Tag Archives: Executions

NITROGEN HYPOXIA EXECUTIONS — A FIRST BY ALABAMA

On January 25, 2024, the State of Alabama executed prisoner Kenneth Eugene Smith. Inmate Smith, age 58, had been convicted in the 1988 contract murder of a mother of two and was sentenced to die. After three decades on Death Row, he was legally killed by a controversial and unique method. Kenneth Smith became the first person in America to be suffocated with nitrogen gas.

This new and previously untested execution process is called nitrogen hypoxia. Nitrogen makes up the abundance of our atmosphere and, when mixed with oxygen, is vital for human life. Hypoxia means “a state in which oxygen is not available in sufficient amounts at the tissue level to maintain adequate homeostasis”. In other words, to support life.

Quite simply, Smith was strapped to a gurney inside the execution chamber at Holman Correctional Facility near Atmore, Alabama. A gas mask was placed over his face and, instead of administering oxygen, Smith was delivered pure nitrogen. According to Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, “It is the most painless and humane method of execution known to man.”

Alabama is one of three U. S. States to approve nitrogen hypoxia executions—also endorsed by Mississippi and Oklahoma—however, Alabama is the first jurisdiction to exercise the process. It had never been done before in the civilized world. As United States Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor put it, “It appears Mister Smith is being used as a guinea pig.”

Before examining how this nouveau gassing technique works, let’s review who Smith was, the crime he committed, the general state of capital punishment in America, and why this was the second time the State of Alabama tried to physically execute Kenneth Smith, having failed in an earlier attempt at lethal injection.

Kenneth (Kenny) Smith was born on July 4, 1965. He grew up in Alabama and had an unremarkable past—up to the point where he and John Forrest Parker were recruited by Billy Gray Williams to kill 45-year-old Elizabeth Sennett in Colbert County. Mrs. Sennett was married to the Reverend Charles Sennett Sr. who was the pastor to Billy Williams. Rev. Sennett was in dire financial straits, so he took out a life insurance policy on his wife and conspired with Williams to murder Elizabeth and collect the money.

Billy Williams, being an entrepreneurial man, turned around and subcontracted the job to Parker and Kenny Smith. They were each paid $1,000 to repeatedly stab Elizabeth Sennett in her home, which they did. Somehow, a Crimestoppers caller ratted them out and it led the police to arrest them and come looking for Williams and the Reverend. Sennett, knowing the gig was up, confessed to his remaining family. Then he went out to his truck and shot himself dead in the head.

Parker and Smith were tried for first-degree murder, were convicted, and both were sentenced to death. Parker was executed by lethal injection in 2010, but Smith managed to get a new trial. He was convicted a second time and, again, given the death decree. Billy Williams, by the way, got life without parole for conspiracy to commit murder and died in jail from natural causes.

At 7:45 pm on November 17, 2022, Kenneth Smith had run out of appeals and nearly out of time. He was escorted to the execution chamber at the Holman Facility and strapped onto the gurney. A last-minute legal glitch stopped the lethal injection procedure and Smith lay on the table until 10:20 when the U.S. Supreme Court gave the go-ahead.

For the next hour, the execution team vainly searched for a vein in Smith’s arms to insert the catheter. As a last resort, they placed Smith upright in an inverted crucifix position hoping the upside-down method’s gravity pressure would balloon a blood vessel. Approaching midnight, when the death warrant was about to expire, prison officials called off the execution and Smith survived on borrowed time.

This was the third botched execution in a row at Holman. This trio of tries caused the state governor to order a review of the execution models available to Alabama—lethal injection and electrocution. The review returned with a creative suggestion. Nitrogen hypoxia. The state rushed through a bill, and the suffocation death through nitrogen hypoxia execution option was made legal.

