Alabama gasses prisoner with nitrogen in first new execution method in decades

The gate at Holman Correctional Facility is monitored by law enforcement before the scheduled execution by asphyxiation using pure nitrogen of Kenneth Smith, convicted for a murder-for-hire committed in 1988, in Atmore, Alabama, U.S. January 25, 2024. REUTER/Micah Green

ATMORE, Alabama (Reuters) -Alabama on Thursday executed convicted murderer Kenneth Smith, who held his breath in vain as officials asphyxiated him with nitrogen gas, the first use of a new method of capital punishment since lethal injections began in the U.S. four decades ago.

Smith, convicted of a 1988 murder-for-hire, was a rare prisoner who had already survived one execution attempt. In November 2022, Alabama officials aborted his execution by lethal injection after struggling for hours to insert an intravenous line's needle in his body.