GEIS-新闻详情

Kenneth Smith’s execution called ‘troubling’ by White House as more inmates slated to die by nitrogen: Updates

2024-01-28 00:00:00.0 独立报-世界新闻原网页

1 second of 1 minute, 5 seconds Volume 0%

Press shift question mark to access a list of keyboard shortcuts Keyboard Shortcuts EnabledDisabled

Play/Pause SPACE

Increase Volume ↑

Decrease Volume ↓

Seek Forward →

Seek Backward ←

Captions On/Off c

Fullscreen/Exit Fullscreen f

Mute/Unmute m

Decrease Caption Size -

Increase Caption Size + or =

Seek % 0-9

Next Up

Witness describes Kenneth Smith's historic nitrogen gas execution

01:08

facebook twitter Email Link https://cdn.jwplayer.com/previews/dPU13FNh Copied

Auto360p 720p 540p 360p 270p 180p

Live

00:10

00:54

01:05

Sponsored Links Sponsored Links

Promoted Links Promoted Links

“We didn’t see somebody go unconscious in 30 seconds,” said Rev Hood. “What we saw was minutes of someone struggling for their life.”

Smith’s death came after the US Supreme Court denied a final, 11th-hour bid to stay of execution. The ruling received dissent from Justice Sonia Sotomayor who wrote that the state had selected Smith as a “guinea pig” by using the untested method.

Speaking at a news conference on Friday, Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said that 43 more death row inmates have elected to die by nitrogen hypoxia. People incarcerated on death row are able to chose their preferred method from electrocution, lethal injection or nitrogen hypoxia.

The official said that he expects other states to follow suit based on the feedback he’s received from the execution. “I think it provides an opportunity for states to use this method,” he said.

Recommended Alabama execution: Kenneth Smith killed by nitrogen gas in first death row case of its kind Execution of Alabama inmate with nitrogen gas condemned by advocacy groups Alabama execution using nitrogen gas, the first ever, again puts US at front of death penalty debate Why Kenneth Smith is being denied food ahead of nitrogen execution Why do we treat our pets more humanely than a death row inmate?

Key Points Kenneth Smith put to death using nitrogen gas in first-of-its-kind US execution Pastor reveals Smith ‘struggled for life’ for 22 minutes in nitrogen gas execution Kenneth Smith’s last statement before nitrogen execution Alabama AG says 43 other death row inmates have elected to use nitrogen hypoxia

Show latest update 1 hour ago What was Kenneth Smith’s last meal?

Kenneth Smith was visited in prison by his wife and sons, who also witnessed his execution by nitrogen on Thursday.

His last meal was steak, eggs and hash browns.

Moments before the execution, he said: “Tonight, Alabama causes humanity to take a step backwards... Thank you for supporting me. Love you all”.

He then turned to his family and signed the words “I love you”.

Michelle Del Rey reports:

Kenneth Smith executed by nitrogen in controversial death row case Kenneth Smith was said to have thrashed violently and repeatedly gasped for air during the 22-minute execution watched by his family

Andrea Cavallier 27 January 2024 19:25

3 hours ago Who was Kenneth Smith’s victim, Elizabeth Sennett?

Elizabeth Dorlene Sennett was murdered on 18 March 1988 by Kenneth Smith in a brutal attack inside her home in Colbert County, Alabama.

She was beaten by a fireplace implement and stabbed 10 times in the chest and neck, her death staged to look like a home invasion and burglary.

Sennett was the wife of Church of Christ pastor Charles Sennett, who allegedly paid Smith and another man $1,000 to kill her. The other man, John Forrest Parker, was executed in 2010.

The pastor was allegedly deeply in debt and wanted to collect on insurance from her death, according to court documents. He killed himself when the investigation focused on him as a suspect.

Smith was convicted in the murder-for-hire plot and in 1989, he was sentenced to death for capital murder, but it was overturned on appeal in 1992.

A jury then sentenced him to life without parole by a vote of 11 to one.

Smith ultimately wasn’t spared a death sentence, as a judge overruled the jury and handed him the death penalty for a second time in 1996.

Elizabeth Dorlene Sennett

(Supplied)

Andrea Cavallier 27 January 2024 18:00

4 hours ago WATCH: Pastor who witnessed Kenneth Smith’s execution describes it as a ‘horror show’

Witness describes Kenneth Smith's historic nitrogen gas execution

Andrea Cavallier 27 January 2024 17:00

5 hours ago Why was Kenneth Eugene Smith on death row?

Kenneth Eugene Smith became the first person in the world to be put to death using nitrogen gas after his execution was carried out on Thursday at an Alabama prison.

