Witnesses watched through a window at an Alabama prison as Kenneth Eugene Smith became the nation's first person to be put to death using nitrogen gas.

ATMORE, Ala. (AP) — As witnesses including five news reporters watched through a window, Kenneth Eugene Smith, who was convicted and sentenced to die in the 1988 murder-for hire slaying of Elizabeth Sennett, convulsed on a gurney as Alabama carried out the nation’s first execution using nitrogen gas.

  • Akasazh
    21·
    5 months ago

    The most bizarre thing about the entire debate is that most proponents of the death penalty explicitly want it to be a painful experience.

    Everything pushed to make they process more effective and humane meets resistance.

    • quicklime@lemm.ee
      5·
      5 months ago

      They’re self-convinced, against nearly all studies and evidence and expert consensus, that capital punishment is an effective deterrent.