Alabama man on death row killed with nitrogen gas in unprecedented execution

ATMORE, Ala. (TCD) -- A 58-year-old death row inmate was executed Thursday night with nitrogen gas, which marks the first time this technique was used in place of other execution methods.

Kenneth Eugene Smith’s execution was scheduled to occur between 12 a.m. on Thursday, Jan. 25, and 6 a.m. on Friday, Jan. 26, and the Alabama Department of Corrections set the tentative start time for 6 p.m. Smith has been on death row since 1989 after he was found guilty of first-degree murder for the death of Elizabeth Sennett.

According to AL.com, five news reporters were brought in to witness the execution, as well as Smith’s spiritual adviser, the Rev. Jeff Hood. Smith’s wife, son, attorney, and friend were also present.

The viewing room curtain opened at 7:53 p.m. Smith was inside the room and reportedly smiled at the reporters and other witnesses. He told his wife he loved her and gave her a thumbs-up.

Smith gave a statement prior to the gas being administered and said, "Tonight Alabama causes humanity to take a step backwards."

He reportedly thanked his family and loved ones, adding, "I’m leaving with love, peace, and light."

Smith was initially scheduled to be executed in November 2022 via lethal injection, but officials reportedly could not find his vein in time.

While being given the gas, Smith reportedly convulsed for about two minutes and pulled at the restraints that tied him to the gurney. He was pronounced dead at 8:25 p.m.

The nitrogen method involves the gas flowing through a mask, which ultimately deprives the body of oxygen. His attorneys appealed the gas execution all the way up to the Supreme Court, but a majority of the justices blocked the appeal.

AL.com reports Smith and Hood, the spiritual adviser, said in a statement prior to the execution, "The eyes of the world are on this impending moral apocalypse. Our prayer is that people will not turn their heads. We simply cannot normalize the suffocation of each other."

Hood spoke at a press conference with Death Penalty Action and said, "We didn’t see somebody go unconscious in 30 seconds. What we saw was minutes of someone struggling for their life, heaving back and forth."

He added, "Kenny Smith was by no means a perfect person. We have got to make sure that this never, ever, happens again."

Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall released a statement following the execution and defended the state's decision.

Marshall said, "Justice has been served. Tonight, Kenneth Smith was put to death for the heinous act he committed over 35 years ago: the murder-for-hire slaying of Elizabeth Sennett, an innocent woman who was by all accounts a godly wife, a loving mother and grandmother, and a beloved pillar of her community."

Marshall wrote in the statement that the law enacting nitrogen hypoxia as a method of execution was enacted in 2018. He said it "was intended to be—and has now proved to be — an effective and humane method of execution."

Sennett was found dead March 18, 1988. AL.com reports she had reportedly been stabbed and beaten in a murder-for-hire plot orchestrated by Sennett’s husband, Charles.

The attorney general's office said Charles Sennett paid Smith and another accomplice $1,000 to kill his wife because he had recently "incurred substantial debts and was having an extramarital affair." Not long before Elizabeth Sennett's death, Charles Sennett reportedly took out a "large" insurance policy on her.

Smith and his friend, John Parker, went into her home, where Elizabeth Sennett was "ambushed, violently punched, beaten, and bludgeoned, and stabbed over and over again with the six-inch survival knife that Smith and Parker had brought with them."

According to AL.com, Charles Sennett killed himself one week later when investigators pointed to him as a suspect.

MORE:

• Execution Set for Death Row Inmate Kenneth Eugene Smith - Alabama Department of Corrections
• Alabama executes Kenneth Eugene Smith by new nitrogen gas method for 1988 murder of pastor’s wife - AL.com
• Former sheriff recalls woman’s 'horrific' murder-for-hire by pastor as Alabama prepares execution, 11/17/2022 - AL.com
• Kenneth Smith Execution Press Conference - Death Penalty Action
• Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall Statement on the Execution of Murderer Kenneth Smith by Nitrogen Hypoxia - Alabama Attorney General's Office