Kenneth Smith’s execution condemned with 43 more death row inmates slated to die by nitrogen: Updates

Alabama Governor Kay Ivey said the case could “finally be put to rest” following Kenneth Smith’s execution.

“On March 18, 1988, 45-year-old Elizabeth Sennett’s life was brutally taken from her by Kenneth Eugene Smith,” Governor Ivey said.

“After more than 30 years and attempt after attempt to game the system, Mr. Smith has answered for his horrendous crimes.

“The execution was lawfully carried out by nitrogen hypoxia, the method previously requested by Mr Smith as an alternative to lethal injection. At long last, Mr. Smith got what he asked for, and this case can finally be put to rest.

“I pray that Elizabeth Sennett’s family can receive closure after all these years dealing with that great loss.”

Three states have approved the use of nitrogen gas for executions of death row inmates.

Those states are Alabama, Oklahoma and Mississippi.

However, neither Oklahoma or Mississippi have ever used the execution method.

Alabama, which adopted the method in 2018, became the first to use it when Kenneth Eugene Smith was put to death on Thursday 25 January.

Kenneth Smith’s religious adviser Reverend Jeff Hood, who witnessed the execution, told reporters afterwards that what he saw was a man “struggling for their life” for a staggering 22 minutes.

Alabama authorities had predicted the untested method would lead to unconsciousness within seconds and death in only a matter of minutes.

Following the execution, the state continued to insist the execution went to plan.

But, witnesses said Smith appeared conscious for several minutes, shaking and writhing on the gurney.

“We didn’t see somebody go unconscious in 30 seconds,” said Rev Hood.

“Heaving back and forth, we saw spit, we saw all sorts of stuff develop from the mask. The mask was tied to the gurney, ripping his head back and forth over and over again.”

In his final statement before he was executed, Alabama death row inmate Kenneth Eugene Smith said humanity took a step backwards in Alabama.

“Tonight Alabama causes humanity to take a step backwards. … I’m leaving with love, peace and light,” he said.

He made the “I love you sign” with his hands toward family members who were witnesses. “Thank you for supporting me. Love, love all of you,” Smith said.

In 1988, Smith was convicted of murdering Elizabeth Dorlene Sennett in a murder-for-hire plot in Colbert County, Alabama.

Sennett was the wife of Church of Christ pastor Charles Sennett, who allegedly paid Smith and another man $1,000 to kill his spouse.

The pastor was allegedly deeply in debt and wanted to collect on insurance from her death, according to court documents.

Sennett was killed in a brutal attack inside her home. 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.

In 1989, Smith 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.

But 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 was found dead in her home on 18 March 1988 with eight stab wounds in the chest and one on each side of her neck.

Kenneth Smith was one of two men convicted in the killing. The other, John Forrest Parker, was executed in 2010.

Prosecutors said they were each paid $1,000 to kill Sennett on behalf of her pastor husband, who was deeply in debt and wanted to collect on insurance.

The husband, Charles Sennett Sr, killed himself when the investigation focused on him as a suspect, according to court documents.

Smith’s 1989 conviction was overturned, but he was convicted again in 1996. The jury recommended a life sentence by 11-1, but a judge overrode that and sentenced him to death.

The victim’s son, Charles Sennett Jr, earlier told WAAY-TV that Smith “has to pay for what he’s done”.

“And some of these people out there say, ‘Well, he doesn’t need to suffer like that.’ Well, he didn’t ask Mama how to suffer?” he said.

“They just did it. They stabbed her — multiple times.”

Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said at least 43 other inmates have elected to use nitrogen gas as an execution method.

Based on feedback he’s received, the AG has said that he expects other states to follow suit with the new execution method.

So far, only Mississippi and Oklahoma have also approved it.

Despite concerns and reports that Smith had been “writhing and thrashing” during the execution, the AG maintained that nothing out of the ordinary took place Thursday night.

Five news reporters watched through a window as Kenneth Eugene Smith convulsed on a gurney as Alabama carried out the nation’s first execution using nitrogen gas.

Here’s an AP eyewitness account:

It’s a grim 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? Sean O’Grady reports: