Alabama put to death convicted murderer Kenneth Smith on Thursday evening, Govenor Kay Ivey said, completing the first execution using asphyxiation by nitrogen gas, which the state is advancing as a simpler alternative to lethal injections.

The state has called its new protocol "the most painless and humane method of execution known to man".

United Nations human rights experts and lawyers for Smith – who survived Alabama's previous botched attempt to execute him by lethal injection – had sought to prevent it, saying the method was risky, experimental and could lead to a torturous death or non-fatal injury.

According to AP news agency, the execution took about 22 minutes, and Smith appeared to remain conscious for several minutes. For at least two minutes, he appeared to shake and writhe on the gurney, sometimes pulling against the restraints. That was followed by several minutes of heavy breathing, until breathing was no longer perceptible.

In a final statement, Smith said: “Tonight Alabama causes humanity to take a step backwards. ... I’m leaving with love, peace and light.”

He made the “I love you sign” with his hands toward family members who were witnesses. “Thank you for supporting me. Love, love all of you,” Smith said.

Smith, convicted of a 1988 murder-for-hire, was a rare prisoner who has already survived one execution attempt. In November 2022, Alabama officials aborted his execution by lethal injection after struggling for hours to insert an intravenous line's needle in his body.

"On March 18, 1988, 45-year-old Elizabeth Sennett's life was brutally taken from her by Kenneth Eugene Smith," Governor Ivery said in a statement.

"After more than 30 years and attempt after attempt to game the system, Mr. Smith has answered for his horrendous crimes."

The execution came after a last-minute legal battle in which his attorneys contended the state was making him the test subject for an experimental execution method that could violate the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment. Federal courts rejected Smith’s bid to block it, with the latest ruling coming on Thursday night from the US Supreme Court.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who along with two other liberal justices dissented, wrote: “Having failed to kill Smith on its first attempt, Alabama has selected him as its ‘guinea pig’ to test a method of execution never attempted before. The world is watching.” (Reuters/AP)
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Last updated: 2024-01-26 HKT 11:35