‘Writhing and Gasping’: Witnesses Describe ‘Violent’ Alabama Execution as AG Calls It ‘Textbook’ — And Promises More

Alabama’s attorney general called Thursday’s execution by nitrogen gas “textbook” and promised to expand its use, even as witnesses described a “violent” scene inside the death chamber.

Convicted murderer Kenneth Smith was put to death Thursday night in the very first nitrogen gas execution in the United States. According to CNN, witnesses described the condemned man as “writhing and gasping on the gurney for two minutes.”

“This is contrary to what the state indicated in court documents would happen,” said CNN’s Isabel Rosales. “Expectation from their experts was that the nitrogen gas would render Smith unconscious in seconds. That is not what happened.”

Despite the apparently disturbing scene, Alabama officials praised the new method.

“What occurred last night was textbook. I now suspect that many states will follow,” said A.G. Steve Marshall. “As of last night, nitrogen hypoxia as a means of execution is no longer an untested method. It is a proven one…We will definitely have more nitrogen hypoxia executions in Alabama.”

Rosales spoke with an independent journalist who was invited by Smith to witness the execution.

“This is the fifth execution that I’ve witnessed in Alabama, and, you know, I said previously and will say it again: it’s definitely the most violent execution that I’ve ever witnessed,” said Lee Hedgepeth. “It can’t be a textbook execution because there is no textbook for nitrogen hypoxia executions. This was the first nitrogen execution to happen anywhere in the world, so it’s difficult to say what the attorney general was referring to when he said it’s a textbook execution.”

CNN described the timeline of the execution after Smith was fitted with an air-tight mask:

The execution process began at 7:53 p.m. CT Thursday, and Smith was pronounced dead at 8:25 p.m., according to Alabama Department of Corrections officials.

Nitrogen flowed for about 15 minutes during the procedure, state corrections commissioner John Hamm said in a news conference.

Smith, who was on a gurney, appeared conscious for “several minutes into the execution,” and “shook and writhed” for about two minutes after that, media witnesses said in a joint report.

That was followed by several minutes of deep breathing before his breath began slowing “until it was no longer perceptible for media witnesses,” the media witnesses said.

When asked at the news conference about Smith shaking at the beginning of the execution, Hamm said Smith appeared to be holding his breath “for as long as he could” and may have also “struggled against his restraints.”

The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights released a statement on the execution method Friday, suggesting nitrogen hypoxia, “may amount to torture,” CNN reported.

Watch the clip above via CNN.