In Alabama, 59-year-old Kenneth Smith died , executed with nitrogen . It is the first time the practice has been used in the United States for a death sentence since lethal injection was introduced in 1982. The man had been on death row at Holman Prison for 34 years for killing in 1988 Elizabeth Sennett on commission from her husband, a debt-ridden pastor who wanted to collect the insurance premium and then committed suicide. The execution took place after being postponed for a few hours to await the outcome of the latest appeal to the US Supreme Court.
Smith's is the first case in which an American state decides to execute an inmate by forcing him to breathe pure nitrogen in a mask . The method has also been approved in Mississippi and Oklahoma, although it has never been used so far and is considered unacceptable by veterinarians even as a form of euthanasia for animals.
The procedure lasted about twenty minutes . The first attempt to inflict capital punishment on him dates back to a year ago, with a lethal injection. But it went badly, the operators were unable to find the vein and the execution was suspended. These are the last words of the condemned man: «Tonight Alabama made humanity take a step back. I leave with love, peace and light. Thanks for supporting me. I love you all". This is the first execution of the year in the United States, where 24 have been carried out in 2023, all by lethal injection. It is the first time in more than 40 years that a new execution method has been used in this country.
(Unioneonline/vf)