Kenneth Smith had a choice for round two. He elected to try out the nitrogen. After all, his first experience with intravenous lethal injection didn’t go well. Smith typically exhausted all appeals and, on the evening of January 25, 2024, he returned to the chamber, put on a mask, and began inhaling pure nitrogen. According to the prison press release, Smith went unconscious after two minutes and was declared dead after twenty-two. The prison release assured, “It is the most painless and humane method of execution known to man.”

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If you’ve been following Dyingwords for a while, you’ve seen I’ve progressively formed a partnership with artificial intelligence. I use AI daily as a research tool and, to some degree, as a writing aid. I make no apologies for this—I willingly embrace new technology and endorse the saying, “Luddites never win.” With that, let me turn to my learned friend, ChatGPT3.5, and discuss nitrogen hypoxia.

Me: Please explain what happens to the human body when oxygen is removed from the air supply and is replaced by pure nitrogen.

ChatGPT: The air we breathe is primarily composed of nitrogen (about 78%), oxygen (about 21%), and trace amounts of other gases, including carbon dioxide. When oxygen is removed from the air supply and replaced by nitrogen, several physiological effects occur, leading to a condition known as hypoxia.

  1. Reduced Oxygen Levels (Hypoxia): Oxygen is essential for various physiological processes, especially cellular respiration, where cells use oxygen to produce energy. When oxygen levels decrease, the body enters a state of hypoxia. This can lead to a cascade of effects on different organs and systems.
  2. Respiratory Effects: Initially, the respiratory system attempts to compensate by increasing the breathing rate. However, since nitrogen does not support cellular respiration, this compensatory mechanism is ultimately insufficient to maintain adequate oxygen levels.
  3. Circulatory Effects: The cardiovascular system responds to low oxygen levels by increasing the heart rate and redirecting blood flow to vital organs in an attempt to deliver the limited oxygen available more efficiently. This response, though, is not sustainable in the absence of sufficient oxygen.
  4. Central Nervous System Effects: The brain is highly sensitive to changes in oxygen levels. In hypoxic conditions, cognitive functions, decision-making, and coordination can be impaired. Severe hypoxia can lead to loss of consciousness.
  5. Cellular Damage: Prolonged exposure to low oxygen levels can lead to cellular damage and, eventually, cell death. This can have widespread effects on tissues and organs throughout the body.
  6. Hypoxia Symptoms: Symptoms of hypoxia include dizziness, shortness of breath, confusion, rapid heartbeat, and, in extreme cases, loss of consciousness. The severity of symptoms depends on the degree and duration of oxygen deprivation.

It’s important to note that replacing oxygen with nitrogen in the air is a highly dangerous scenario and is not encountered in normal, everyday situations. In the atmosphere, oxygen and nitrogen coexist in their natural proportions. Altering these proportions, such as by removing oxygen, can have severe and life-threatening consequences. In practical terms, ensuring a safe and sufficient oxygen supply is crucial for human health and survival.

Me: How long would it take for a human to die under these conditions?

ChatGPT: The time it takes for a human to die under conditions where oxygen is removed from the air supply and replaced by nitrogen depends on various factors, including the degree of oxygen deprivation, the individual’s health, and how quickly the body responds to the lack of oxygen. In such extreme conditions, death could occur relatively quickly, typically within a matter of minutes.

The human body can tolerate short periods of oxygen deprivation to some extent. However, severe hypoxia can lead to irreversible damage to vital organs, especially the brain, which is highly sensitive to changes in oxygen levels. Loss of consciousness can occur rapidly, followed by brain damage and ultimately death.

It’s important to note that intentionally creating an environment with little or no oxygen is extremely dangerous and can lead to immediate harm or death. Oxygen is essential for sustaining life and attempts to remove it from the air supply are not only life-threatening but also ethically and legally unacceptable. In real-world scenarios, maintaining a safe and sufficient oxygen supply is critical for human health and survival.

Me: Would this manner of death be painful?

