Hitman on US death row to be the f irst in world killed by a gas ‘too cruel for animals’
A CONVICTED hitman is set tonight to be the first person in the world to be executed by nitrogen gas – a method that has been dubbed ‘too cruel for animals’.
Kenneth Eugene Smith, who was hoping to receive a reprieve from federal courts, had his appeal for mercy rejected last night as the US Supreme Court ruled his death by nitrogen hypoxia will go ahead.
He had begged the court for mercy, citing experts’ concerns over the method and despite previously requesting it.
The 58-year-old is due to be executed at midnight tonight our time in Atmore, Alabama.
He was sentenced to death in 1989 for killing a woman on behalf of her preacher husband. While the state of Alabama – one of only three to have legalised nitrogen executions – insists it is ‘humane’, the untested method has even been rejected by vets as being too cruel to be performed on most animals.
Smith’s legal team, who had been seeking an injunction to halt the execution, accused Alabama of using him as a ‘test subject’ for a lethal experiment.
The use of nitrogen is going ahead after a botched execution at Holman Correctional Facility in November 2022 in which Smith was due to be killed by lethal injection.
Despite executioners trying for several hours to inject him, they failed to raise a vein and were forced to abandon attempts after the clock hit midnight and the death warrant expired.
Alabama then authorised a plan to execute Smith by nitrogen suffocation – a method the state says should take a few seconds to knock him out and then between five and 15 minutes to kill him.
US officials are examining alternatives to executions by injection amid a shortage of drugs used in such methods.
In written answers handed to the BBC, Smith – one of only two people to survive lethal injection – called for Alabama to ‘stop [the execution] before it’s too late’.
He said: ‘I’m nauseous all the time. Panic attacks hit regularly. This is just a small part of what I’ve been dealing with daily. Torture, basically.’
Recalling his botched execution in 2022, Smith told The Mail: ‘I’ve tried to keep it out of my mind for the past year but I’ve been reliving this s*** for the past week. I’ve been sick to my stomach and not eaten. And I’ve been struggling with depression and nightmares – I’m in pretty bad shape.’
The death by nitrogen suffocation would see Smith strapped to a gurney and fitted with a respirator mask before the gas is used to fill his airways and prevent oxygen getting to his brain, causing his organs to fail and for him to ultimately die.
Experts say it could cause excessive pain and humiliation, warning he could be left in a vegetative state or choke to death on his own vomit.
The American Veterinary Medical Association has ruled that the method is too cruel to be performed on most animals because the suffocation process is ‘too distressing for some species’.
Meanwhile, UN officials have warned it could breach human rights treaties that prohibit ‘torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment’.
Ravina Shamdasani, a spokesman for the UN Human Rights Office, said: ‘These are rights that are set out in two international human rights treaties that the US is bound by.’
She added: ‘It is worrying that this is gaining ground as a method of execution.’
Smith’s spiritual adviser Reverend Dr Jeff Hood said: ‘I’m certain that Kenny’s not afraid to die. But I think he’s afraid that he will be even further tortured in the process.’
‘Afraid of even further torture’