviction was overturned on appeal in 1989, but he was retried and convicted again in 1996.
Prosecutors said Sennett and John Forest Parker were each paid $1,000 for the murders, and Sennett's husband hopes to collect the insurance money.
She was found dead in her Colbert County home on March 18 of that year, with eight stab wounds to her chest and one on each side of her neck.
Charles Sennett Sr. committed suicide after learning that he was suspected of being involved in the conspiracy.
Smith was originally scheduled to be executed on November 17, 2022, but the lethal injection failed.
Ms Smith recalled feeling “terrible pain” as those tasked with injecting the deadly drugs – midazolam hydrochloride, rocuronium bromide and potassium chloride – were puncturing a muscle rather than finding a vein. .
Smith then said the constant jabs became so ridiculous that it turned into a farce, especially when one of the executioners finally asked Smith to squeeze his hand to make the veins more visible. He said he declined the request.
Unable to find a usable second vein, Smith's stretcher was tilted so that his legs were facing upwards, leading to speculation that this may have allowed blood to flow to his head and leave the veins in his neck more prominent. did.
He was left alone for a few minutes and then the IV was returned with an even larger needle to connect the so-called central line (or central venous catheter), which is much longer than a normal intravenous line and goes all the way into the vein. . A vein near or within the heart.
Mr. Smith reported that after repeated attempts to successfully use a larger needle, the pain became so excruciating that he began to tremble and become wet.
The planned use of nitrogen gas for the first time sparked outrage among human rights advocates and prison reform advocates in the weeks leading up to Thursday's planned execution.
Repriv, an international human rights organization specializing in incarceration, told DailyMail.com that Smith's planned execution was a travesty.
“Execution by nitrogen gas is the latest effort by the state to obscure acts of deadly violence,” the group said.
“For almost 50 years, supporters of the death penalty cling to the lie that it can be carried out humanely, despite the horrific scenes of prisoners agonizingly dying in execution chambers.
“Alabama is once again trying to hide the reality of what goes on in the execution chamber, changing its methods to avoid having to answer questions about what went wrong last time, and this time by veterinarians. Proposing to use a rejected method to kill the animal.
“When Kenneth Smith died from nitrogen, witnesses would not be able to tell how much he was suffering. Like lethal injection protocols before it, the nitrogen protocol uses special injections to mask the pain. It is designed to.”
“The state of Alabama once tortured Mr. Smith, including pricking him with needles for hours on end, and then tortured him again, using him as a guinea pig for a new, dangerous and untested method of execution.”