ChatGPT: The manner of death described, where oxygen is removed from the air supply and replaced by nitrogen, can indeed be painful. The lack of oxygen, leading to hypoxia, triggers a cascade of physiological responses that can result in distressing symptoms and sensations. As the body struggles to obtain the necessary oxygen for vital functions, individuals may experience discomfort, anxiety, and a sense of suffocation.

Symptoms of hypoxia include dizziness, shortness of breath, confusion, rapid heartbeat, and in severe cases, loss of consciousness. The brain, being highly sensitive to oxygen levels, is particularly vulnerable, and the lack of oxygen can lead to cognitive impairment and disorientation. As the oxygen deprivation progresses, it can result in irreversible damage to the brain and other vital organs, contributing to a painful and potentially distressing experience.

It’s essential to emphasize that intentionally creating such conditions is both unethical and dangerous. In practical terms, efforts should focus on ensuring a safe and sufficient oxygen supply to maintain human health and well-being. If you or someone you know is experiencing distress or contemplating self-harm, it is important to seek help from mental health professionals or emergency services immediately.

Me: From a biological aspect, what is happening that causes death through nitrogen hypoxia?

ChatGPT: The process leading to death in a nitrogen hypoxia scenario involves the deprivation of oxygen, leading to a condition called hypoxia. Oxygen is essential for various biological processes, especially cellular respiration, where cells use oxygen to produce energy in the form of adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Here’s a breakdown of the biological aspects leading to death in a hypoxic environment:

Cellular Respiration Disruption

    • Oxygen is a crucial component of the electron transport chain, the final stage of cellular respiration.
    • In the absence of sufficient oxygen, cells cannot efficiently produce ATP, the energy currency of the cell.

ATP Depletion

    • ATP is required for various cellular activities, including maintaining cell membrane integrity, active transport, and other energy-dependent processes.
    • Without an adequate supply of ATP, cells cannot function properly.

Cellular Dysfunction

    • The lack of oxygen disrupts the normal functioning of cells, particularly in highly oxygen-dependent organs like the brain and heart.
    • Cellular dysfunction occurs as a result of energy depletion and the inability to carry out essential metabolic processes.

Brain Damage

    • The brain is particularly sensitive to changes in oxygen levels. Oxygen deprivation can lead to neuronal injury and dysfunction.
    • Cognitive impairment, loss of consciousness, and, eventually, irreversible brain damage can occur.

Organ Failure

    • As oxygen deprivation persists, multiple organs, including the heart, liver, and kidneys, start to fail due to the lack of energy and the disruption of cellular processes.

Cardiovascular Collapse

    • The cardiovascular system attempts to compensate for the low oxygen levels by increasing the heart rate.
    • Eventually, the cardiovascular system may fail due to the inability to provide adequate oxygenated blood to the organs.

Loss of Consciousness and Death

    • Loss of consciousness occurs as the brain is severely affected by the lack of oxygen.
    • If the hypoxia is prolonged and severe, irreversible damage to vital organs leads to death.

It’s important to emphasize that intentionally inducing hypoxia is a dangerous and unethical practice. The human body is highly dependent on oxygen, and any deliberate interference with this essential element can have severe and life-threatening consequences. In medical and ethical terms, ensuring the well-being of individuals and adhering to humane standards is of utmost importance.

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As with many issues, Americans are deeply divided about capital punishment—the death penalty. Views vary depending on moral, religious, and legal points. One of the main arguments against executions is the chance of killing an innocent person. There certainly is something to that angle.

A fallback has always been Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution which addresses cruel and unusual punishment. But from a long-established high court ruling, there’s no requirement for a state to demonstrate that a method of execution is not “cruel and unusual”. The law holds that it’s up to the condemned inmate to show it’s torturous rather than the burden being on the state to show it’s not. So, basically, the state can rightfully make up anything it wants.

Twenty-one states allow capital punishment. Twenty-three do not. Six have their executions on pause. There are twenty-six death sentences scheduled to go ahead in 2024 across America, and there are over twenty-three hundred inmates warehoused on death rows. California, alone, has six hundred and sixty-five with Florida second at three hundred and thirteen.

