Alabama set to become first state to use ‘nitrogen hypoxia’ to execute man convicted in murder-for-hire plot

This undated photo provided by the Alabama Department of Corrections shows inmate Kenneth Eugene Smith, who was convicted in a 1988 murder-for-hire slaying of a preacher

This undated photo provided by the Alabama Department of Corrections shows inmate Kenneth Eugene Smith, who was convicted in a 1988 murder-for-hire slaying of a preacher’s wife. (Alabama Department of Corrections via AP, File)

If all goes according to a court-ordered plan, it will be a first for the United States when at the end of this month the state of Alabama executes Kenneth Eugene Smith by suffocating him to death using nitrogen gas.

His face, a partially redacted and only recently finalized state protocol dictates, will be covered with a mask pressed flush to the skin. Once confirmed to be in place and double checked, amid other criteria and finalizations required under law, nitrogen gas will flow into the mask for at least 5 to 15 minutes until it is clear Smith has flatlined on an EKG monitor. Per a 48-page order obtained by Law&Crime from U.S. District Judge Austin Huffaker in Alabama’s Middle District, Smith is scheduled to die on Jan. 25. Local outlet AL.com notes the window for his execution is between 2 a.m. that day and 6 a.m. on Jan. 26.

Smith has been on death row since 1996 for his role in a gory murder-for-hire plot that left a minister’s wife dead after a vicious beating and repeated stabbing inside her Alabama home in 1988. Smith confessed to his part in killing Elizabeth Sennett, as reported by Law&Crime late last year.

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