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 ...
If he really suffered then it proves hemp rope and “Old Sparky” still work best for a quick death.
No where in the Constitution does it say the death penalty must be stress free. The scarier for the criminal the better if it is done within a few weeks of being found guilty.
None of those who shot Presidents lasted over two months after the sentence of death.
Probably for the safety of those performing the execution and the witnesses present. If there is any issue with the execution chamber leaking, a nitrogen leak would be harmless to those not being executed. A CO leak could, at least theoretically, yield enough of an exposure to cause harm to innocent people present.
So if there was suffering, that’s on the activists.
I saw a horse put down with Nicotine sulfate (Black Leaf 40). Six seconds and down he went.
Well we did buy him a T-bone steak, hash browns, toast and eggs slathered in A1 steak sauce for his last meal.
That was mighty white of us.
Feel good story of the day.
Our vet uses 2 shots as well. The first one tranquilizes them; we are then given several minutes together to say goodbye. The first shot preps them for the second, which takes less than a minute to work. One of our cats was so ready to cross Rainbow Bridge that the tranquilizer killed him before the second shot.
The drug companies have made it hard if not impossible for the states to get the drugs to carry out the execution. They have had to come up with other means.
Actually I’m not... !
I prefer different methods
Anyone put to death for murder deserves a horrific death, to make others see what awaits them if they engage in crimes that if caught come with the death penalty. Deterrance.
Bring back public hangings. It’s fast, if the rope is measured right for the drop, and snap, it’s over.
Bring back public hangings in the courthouse square. It is cheap, proven effective, and doing it in public is more of a deterrent.
Thank you. That was my speculation.
A firing squad would be far more humane; thus, the states should go back to that.
The problem with drugs is that they are approved for a medical purpose, and any licensed professional who uses or assists in their use to cause death will be buried in lawsuits and board complaints.
I would never use my medical skills to execute someone. Join a firing squad or flip the switch? Sure.
The really ironic part is that those who whine about the suffering of the criminal and clamor for more humane methods of execution are often proposing methods that are less humane and cause more suffering. What they really want are methods that don’t look so gruesome to them, rather than methods that actually cause less suffering.
For example, they would all freak out if we brought back the guillotine, but death by guillotine would be very quick and further severing the spinal cord would prevent nerve signals communicating pain from reaching the brain, so the method would be effectively painless for the criminal. A fast and painless method certainly seems more humane than so-called humane methods that allow the person to live for many minutes during the execution, doesn’t it? In similar fashion, hanging and firing squads give quick death with minimal suffering for the criminal.
Besides what do these idiots know about inhumane execution methods? Bring back crucifixion or drawing and quartering if you want to see REAL inhumane executions. Nothing we do now even comes close.
The problem for Alabama arose because it has become difficult for death-penalty states to acquire the drugs to put people to death. As I understand it, many of the drugs that can do the job are manufactured by companies in the E.U. which forbids their use in executions.
The human brain does not register a lack of oxygen in the air, but rather too much carbon dioxide. If what you are breathing lacks oxygen, you quickly pass out, like when a plane at altitude loses pressure. Pure nitrogen will make you lose consciousness within seconds and you have no idea what has happened.
Now if I know I’m about to die from what a mask on my face is delivering to me, yes, I will hold my breath for as long as possible, maybe two minutes before the carbon dioxide in my system forces me to take a breath. In the mean time I may be thrashing about. There may well be panic, but I doubt there will be pain.
“Important to note: Executions are often botched as I understand it. It’s nothing new but this is a world first and doesn’t look good.”
If it is being botched, it’s either due to human stupidity (of which there is a plethora these days)... or due to an anti-death penalty agenda.... ie it’s deliberate.
The anti-death penalty crowd probably look at these few that are executed-by-botch as collateral damage and part of their “by any means necessary” tactics.
Anyone that has ever had surgery knows that if they wanted to be “humane”, all they’d have to do is inject that stuff that makes you feel all floaty and GREAT... to the point that you don’t care ‘what’ happens next until you lose consciousness...
before the injection of the fluid that would stop the heart. It could be done very humanely. That’s just not their agenda.
I agree.
The only reason that it could possibly take 22 minutes for the man to die on 100% nitrogen is if the mask was very poorly fitted.
There had to be leakage around the mask. A lot of leakage.
My choice of an execution gas would be Carbon. Monoxide.
Even with leakage around the mask death would be quick and painless.
Nitrogen is safer for other people in the room but there really is no reason for there to be other people in the room.
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