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View into the execution chamber at the Holman Correctional Facility in Alabama (archive photo): “a step back”
Photo: Dave Martin/dpa
In the USA, a person sentenced to death has been executed for the first time using a new nitrogen method. Apart from members of his family, only a few media representatives were allowed to observe the execution in a prison in the state of Alabama. A journalist from the local news site "Al.com" reports on the last minutes of Kenneth Eugene Smith's life - and a dying process that lasted around ten minutes.
The curtain that separates the visiting room from the execution chamber was raised at 7:53 p.m. Smith looked at his family and the media representatives, smiled and nodded at them. Then he gave a thumbs up and showed the sign language gesture for “I love you.” His wife Deanna wore a T-shirt with the words “Never alone.”
After the execution order was read out, he said his last words: "Tonight, Alabama made humanity take a step back." And further: "I leave with love, peace and light."
A doctor pronounced Smith dead at 8:25 p.m
A priest was with him who touched his feet with a Bible. The nitrogen supply began at around 7:58 p.m. Smith then visibly shook and writhed on the stretcher for around two minutes. His breathing had become heavy. He wheezed for another seven minutes. At times a correctional officer leaned over him and examined his face. At 8:08 p.m., the journalist describes it, Smith stopped breathing. Seven minutes later the curtain was closed. A doctor pronounced Smith dead at 8:25 p.m.
In a news conference Thursday evening, an Alabama Department of Corrections representative who was present at the execution said the reaction he saw on the gurney was consistent with what the state expected to occur in side effects from a nitrogen execution. Smith's fight against the shackles was also anticipated. "It appeared that Smith was holding his breath as long as possible," the representative said. Nothing turned out differently than expected.
»Elizabeth Dorlene Thorne Sennett got justice today«
In 1988, Smith, then 22, agreed to a contract killing in exchange for $1,000. The victim was Elizabeth Sennett, the wife of the client, who committed suicide a week after the crime. At the press conference, the victim's son, Mike Sennett, said: "Nothing that happened here today will bring Mum back. Nothing. It's a bittersweet day, we're not going to jump around and celebrate, that's not who we are. We are glad that this day is over." The family had already forgiven the perpetrators years ago. Nevertheless, he announced: "Elizabeth Dorlene Thorne Sennett got justice today."
Human rights experts had previously complained that the method was untested and that Smith could die a gruesome death that could possibly amount to torture. However, all attempts by his lawyers to stop the execution were unsuccessful. Neither the relevant courts in Alabama nor the US Supreme Court followed their requests. In recent days, demonstrators had also called on the Governor of Alabama, Kay Ivey, to intervene - but in vain.
»Alabama has achieved something historic«
Alabama Attorney General Marshall dismissed all of this as pressure campaigns by activists who opposed the death penalty and ignored that the new method was "humane and effective." “Alabama has achieved something historic,” he announced. Despite international efforts by activists to "undermine the justice system" and "deny victims of heinous murders the justice they deserve," Alabama's "proven method" now offers a blueprint for other states.
Smith was actually scheduled to be executed in 2022 – also by lethal injection. However, the prison staff were unable to insert the necessary cannula into his arm. After several hours of lying strapped on the execution table, he was taken back to his cell. After that first execution attempt, Smith was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.
The case has attracted widespread attention across US borders in recent weeks. Smith himself had phoned reporters from the British Guardian just a few days before his execution and reported that he was plagued by nightmares about having to return to the execution chamber. "I'm not ready for that," he said. "No way. I’m just not ready.”
The death penalty still exists in the military, at the federal level and in 27 states in the USA, although it is de facto no longer carried out in several of these states. The approved methods vary from state to state. By far the most commonly used method today is execution by lethal injection. Nitrogen hypoxia is only legal in the states of Oklahoma and Mississippi, except for Alabama. The method has never been used there before.
with material from dpa