.ON JANUARY 25TH Kenneth Eugene Smith ended up being the first person anywhere to be executed through nitrogen hypoxia. He was actually pronounced guilty in 1989 of murdering Elizabeth Sennett, the other half of a minister coming from Alabama, on her other half's orders. The condition had initial attempted to execute him, through fatal injection, in November 2022, but botched the operation. After that, Mr Johnson selected to be killed through novel means. His execution has caused outrage: Alabama claims nitrogen hypoxia is actually a quick, painless fatality but several medical experts disagree. Some have compared it to torture. Why did Alabama authorize this untried procedure?