The wife of Kenneth Eugene Smith cried out for her killer husband as he thrashed against his restraints, suffering as he became the first person in history to be executed via nitrogen hypoxia.
Smith, 58, was put to death Thursday in a ‘horrific’ 22-minute ordeal when a gas mask was placed over his face, before a stream of 100 percent nitrogen gas suffocated him inside the execution chamber at the William C. Holman prison in Atmore, Alabama.
The murderer’s spiritual guide, Jeff Hood, described the execution as the ‘worst thing’ he had ever seen, claiming prison officials gasped in shock as he died far slower than anticipated.
