What is nitrogen hypoxia? Alabama execution set to proceed Thursday

Alabama is set to carry out the first execution in the United States to use nitrogen gas on Thursday evening, a controversial and untested method that has drawn criticism from both the US and countries abroad.

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Kenneth Eugene Smith is set to be executed at Alabama’s William C. Holman Correctional Facility at 6 p.m. CT when officials will put a mask on Smith and administer a flow of nitrogen into it.

Thursday evening will not be the first time Smith has been in the Atmore, Alabama, death chamber. Smith was set to be put to death by lethal injection in November 2022, but executioners could not find a second suitable vein to inject the medication then used in Alabama executions. The attempted execution went on for nearly four hours before his death warrant expired.

Smith’s attorneys have filed numerous motions to stop Thursday’s execution which they refer to as “experimental.”

The US Supreme Court announced Wednesday that will not stay the execution.

The UN’s High Commissioner for Human Rights has called on the state to halt the execution, saying gassing Smith could amount to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.

Since 2018, the state has been responsible for three botched attempts at lethal injection in which the condemned inmates survived. Alabama has 165 people on death row.

The state has taken criticism for its decision, including from Former Gov. Don Siegelman who said he thinks Alabama leaders, including Gov. Kay Ivey, will regret not taking action to stop Smith’s execution.

Ivey defended the method in a statement to ABC News last week. “Nitrogen hypoxia is the method previously requested by the inmate as an alternative to lethal injection,” she said.

Barring a stay from Ivey, Smith will be executed on Thursday. How does nitrogen hypoxia work?

Here’s what we know about it.

What is nitrogen hypoxia execution?

Execution by nitrogen hypoxia is a process where pure nitrogen gas is inhaled to the point of causing asphyxiation.

During the execution, Smith will be strapped to a gurney in the chamber with a gas mask on his face. He will breathe nitrogen through a gas mask until his body is depleted entirely of oxygen and shuts down, causing death.

Nitrogen composes around 75% of the air that humans and animals breathe, but the gas is only safe to inhale when it is mixed with an appropriate concentration of oxygen.

The mask to be used in Smith’s execution is a “NIOSH-approved Type-C full facepiece supplied air respirator,” The Associated Press reported, citing a court filing related to the execution.

“After the nitrogen gas is introduced, it will be administered for (1) fifteen minutes or (2) five minutes following a flatline indication on the EKG, whichever is longer,” according to Alabama’s protocol for execution by nitrogen hypoxia.

What could go wrong?

Since 2018, three death row prisoners in the state, including Smith, have survived execution attempts because of difficulty inserting intravenous lines.

Because of the use of nitrogen gas, a mistake in Thursday’s execution could lead to severe consequences for anyone in the death chamber with Smith.

A leak from Smith’s mask could flood the room with nitrogen causing injuries or death to anyone close enough for a long enough period of time.

Smith’s legal team has also argued the nitrogen gas method is “recently released and untested,” and could leave him at risk of choking on his vomit.

Smith’s spiritual adviser, Rev. Jeff Hood, will be present in the room when the execution happens. He told the BBC he believes he will be in danger if the nitrogen leaks.

Why is Smith on death row?

Smith was one of two men convicted of murdering 45-year-old Elizabeth Sennett in a $1,000 murder-for-hire in March 1988.

Charles Sennett, a Church of Christ minister in Colbert County, Alabama, began making arrangements to have his wife, Elizabeth, killed, according to court records.

A week after the murder, Charles Sennett died by suicide.

Testimonies allege that Sennett wanted to have his wife killed so he could collect on a large insurance policy he had taken out on his wife.

Sennett recruited Billy Gray Williams to carry out the murder, according to trial records, who in turn recruited John Forrest Parker and Kenneth Eugene Smith. They were to be paid $1,000 a piece for killing Elizabeth Sennett.

The coroner testified that Elizabeth Sennett was stabbed “eight times in the chest and once on each side of the neck and had suffered numerous abrasions and cuts.”

Smith and Parker then ransacked Sennett’s home to make it look like it was a burglary gone wrong.

On April 7, 1988, Smith was indicted for the capital murder of Sennett.

In November 1989, Smith was convicted and sentenced to death, the jury recommending the sentence by a vote of 10-2.

His conviction and death sentence, however, were overturned in 1992 because the state opted to exclude several potential jurors based on their race, according to The Associated Press.

In 1996, Smith was once again tried for the murder of Sennett and was convicted of capital murder. The jury recommended that Smith be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. However, the judge overrode the jury’s recommendation the following May, sentencing Smith to death by electrocution.

Has any other state-approved nitrogen hypoxia executions?

Two other states – Mississippi and Oklahoma – have approved nitrogen gas as a form of execution.

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