Kenneth Smith To Be Executed By Nitrogen Gas in Alabama, USA

[rdhopkins2]

A horrible crime deserves stiff punishment. None more so than murder.

That being said, convicted murderer Kenneth Smith is due to be executed by nitrogen gas (effectively suffocation). That sounds like a crude method to me.

January 25 is the date that Smith is due to be an execution guinea pig. Let’s hope it’s not as brutal as it sounds.

https://www.news.com.au/world/north-america/nitrogen-gas-execution-on-the-cards-for-alabama-death-row-inmate-kenneth-eugene-smith/news-story/f96c792274cb4f0cbb371c50bcb7cad4

 

[CD Xbow]

A horrible crime deserves stiff punishment. None more so than murder.

That being said, convicted murderer Kenneth Smith is due to be executed by nitrogen gas (effectively suffocation). That sounds like a crude method to me.

January 25 is the date that Smith is due to be an execution guinea pig. Let’s hope it’s not as brutal as it sounds.

https://www.news.com.au/world/north-america/nitrogen-gas-execution-on-the-cards-for-alabama-death-row-inmate-kenneth-eugene-smith/news-story/f96c792274cb4f0cbb371c50bcb7cad4

Suffocation could be very unpleasant, I don't think it should be regarded as humane. I'm not a believer in the death penalty, mainly for 3 reasons, the states right to murder can be misused, it brutalises those involved and about 25% of folks on death row in the US probably aren't guilty of what they are being executed for. I didn't understand how the 'lethal injection' could fail until I read a little about it. Sometimes it fails because they can't get IV access, this is not surprising since many have been IV drug users. Most of the other failures appear to me to be under dosing. It's mostly done in cookbook fashion with a barbiturate for sedation (pentobarbital), a paralytic (pancuronium) and then the heart stopper, a hefty IV dose of KCl. There seems to be no ability to change or add extra doses.

 

[Kurve]

Suffocation could be very unpleasant, I don't think it should be regarded as humane. I'm not a believer in the death penalty, mainly for 3 reasons, the states right to murder can be misused, it brutalises those involved and about 25% of folks on death row in the US probably aren't guilty of what they are being executed for. I didn't understand how the 'lethal injection' could fail until I read a little about it. Sometimes it fails because they can't get IV access, this is not surprising since many have been IV drug users. Most of the other failures appear to me to be under dosing. It's mostly done in cookbook fashion with a barbiturate for sedation (pentobarbital), a paralytic (pancuronium) and then the heart stopper, a hefty IV dose of KCl. There seems to be no ability to change or add extra doses.

Firing squad is best.

I think all the attention and research that goes in to finding ways to kill people outside of the best known methods, ie. head shot or the other one I don't want to mention right now, is actually sick.

 

[Rob R]

Firing squad is best.

I think all the attention and research that goes in to finding ways to kill people outside of the best known methods, ie. head shot or the other one I don't want to mention right now, is actually sick.

Soviet method, pistol to back of head as you walk back to your cell after the verdict or as you hear the result of your appeal (see the Americans tv series for an example)

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[TheEscapeClub]

Firing squad is best.

I think all the attention and research that goes in to finding ways to kill people outside of the best known methods, ie. head shot or the other one I don't want to mention right now, is actually sick.

Guillotine?

 

[Kurve]

Guillotine?

That's fast and efficient, so is the way the Saudis do it.

I prefer firing squad though because anybody on the squad whose ethics or morality the death penalty offends, has an out and nobody is supposed to know who fired the killer shot.

 

[geoffjennings79]

That's fast and efficient, so is the way the Saudis do it.

I prefer firing squad though because anybody on the squad whose ethics or morality the death penalty offends, has an out and nobody is supposed to know who fired the killer shot.

Unless the person with the real bullet misses deliberately, prisoner doesn't die, and at least one person (possibly more) knows why.

 

[Rob R]

That's fast and efficient, so is the way the Saudis do it.

I prefer firing squad though because anybody on the squad whose ethics or morality the death penalty offends, has an out and nobody is supposed to know who fired the killer shot.

Except given (unlike tv), a round to.the chest isn't an instant kill so the boss of the squad pretty well.will always have to finish the job.

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[utility]

Guillotine?

The individual is still conscious until the blood runs from their head.

 

[geoffjennings79]

Just a general comment, but this is a pretty depressing thread and subject matter.

Sadly, humans are inclined to kill each other in so many circumstances, I'm not sure what the alternative to capital punishment is for abhorrent crimes, even while I have been largely opposed to it for my adult life.

 

[Kurve]

 

[Bostonian]

People who stab innocent people to death don't deserve anything but the worst kind of treatment.

Let him feel the terror his victim did when they were taking her life.

 

[Rob R]

Supreme court over turned his final appeal so justice being served at long last. Probably didn't help his case that last time he appealed, lawyers said nitrogen is more humane than injection and now say nitrogen is cruel.


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[CD Xbow]

Supreme court over turned his final appeal so justice being served at long last. Probably didn't help his case that last time he appealed, lawyers said nitrogen is more humane than injection and now say nitrogen is cruel.


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They did it. The only description I have seen is this -

A reporter also stated that Smith "appeared to shake and writhe on the gurney for at least two minutes at the start of the execution," asking Hamm whether that was "expected" or an indication of "suffering."

"It appeared that, one, Smith was holding his breath for as long as he could," Hamm responded. "And then there's also information out there that he struggled against his restraints a little bit, but there's some involuntary movement and some angled breathing. So that was all expected and is in the side effects that we've seen, researched, with nitrogen hypoxia."

In explaining an approximately 45-minute delay from the time that the Supreme Court allowed the execution to proceed to when witnesses were taken into the chamber, Hamm said that "there was a little hiccup on the EKG lines providing a good reading."

From - Kenneth Eugene Smith executed by nitrogen hypoxia in Alabama, marking a first for the death penalty

This is all so sordid. Smith was hired by Rev. Charles Sennett, Sr. to kill his wife.

"Prosecutors said in 1988 that Smith and John Forrest Parker each received $1,000 to carry out the slaying on behalf of Elizabeth's husband, Rev. Charles Sennett, Sr., the pastor of the Westside Church of Christ in the city of Sheffield.

The pastor had been having an affair and found himself in significant debt before taking out a large life insurance policy on his wife, authorities said. Sennett then sought to collect the money by having his wife killed. Sennett committed suicide one week after his wife's murder, once the investigation got underway and authorities began to consider him as a suspect, according to court documents."

Reverent Charles was a sociopath. Many who knew the minister well announced their fears that the death of the first Mrs. Sennett was suspicious. From - Charles Sennett: Husband, Father, Preacher, Sociopath

 

[CD Xbow]

The Daily Fail has an article which suggests it was unpleasant. I don't understand why they couldn't sedate him at the same time.

How America's first nitrogen gas execution unfolded

Kenneth Eugene Smith, 58, was put to death in Alabama on Thursday night. The state employed a nitrogen gas method previously unused in executions.

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

[demondavey]

People who stab innocent people to death don't deserve anything but the worst kind of treatment.

Let him feel the terror his victim did when they were taking her life.

I don’t think it’s the answer. As a society you need to be above that. Better. What he did was awful, but killing him 35 years later wasn’t the answer. It just isn’t the answer.

 

[demondavey]

The Daily Fail has an article which suggests it was unpleasant. I don't understand why they couldn't sedate him at the same time.

How America's first nitrogen gas execution unfolded

Kenneth Eugene Smith, 58, was put to death in Alabama on Thursday night. The state employed a nitrogen gas method previously unused in executions.

www.dailymail.co.uk

That was my take on it. Just give them a full sedation. You’re not going to feel a thing. Best way to do it.

 

[demondavey]

A while ago there was a documentary called how to kill a human being. The best way to kill someone is an altitude chamber. A Low oxygen environment where blood is taken from the body or the body not exposed to it. Gradually what’ll happen is that you’ll end up with a dizzy drunk sensation that’ll end up killing you from oxygen starvation.

