Posted on 08/26/2023 2:39:43 PM PDT by Libloather
A murderer who killed a preacher's wife in 1988 is set to become the first death row inmate in America to be executed with nitrogen.
Alabama officials want to put Kenneth Eugene Smith, 58, to death by nitrogen hypoxia - forcing him to breathe only nitrogen, depriving them of oxygen and causing them to die.
Several states have authorized the method, which is said to be painless, but it has still never been used.
Critics have said authorities would be 'experimenting with a never before used method - but even Smith has said he would prefer death by nitrogen to a lethal injection.
The Alabama attorney general's office on Friday asked the state Supreme Court to set an execution date for Smith. The court filing indicated Alabama plans to put him to death by nitrogen hypoxia.
Nitrogen makes up 78% of the air inhaled by humans and is harmless when inhaled with oxygen. Proponents of the new method have theorized it would be painless.
Alabama authorized the method in 2018 amid a shortage of drugs used to carry out lethal injections, but the state has not attempted to use it until now to carry out a death sentence.
Oklahoma and Mississippi have also authorized nitrogen hypoxia, but have not used it.
The disclosure that Alabama is ready to use nitrogen hypoxia is expected to set off a new round of legal battles over the constitutionality of the method.
Smith was one of two men paid $1,000 each to murder Elizabeth Sennett on behalf of her preacher husband, Charles Sennett Sr., who was in debt and wanted to collect life insurance money.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Helium asphyxiation is just as effective and makes for much funnier last words.
“Kenneth Smith is set to be executed with NITROGEN by Alabama prison after killing preacher’s wife in 1988”
FAKE NEWS - Nitrogen is already 78% of the Earth’s atmosphere, far more than Carbon Dioxide, for example. Increasing it a bit is NOT going to kill anyone.
I am holding out for “Old Sparky” and not more than 9 months after the trial.
Ten bucks says that some Osama Obama appointee will stop this claiming that it’s “cruel and unusual”.
The key is that he’ll be getting *no* O2.
What they do is remove the oxygen from the air he's breathing (or similarly, have him breathe pure nitrogen).
It's not the nitrogen that kills him. It's simply the lack of oxygen.
Bob, back to high school chemistry and biology for you.
“Increasing it a bit is NOT going to kill anyone.”
Go ahead and try breathing 100% nitrogen for a few minutes. Report back to us.
Bring back hanging. It is a low cost method of execution that is well tried and effective.
The body’s regulatory systems are going to be screaming “More air” (i.e., “more oxygen”) and no matter how hard he breathes the body will be shrieking “more air”. I think this would be a horrific way to go. Panic will set in.
There is probably a heavy dose of sedative to stop that reflex.
Hanging or a bullet to the brain would be far more humane. Even gas would be a lot faster and less painful.
They didn’t mention the 0% oxygen content.
They should call it “death by oxygen deprivation”.
Add in that if a prosecutor is proved to have willfully held back provably exonerating evidence or to have invented the crucial evidence then that prosecutor shares the executed prisoner’s fate.
Nitrogen is cheaper. It is (or was once) used to euthanize stray dogs. It’s quite safe as there are no toxins used. Respiratory distress is caused by the inability to remove CO2 from the blood stream. Barometric chambers used to train flight personnel cause hypoxia, and I know from personal experience it is quite painless. (The Bends-like after effects can be annoying, but Nitrogen hypoxia will not cause that, and the convict will not be around to experience it anyway.) Hypoxia is not only painless, it produces a pleasant feeling of intoxication. Of course, knowing that you are gulping your last breaths may be a real buzz-kill.
Yes, it seems it would be like being up in the mountains. No matter how hard you breath you aren’t getting enough oxygen. Not much fun.
35 years to put the SOB to death. Shame on the system. Shame!
Old time Death-By-A-Thousand-Cuts would be appropriate for some.
I would prefer hanging. Old Sparky is not particularly efficient or useful. Nitrogen asphyxiation safer, no toxic chemicals, no high voltage.
How much pain did the victim feel? WGAF what this pendejho feels? They should barbecue his azz over a fire pit. IMO. I do like the old sparky way too.
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