Alabama man shook violently on gurney during first-ever nitrogen gas execution

By KIM CHANDLER
Associated Press

ATMORE, Ala. (AP) — A man put to death using nitrogen gas shook and convulsed on the gurney as Alabama carried out the first-of-its-kind execution that once again placed the United States at the forefront of the debate over capital punishment. Convicted killer Kenneth Eugene Smith was pronounced dead Thursday night at an Alabama prison after breathing the gas through a face mask to cause oxygen deprivation. The execution came after a last-minute legal battle in which Smith’s attorneys said the state was making him the test subject for an experimental execution method that could violate the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment. Smith was one of two men convicted in the 1988 murder-for-hire slaying of Elizabeth Sennett.