.ON JANUARY 25TH Kenneth Eugene Johnson became the 1st individual anywhere to be put to death by nitrogen hypoxia. He was founded guilty in 1989 of murdering Elizabeth Sennett, the other half of a sermonizer coming from Alabama, on her spouse's orders. The state had very first tried to execute him, through lethal injection, in Nov 2022, however mishandled the procedure. Afterwards, Mr Smith opted for to become put to death by unique means. His punishment has led to outrage: Alabama declares nitrogen hypoxia is actually a simple, painless death yet a lot of health care professionals disagree. Some have likened it to torture. Why did Alabama authorise this untried approach?