Interestingly, three states have never executed a prisoner—Alaska, Hawaii, and Michigan. And it’s been decades since certain states stopped state-sponsored killings—Rhode Island in 1845, Wisconsin in 1851, Maine in 1885, North Dakota in 1905, Minnesota in 1906, and New Hampshire in 1939.

The states most recently carrying out executions are Georgia in 2020, Arizona in 2022, Mississippi in 2022, Missouri in 2023, Texas in 2023, and Oklahoma in 2023. And, of course, we have Alabama in 2024 administering nitrogen hypoxia to Kenny Smith.

The Smith execution had a huge international media coverage. There’s no doubt this precedent-setting event ushered in “an emergence of a wholly new method of capital punishment.” With all the painful problems associated with lethal injections… maybe nitrogen hypoxia really is the most painless and humane method of execution known to man.

WHAT REALLY CAUSED THE SALEM WITCH HUNTS

The Salem witch hunts and mass executions of innocent victims falsely accused of sorcery is an American historical black mark. Through June to October of 1692, Puritan authorities in Salem, Massachusetts hung nineteen citizens after trying and convicting them for witchcraft. They crushed another man to death with heavy stones, and let five others perish—shackled in chains. Two imprisoned souls were mere children.

Today, all Salem witch hunt victims are officially exonerated. This terrible debacle became the poster case for trumped-up accusations and wrongful convictions. In fact, the term “witch hunt” is symbolic for going after those profiled for a vengeance need or paranoid forces “out to get someone”. Even the current United States president Twitters-on about witch hunts.

This horrific travesty of malicious injustice was an American turning point. Historians call the Salem witch trials the rock upon which theocracy shattered. They were the perfect storm of isolationism, religious extremism, fanaticism and divided socio-economic structure. The witch trials were also unprecedented as bad jurisprudence and a miscarriage of justice.

Today, few educated or rational people believe in evil witchcraft or black magic. (Modern peaceful Wiccan practitioners are a different matter.) That old destructive medieval and ignorant mindset sieved from America after the Salem witch trials. But, for over three centuries, few people understood why the disaster happened. Various theories suggested Freudian mass-hysterics, a widespread fungus causing mind-altering behavior and even meddling by alien forces aligned with the dark side.

Now the truth is out there. A meticulous, scientific study by two American academics published in the book Salem Possessed wraps up the witch hunt reason. It’s not some supernatural power or psychedelic drug. The answer lies in a complex mix of sociology, geography, demography, human psychology and forensic pathology. Something far more sinister than sorcery really caused the Salem witch hunts.

History of the Salem Witch Hunts

It trigged with teenagers. In January 1692, three bored girls played a game similar to today’s Ouija Board. They cracked eggs and separated the whites in a pan of cold water, then used imagination to decipher patterns divulging hidden secrets and foretelling future events. They got carried away. Soon they were writhing in fits and cramping into twisted contortions.

The girls were relatives of Salem Village vicar Samuel Parris, a Massachusetts Bay Puritan parishioner who referred the distorted girls to a local physician. The doctor found no medical cause for the girls’ discomfort. He suggested it was work of witchcraft and turned it back to the minister. The reverend sided with Satanic superstition and went about extracting accusations from the young girls.

They implicated three Salem women for bewitching and causing their erratic behavior—Sarah Good, Sarah Osborne, and Tituba. Good was known for tardy church attendance. Osborne was a loose-moraled beggar. And Tituba was a Carib slave house servant. The trio were hardly credible to Salem’s upper crust and certainly suitable scapegoats not equipped to defend themselves.

Good and Osborne fervently denied being witches. Despite intensive interrogation in magistrate’s court, they held to their denials. Tituba, on the other hand, confessed. She gave wild accounts of signing Satan’s book and offered crazy tales of human hogs, great black dogs, red cats and yellow birds. Tituba also named of other Salem witches.