But how did Smith end up on death row in the first place? Read more:

Why is Kenneth Eugene Smith on death row in Alabama? Kenneth Eugene Smith was convicted of murdering Elizabeth Dorlene Sennett in a murder-for-hire plot in Colbert County, Alabama

Andrea Cavallier 27 January 2024 16:00

6 hours ago Why do we treat our pets more humanely than a death row inmate?

Authorities in Alabama have come up with a grim and as-yet untested alternative to lethal injection and electric chair – being gassed to death with pure nitrogen, a reputedly ‘painless’ procedure that slowly starves the criminal of oxygen until they die. But would you use it to put down a sickly pet, asks Sean O’Grady.

Read Sean’s full piece here:

Why do we treat our pets more humanely than a death row inmate? Authorities in Alabama have come up with a grim and as-yet untested alternative to lethal injection and electric chair – being gassed to death with pure nitrogen, a reputedly ‘painless’ procedure that slowly starves the criminal of oxygen until they die. But would you use it to put down a sickly pet, asks Sean O’Grady

Matt Mathers 27 January 2024 14:42

7 hours ago ICYMI: Racism, gruesome errors, and botched executions

The last time Alabama attempted to execute Kenneth Eugene Smith, he was one of four death row inmates who were set to be killed across four states in just over 48 hours.

As Josh Marcus wrote for The Independent’s End the Death Penalty campaign at the time, the separate cases showed how capital punishment states struggle with the basics of swift, humane executions.

Then, Alabama botched Smith’s execution when it failed to a suitable vein in which to deliver the lethal drugs.

His execution by nitrogen hypoxia is due to be carried out by officials in the same chamber at the Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore, Alabama, on Thursday.

Read Josh’s full story from November 2022 below.

Inside America’s controversial four-person, 48-hour execution spree States continue to struggle with the basics of swift, humane executions, Josh Marcus reports

Mike Bedigan 27 January 2024 14:00

7 hours ago ICYMI: What happened at the nation's first nitrogen gas execution: An AP eyewitness account

As witnesses including five news reporters watched through a window, Kenneth Eugene Smith, who was convicted and sentenced to die in the 1988 murder-for hire slaying of Elizabeth Sennett, convulsed on a gurney as Alabama carried out the nation’s first execution using nitrogen gas.

Critics who had worried the new execution method would be cruel and experimental said Smith’s final moments Thursday night proved they were right. Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, however, characterized it on Friday as a “textbook” execution.

Full report:

What happened at the nation's first nitrogen gas execution: An AP eyewitness account Witnesses including five reporters watched through a window at an Alabama prison as Kenneth Eugene Smith became the first person in the country to be put to death using nitrogen gas

Matt Mathers 27 January 2024 13:30

8 hours ago ICYMI: Kenneth Smith killed by nitrogen gas in first death row case of its kind

Convicted murderer Kenneth Smith thrashed violently and repeatedly gasped for air during a 22-minute execution as he became the first inmate to be put to death with nitrogen gas.

The 58-year-old was strapped to a gurney and fitted with a mask and a breathing tube that controlled the gas, slowly depriving him of oxygen, at William C Holman prison in Atmore, Alabama last night.

Full report:

Kenneth Smith executed by nitrogen in controversial death row case Kenneth Smith was said to have thrashed violently and repeatedly gasped for air during the 22-minute execution watched by his family

Matt Mathers 27 January 2024 13:00

8 hours ago Why Kenneth Smith is being denied food ahead of nitrogen execution

Ahead of his planned execution on Thursday, Kenneth Smith received his last meal at 10am.

He is not be allowed to consume liquids after 4pm, approximately two hours before the execution. Alabama inmates are provided three meals a day.

Read the full story here:

Why Kenneth Smith is being denied food ahead of nitrogen execution Smith has previously said that his post-traumatic stress disorder causes him to suffer extreme nausea

Mike Bedigan 27 January 2024 13:00

8 hours ago Alabama’s new execution method could be dangerous for everyone in the room

Kenneth Eugene Smith is scheduled to become the first death row inmate to be executed with nitrogen. His pastor says the untested procedure is a cruel violation of religious liberties, Bevan Hurley reports.

Read the full piece here:

Alabama’s Kenneth Eugene Smith faces US’s first nitrogen execution. What is it? Kenneth Eugene Smith is scheduled to become the first death row inmate to be executed with nitrogen. His pastor says the untested procedure is a cruel violation of religious liberties, Bevan Hurley reports

Matt Mathers 27 January 2024 12:31

Newer 1 / 6 Older

More about Alabama death row End the Death Penalty Death Penalty Execution murder

Join our commenting forum Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

2Comments

1/ 1US execution condemned as more inmates set to die by nitrogen: Updates

US execution condemned as more inmates set to die by nitrogen: Updates

Anti-death penalty activists outside the penitentiary as Kenneth Eugene Smith was put to death