Attorney General Steve Marshall of Alabama confirmed that the state’s request to execute Kenneth Eugene Smith via nitrogen hypoxia was granted by the Alabama Supreme Court.
Two juries have found Smith guilty of killing Elizabeth Dorlene Sennett in 1988 in her Colbert County home for hire. Pastor Sennett’s wife was viciously attacked and stabbed. Smith, who has been detained on death row since 1996, acknowledged his role in the crime.
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Who is Kenneth Eugene Smith?
Kenneth Eugene Smith is 47 years old. After admitting to killing a pastor’s wife for money in 1988 after she had been brutally beaten and stabbed, he was given the death penalty in 1996.
But by the time the authorities showed around to execute the sentence, midnight had already gone. Smith and his legal team then filed an appeal with the court, claiming that Smith was in excruciating pain during the procedure and fighting against a second lethal injection.
Smith is scheduled to be the first prisoner on death row to be executed with nitrogen gas as a substitute. Although this technique has been approved by law since 2018, no prisoners have yet to receive it.
In a statement, Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said, “The family of Elizabeth Sennett has taken an intolerable 35 years without receiving justice. The Alabama Supreme Court today authorized Kenneth Smith’s nitrogen hypoxia execution in retaliation for Elizabeth’s 1988 murder. I am appreciative that our skilled capital litigators have almost brought this matter to a successful conclusion, even if the wait has been far too long.”
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With one justice abstaining, the Alabama Supreme Court decided 6-2 to approve the state’s request. The ruling, which was released on Wednesday, tells Gov. Kay Ivey to set aside a minimum of 30 days, although it does not specify a date.