From there, everyone got carried away. Authorities rounded-up scores of witch suspects, hauling them before interrogatories. More people—women and men—confessed under duress and named more names. In a few months, nearly two hundred “witches” were accused, hunted down and arrested in Salem and neighboring communities. Quickly, the arrests turned to trials and mass hangings began.

The 17th Century Salem Legal System

1692 was an important year in 17th Century Salem’s legal system. It coincided with a new charter for the Province of Massachusetts Bay following the 1680s King William War. The colonists were deeply divided in Salem and the surrounding area’s social structure. It was protective Puritism vs. progressive private enterprise. The King’s newly-appointed Governor, William Phip, arrived with the charter in January,1692—just as the witchcraft accusations arose.

The spiraling sequence of accusations, arrests and confession led to mass hysteria and a “thronged” legal system. To accommodate justice, Governor Phip convened a Special Court of Oyer (hearing) and Terminer (deciding). He appointed magistrates, judges and sheriffs based on local recommendations by powerful people in the religious sphere.

The Salem witch trials occurred long before the United States Constitution was a gleam in revolutionary eyes. Rules of evidence stemmed from English common law and principles based on religious doctrine. For witchcraft cases, evidence came from accusatory mouths of uneducated and manipulated common folk, not from corroborated independent and credible witnesses.

Once a citizen claimed their loss or discomfort was witchcraft caused, they laid a complaint against the accused before an appointed magistrate. If the complaint appeared credible by the magistrate’s standard, the accused was arrested and brought in for mandatory interrogation. This was well before the right to remain silent.

Interrogations were public events. Open questions by a panel and audience members given standing were standard procedure. Every effort pressed the accused to confess and reveal other witches. It was a Puritanical purging of Salem’s evils and a chance to rid society of undesirables. Once a grand jury heard interrogation evidence, they preferred an indictment and the ‘witch” was set on trial.

Witch trials depended on what’s called “spectral evidence”. This was testimony of the afflicted who claimed to see the apparition of the accused witch appear in a ghostly form while performing witchcraft upon them. Theologically, the court evidence relied on whether or not the accused gave the Devil permission to use their shape. The Salem witch courts contended the Devil could not perform evil acts using a person’s shape without that person’s expressed permission—therefore, if the afflicted complainant had seen the accused’s shape—it was in facto proof the accused was guilty of witchcraft and complicit with the Devil. According to Puritan law, the witch must die.

This convoluted logic resulted in immediate hangings and a compression death through layered stoning. It also caused deaths of those awaiting trial while shackled in dungeons. In three months, twenty-four innocent people were dead and many more awaited similar fates. That’s until someone accused Governor Phip’s wife of being a witch.

Suddenly, the executions stopped. Phip ordered an evidentiary review. It determined spectral evidence was inadmissible, noting it was not credible and highly prejudicial to the accused. Phip stayed the remaining execution warrants and commuted sentences, essentially freeing all those facing witchcraft allegations. Within three years, the Province of Massachusetts Bay officially exonerated all accused witches and ordered a consolidating day of fast and remembrance.

Cause of the Salem Witch Hunts

Many historians and writers pondered how normally rational people got so swept by the wind of witchcraft craze. Certainly, there was a mass psychological hysteria and paranoia. But the actual reason—the root cause—of why so many witch accusers and so many accused witches behaved so bizarrely was unknown. For years, suspected causes for bewitched symptoms like convulsing and hallucinating fell on the Claviceps purpurea fungus found in Puritan bread. It’s known for LSD-like side effects.

But a bread acid trip didn’t cut current standards, even though the mass hysteria was long-explained by archaic superstitions of wanton witchcraft and the Devil’s demons. Everybody ate Puritan bread in Salem, and only a few presented weird symptoms. No, a rational look at the Salem witch hunts needed further investigation by reasonable and independent thinkers.

