Posted on 01/26/2024 11:44:52 AM PST by RandFan
A witness to the first ever US prisoner to be executed by ‘painless’ nitrogen gas says Kenneth Eugene Smith writhed in agony as he suffered a ‘horrific’ death.
The killer-for-hire, 58, was fitted with a gas mask which was pumped full of 100% nitrogen gas at the execution chamber at the William C. Holman prison in Atmore, Alabama.
State authorities had predicted unconsciousness within seconds and death within minutes.
But instead Smith took 22 minutes to die, convulsing in his chair and tugging against his restraints for several minutes before losing consciousness.
At one point as the killer thrashed against his restraints, his wife Deanna, wearing a T-shirt reading ‘Never Alone’, reportedly cried out for him from the witness box.
Smith was sentenced to death in 1996 for a murder-for-hire killing of a preacher’s wife in 1988, which he was paid just $1000 to commit.
As he spoke his final words, delivered through the gas mask on his face, Smith made a heart sign with his left hand to his family before declaring: ‘Tonight Alabama causes humanity to take a step backwards… I’m leaving with love, peace and light.’
Jeff Hood, who acted as Smith’s spiritual guide throughout the ordeal, said the execution was the worst thing he’d ever witnessed.
‘When they turned the nitrogen on, he began to convulse, he popped up on the gurney over and over again, he shook the whole gurney,’ he said.
(Excerpt) Read more at metro.co.uk ...
Was he merciful to his victims?
Not as ‘horrific ‘ as his victim..................
I don’t doubt that he struggled. Most people do struggle when they’re being put to death. That doesn’t mean he was physically suffering.
Government shouldn’t kill people.
Give the family members axes, sledge hammers, blow torches, and machetes. Let them fix it.
Or sell the “opportunity” and do a pay-per-view to help those impacted.
Nitrogen is tasteless and odorless. The human body does not convulse because it breathes nitrogen. We breathe about 78% nitrogen every breath of every day.
He obviously held his breath and wriggled around to make it look horrific and painless.
Executions are always harrowing to ordinary people who have not seen them before. And they should be, no matter how they are done. It is not a good thing to have a large percentage of the people be casual about executions.
There are still some people who must be executed.
This one was botched. That should not prevent the next one.
Just give them a big shot of sedative first. No problem.
Sumbitch deserved it.
Try fentanyl. Seems to work well
I read up on his spiritual advisor, Im not so sure hes not misguided but well meaning. but that said, I could also see him advising the guy to thrash around and put on a “show” for the witnesses.
I would have used a pressure vessel or 3d printed sealable casket and purged the oxygen. Heaven knows Alabama is full of crackerjack welders and tech dudes in Huntsville doing additive manufacturing.
I should qualify I am not an advocate for capital punishment, and his jury recommended prison sentence was set aside by a judge in favor of death. guess I would default to if the family of the victim was good with it then ok.
Yes, sadly. He should have been executed a long time ago!
they are required to wait 15 minutes after the brain flat lines to take off the mask so 7 minutes to expire
Sodium pentobarbital, similar to truth serum. Several times the lethal dose.
If it hadn't been so agonizing, he might have survived...
Is Deanna some sort of airhead?
If he died, then it wasn’t botched.
You are absolutely correct.
Oh.
Darn.
Why not make fentanyl the standard drug for capital punishment?
Our vet has a 2 shot cocktail that takes about 2 minutes.
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