Nitrogen hypoxia execution of death row prisoner branded inhumane by anaesthetist
State authorities pushed on with the controversial untried method despite claims it had the potential for 'catastrophic mishaps'.
A US state has gone ahead with its killing of a death row prisoner using nitrogen hypoxia despite claims it was an experimental execution method that could amount to torture.
Kenneth Smith was one of two men convicted in 1989 of murdering Elizabeth Sennett, a preacher’s wife who was stabbed and beaten to death in a $1500 contract killing arranged by her husband.
Alabama correctional officers first attempted to execute Mr Smith via lethal injection in 2022 in the “death chamber” at the Holman Correctional Facility.
But they were unable to raise a vein and abandoned the attempt as the clock hit midnight when the state’s death warrant expired.