That rationality came from two Harvard-educated history professors at the University of Massachusetts who wrote the intriguing book Salem Possessed. Paul Boyer and Stephen Nissenbaum’s work took an in-depth look at the social, economic and geographical factors affecting Salem’s citizens back when the witch hunts started. They also took a forensic approach to the psychological and pathological influences causing the complainant’s symptoms.

Boyer and Nissenbaum came to an astounding social conclusion. However, they weren’t the first to arrive there. In 1867, New England historian Charles W. Upham produced an accurate map of how Salem Village appeared in 1692. Then he plotted the houses where witch accusers and accused witches lived. Astonishingly, almost all accusers lived on the west side of Salem Village. The accused lived on the east side.

Salem Possessed’s authors concluded that if the Devil had come to Salem, he was being very choosy about which homes he visited. No, they concluded. The reason for the witch hunts had to lie in Salem’s history, and they were right.

Salem is one of the oldest European settlements in North America’s New England region. As the crow flies, it’s less than twenty miles northeast of downtown Boston. English immigrants of the Puritan faith first occupied Salem to establish a community based on their conservative views to protect old ways threatened by the age of Enlightenment and the then-liberal Anglican Church.

The Puritans were agricultural people. Naturally, they chose to settle in the best farmland which lay to the west of Massachusetts Bay. Over the course of eighty years—roughly four generations back then—the Puritans built a religious and agricultural society centered around what they called Salem Village. Today, the area is known as Danvers, Massachusetts which is a different jurisdiction from present-day Salem.

During the mid-1600s, a harbor community developed on Massachusetts Bay, east of the village. It became known as Salem Town. Commercially progressive settlers occupied Salem Town and focused on making money rather than praising the Lord and preserving old ways. As Salem Town grew, it pressed westward and crossed the border into the village. That didn’t sit well with the Puritan villagers.

Boyer and Nissenbaum uncovered a tangled history of feuds, jealousy, mistrust and hostility between the west Salem villagers and their eastern invaders. West Salem had two tightly-knit prominent families who married within. The easterners were a mix of newcomers who married outside family lines. For some reason, everyone who displayed physical symptoms of being witch victims came from the two prominent Puritan families.

From a socio-economic and religious point, it’s clear the impact of commercial capitalism and the shifting role of the church left the backward Puritans threatened by their modern newcomers. It led to unbearable tensions which broke once the first bewitched symptoms showed in January of 1692. That opened a floodgate of superstitious opportunity to kill the eastern Salem villagers.

Salem Possessed makes a powerful argument that human personality partially caused the Salem witch hunts. If that be the Devil in humanity, then so be it. However, the Devil isn’t a good forensic reason for why the teen girls experienced peculiar symptoms like mood swings, cramps and hysterical contortions. Something else was at work, and the pathology points at genetics.

Putting it bluntly, the Puritans were inbred. Their closed circle was more than religious and economic. They married within and secluded their gene pool. Huntington’s Chorea or Huntington’s Disease is common in people with dysfunctional genes. It’s a hereditary neurodegenerative illness with physical, cognitive and emotional symptoms exactly like the west Salem village girls experienced. The gene mutation creates a protein that kills cells in the brain’s cerebral cortex.

Many adults in the Puritan community already had some stage of Huntington’s Disease. That impaired their thought processes as well as their offspring’s. Because of longevity in the Salem region and that power still clung to the Puritan Church in the late 1600s, Puritans made up the judicial force that persecuted the alleged witches. Their personality and pathology dysfunction is what really caused the Salem witch hunts.

For three centuries, lore held that the witches of Salem were hung from scaffolding in the center of today’s Gallows Park. That’s not correct. Several years ago, the Gallows Project funded by the University of Massachusetts did a thorough research based on historical records and advanced forensic techniques like GPS analyzation and ground penetrating radar. They conclusively identified the execution spot as a tree at Proctor’s Ledge. It’s right beside a Walgreens and the community built a small memorial honoring the wrongfully-accused witches of Salem.