Kenneth Smith, the man convicted in the 1988 murder-for-hire of a preacher’s wife, has been executed at Holman Prison in Atmore on Thursday.
According to the latest reports, the state used nitrogen gas for the execution, marking the first time this method has been used in the United States.
Smith was initially set to be executed in 2022 by lethal injection, but the execution was called off at the last second when authorities could not connect an IV line.
Finally, on 25 January 2024, Smith was executed. Following this, the convicted criminal became the first person to be executed by nitrogen poisoning in the United States.
Read on to explore more details about his case and execution.
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Alabama: Has Kenneth Smith Been Executed?
Yes. Kenneth Smith, a 58-year-old man, was executed on 25 January 2024, at Holman Prison in Atmore.
The execution process began at 7:53 p.m. Central time and Smith was declared dead at 8:25 p.m., as reported by John Q. Hamm, the commissioner of the state prison system.
Moreover, Alabama Governor Kay Ivey released a statement saying, “Kenneth Eugene Smith brutally ended the life of 45-year-old Elizabeth Sennett on 18 March 1988.”
“After over 30 years and numerous attempts to manipulate the system, Mr. Smith has finally been held accountable for his terrible crimes,” the statement further reads.
Additionally, the execution was carried out lawfully using nitrogen hypoxia, a method that Mr. Smith had previously requested as an alternative to lethal injection.
“Finally, this case can be put to rest. I hope that Elizabeth Sennett’s family can find closure after all these years of dealing with this immense loss,” added Alabama Governor Ivey.
Despite objections from the Supreme Court’s three liberal justices and concerns from death penalty opponents about the untested method possibly causing suffering, the execution proceeded.
As reported by The Washington Post, Smith, strapped to a gurney with a mask on his head, appeared conscious for several minutes after the nitrogen gas started flowing into the mask, depriving him of oxygen.
Witnesses reported that he “shook and writhed” for at least two minutes before his breathing became heavy for several minutes.
Eventually, his breathing slowed until it was no longer noticeable.
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What Did Kenneth Smith Do? Case Details
In March 1988, a tragic event unfolded in Colbert County, Alabama.
Elizabeth Dorlene Sennett, a 45-year-old mother of two and wife of a pastor, was brutally murdered. Kenneth Eugene Smith, then 22, was one of three men convicted of the crime.
Surprisingly, Charles Sennett Sr., Elizabeth’s husband, planned the conspiracy in order to cash in on his wife’s insurance policy.
He promised Smith and another man $1,000 each for the heinous act. Smith was convicted in 1996.
Despite 11 out of 12 jurors voting for a life sentence, Judge N. Pride Tompkins overruled their decision and sentenced Smith to death.
This practice of judicial override was abolished in Alabama in 2017 and is now prohibited across the United States.
Smith, who maintained that the judge’s override was unjust, was executed at the age of 58.
Alabama’s Governor, Kay Ivey, recognized the need to stop judges from changing jury decisions.
However, Ivey also explained that this new rule won’t affect past cases to uphold justice for victims’ families.
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