Posted on 08/26/2023 2:39:43 PM PDT by Libloather
A murderer who killed a preacher's wife in 1988 is set to become the first death row inmate in America to be executed with nitrogen.
Alabama officials want to put Kenneth Eugene Smith, 58, to death by nitrogen hypoxia - forcing him to breathe only nitrogen, depriving them of oxygen and causing them to die.
Several states have authorized the method, which is said to be painless, but it has still never been used.
Critics have said authorities would be 'experimenting with a never before used method - but even Smith has said he would prefer death by nitrogen to a lethal injection.
The Alabama attorney general's office on Friday asked the state Supreme Court to set an execution date for Smith. The court filing indicated Alabama plans to put him to death by nitrogen hypoxia.
Nitrogen makes up 78% of the air inhaled by humans and is harmless when inhaled with oxygen. Proponents of the new method have theorized it would be painless.
Alabama authorized the method in 2018 amid a shortage of drugs used to carry out lethal injections, but the state has not attempted to use it until now to carry out a death sentence.
Oklahoma and Mississippi have also authorized nitrogen hypoxia, but have not used it.
The disclosure that Alabama is ready to use nitrogen hypoxia is expected to set off a new round of legal battles over the constitutionality of the method.
Smith was one of two men paid $1,000 each to murder Elizabeth Sennett on behalf of her preacher husband, Charles Sennett Sr., who was in debt and wanted to collect life insurance money.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
“The body’s regulatory systems are going to be screaming “More air” (i.e., “more oxygen”) and no matter how hard he breathes the body will be shrieking “more air”. I think this would be a horrific way to go. Panic will set in.”
Ten posts it took.
At least a couple of you got it.
Buy the bullet .... have a lottery for the trigger 1$ a ticket.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Had never heard that suggestion before! I’m 100% for it. Where do I get my ticket?
If harmless, couldn’t it be breathed for maybe a minute — assuming the respiratory system doesn’t suffer some form of distress
That is really not the way it works. You might want to read up on this.
This is no way a painless death. Sodium Thiopental (one drug injection) is probably the most humane. Puts you to sleep and then you die in your sleep.
Part of the reason to not use lethal injection is to get around the whole 'hippocratic oath' thing. Really, Nitrogen is the best way to go. The process is well known and quite humane. This is really only a problem for those who really want the condemned to suffer for their crimes. Personally, I'll leave that up to the Lord, or satan.
Ever hear of Nitrogen Narcosis and divers?
Breathing pure nitrogen without any oxygen will likely kill you within 5 minutes........
At least it is inert. Oxygen is not.
Used to use it to test live gasoline lines. Even used it to air up a tire.
Apparently not. The compressed gas safety training I get every other year is pretty clear that the extreme hypoxia sets in VERY quickly, and the victim usually is down before he knows what happened. Carbon dioxide buildup causes the panicky "GOTTA BREATHE" response; this does not occur when oxygen is displaced by some other inert gas.
Really.? Try it sometime, but make sure someone is near by to remove the mask before it's too late.. :)
Nope.
The body’s regulatory system (urge to breathe) is driven by carbon dioxide concentration. Lack of oxygen only drives urge to breathe in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease patients.
The effect of lack of oxygen is IDENTICAL to that experienced by every one of THOUSANDS of participants in military aviation drills where individuals are exposed to oxygen deficient atmospheres until they pass out.
This exact same effect has happened to dozens of emergency responders who have entered oxygen deficient atmospheres.
Anyone who has experienced rapid oxygen deprivation will tell you the symptoms are tunnel vision followed almost immediately by loss of consciousness. There is no pain or panic, just lights out.
If the oxygen deprivation is gradual, then you can have disorientation, ringing in the ears, headache, etc.
If they do this right with a high flow non-rebreather mask, the convict will never know what happened.
On the other hand, if they really wanted to guarantee that the convict is calm, they should use 100% nitrous oxide.
You see, the lefties want to do away with all forms of capital punishment. They got everything else deemed cruel and unusual, then they protested against the companies that made the lethal injection drugs to stop them from being sold to the departments of corrections in states with the death penalty. If this is allowed to happen, and proves to neither be cruel or unusual, they might have a real problem.
FTA: ...depriving them of oxygen and causing them to die.
The piece describes one individual, properly refers to him as “him” but then makes his pronouns plural! WTH!?
I think it would be wonderful and very effective if we used public caning for crimes like theft and personal assault..
I agree about suffocating. It’s not the best method of execution. The nitrogen is probably the best way.
A skilled hangman knew how to calculate the length of the drop and the number of coils to use in the noose based on the thickness of the rope and the weight and height of the hangee. It is a lost art.
How about carbon monoxide from the tail pipe of an old Buick?
The usual moaning and groaning on behalf of criminals. Hand him an electrical cord and zap him. I’m old as hell and the Bolsheviks love killers. It’s their political opponents they want to fry.
Yet, even then they would sometimes misjudge and the results were pretty bad.
Why not put a plastic bag over his head and zip tie it
Isn’t nitrogen now used to kill hogs?
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