Alabama First Nitrogen Gas Execution Met with Controversy

Alabama executed Kenneth Eugene Smith, 58, by nitrogen gas, the first such execution globally

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Smith was convicted of murdering a pastor's wife, Elizabeth Sennett, in a 1988 killing-for-hire

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Witnesses said Smith thrashed violently on the gurney during the 25-minute execution

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Alabama approved nitrogen hypoxia as an alternative execution method when lethal injection drugs became scarce

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The state said the execution was effective and humane, but the UN condemned it as possibly cruel and inhumane

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Smith had accomplices including the victim's husband, who arranged her murder for insurance money

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Alabama tried to execute Smith in 2021 but couldn't find a vein for lethal injection

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The nitrogen method has never been used before and could cause violent convulsions or leave the inmate alive but vegetative

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