Watch from about 37 minutes on.

Now, what it is ironic is that if you keep watching you’ll see a professor discussing nitrogen hypoxia. Inhaling pure nitrogen. Unconscious within seconds and dead in minutes. But, is this what happened to Smith? Or did they botch it?

 

[demondavey]

Supreme court over turned his final appeal so justice being served at long last. Probably didn't help his case that last time he appealed, lawyers said nitrogen is more humane than injection and now say nitrogen is cruel.


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Experts in this field have categorically stated this is not a humane way to do it, however, the video I posted above shows that a professor suggested it was. So I am actually uncertain. Maybe Alabama stuffed it up somehow?

 

[demondavey]

Unless the person with the real bullet misses deliberately, prisoner doesn't die, and at least one person (possibly more) knows why.

I think there’s 6 shooters and one is blank. So 5 bullets in the chest and I reckon you’re done. Either that or they shoot you in the head if you’re not dead immediately and the mortician tidies you up for the funeral arrangements.

 

[demondavey]

Just a general comment, but this is a pretty depressing thread and subject matter.

Sadly, humans are inclined to kill each other in so many circumstances, I'm not sure what the alternative to capital punishment is for abhorrent crimes, even while I have been largely opposed to it for my adult life.

Honestly, just scrap it.

 

[Bostonian]

I don’t think it’s the answer. As a society you need to be above that. Better. What he did was awful, but killing him 35 years later wasn’t the answer. It just isn’t the answer.

Awful?

It's horrific.

Absolutely nothing is gained by letting people like that live.

All it does is remind family and friends that killer is still out there somewhere and cost tax payers a fortune to keep them locked up.

 

[demondavey]

Awful?

It's horrific.

Absolutely nothing is gained by letting people like that live.

All it does is remind family and friends that killer is still out there somewhere and cost tax payers a fortune to keep them locked up.

Yeah but, really? How does that actually show that society is above these people? Tax payer money? Let’s not get into a discussion about wasted tax payer money, governments squander money and don’t utilise it the best way they can without even entering into discussions about covering the cost of death row inmates.

Also, that’s clearly not an argument that will apply to every state, so why isolate it to the states that do use capital punishment? Society has to be above these people. Prisons are government expenses. Perhaps more needs to be invested into education, opportunity etc and minimising the opportunity for this. Americas mental health issues are extraordinary.

The issue with the DP is that there are people there that are probably not guilty. They have also executed innocent people before. Thats a fact. Given that they’ve made those mistakes I’d be thinking any decent society would scrap it. You can also extricate value from these people in prison. At the moment they sit there and do stuff all. They genuinely could be working to produce value for society. It’s a wasted workforce.

 

[Bostonian]

Yeah but, really? How does that actually show that society is above these people? Tax payer money? Let’s not get into a discussion about wasted tax payer money, governments squander money and don’t utilise it the best way they can without even entering into discussions about covering the cost of death row inmates.

Also, that’s clearly not an argument that will apply to every state, so why isolate it to the states that do use capital punishment? Society has to be above these people. Prisons are government expenses. Perhaps more needs to be invested into education, opportunity etc and minimising the opportunity for this. Americas mental health issues are extraordinary.

We know we are above them because we don't wish harm to innocent people.

Absolutely nothing is gained by keeping them alive.

So finish them off like the rabid dogs they are.

Justice for the victim was served in this case.

 

[demondavey]

We know we are above them because we don't wish harm to innocent people.

Absolutely nothing is gained by keeping them alive.

So finish them off like the rabid dogs they are.

Justice for the victim was served in this case.

Simplistic argument.

Being above them is not killing them. It says that our governing powers set a standard that’s vengeful and behaves in the same way as them, by killing.

Again, innocent people executed shows that it’s flawed. Justice wasn’t served at all, justice is saying you’ll live inside forever and you’ll be working to produce something to society. You’ve got to think more laterally, not just the basic eye for an eye rubbish.