Kenneth Eugene Smith : First person executed with nitrogen gas took 22 minutes to die

An Alabama prisoner who became the first person to ever be executed using nitrogen gas took 22 minutes to die despite the state promising his death would be quick and painless. Kenneth Smith shook and writhed for two minutes on Thursday night as his mask filled up with the gas, witnesses said. The convicted killer is said to have remained conscious, breathing heavily and gasping for a further eight minutes as his sons and crying wife watched on. Smith, 58, was not pronounced dead until , 22 minutes after the gas was first administered. But Steve Marshall, Alabama’s attorney general, insisted that the execution had “proved” nitrogen gas was “an effective and humane method of execution”. Read more here: #alabama #deathpenalty #execution Subscribe to The Telegraph with our special offer: just £1 for 3 months. Start your free trial now: