.ON JANUARY 25TH Kenneth Eugene Johnson became the first individual anywhere to become put to death through nitrogen hypoxia. He was convicted in 1989 of murdering Elizabeth Sennett, the wife of a minister from Alabama, on her spouse’s orders. The state had very first attempted to execute him, by dangerous injection, in November 2022, but messed up the operation.
After that, Mr Johnson decided on to be killed by unfamiliar means. His punishment has triggered shock: Alabama claims nitrogen hypoxia is an easy, painless death yet numerous health care specialists disagree. Some have actually parallelled it to abuse.
Why did Alabama authorize this unproved approach?