A Canadian company is accused of “death trafficking” after supplying the mask and hose used in the execution of convicted murderer Kenneth Eugene Smith in Alabama on Thursday.
Officials said Smith, 58, was pronounced dead at an Alabama prison at 8:25 p.m. after inhaling pure nitrogen gas through a face mask to cause oxygen deprivation.
Alabama Governor Kay Ivey said the execution was justice for the 1988 murder-for-hire of 45-year-old Elizabeth Sennett. Her husband paid three men to carry out the deed after he fell into debt and tried to pay the fine. collect. life insurance.
The mask and hose were made by Allegro Industries, a South Carolina-based company. The devices are normally used as respirators. DailyMail.com has contacted Allegro for comment on this story.
Allegro is a subsidiary of Quebec-based Walter Surface Technologies, owned by private equity firm Onex Corp, headquartered in Toronto, reports CBC. In addition to Allegro, the company also owns the airline WestJet.
“We do not believe that anyone, any company, should benefit from the death penalty,” Dana Floberg of Worth Rises and the Responsible Business Initiative for Justice told CBC.
“It can be argued that this is also inhumane because it qualifies as conducting experimental testing on a human.”
Kenneth Eugene Smith was the first person in the world to be executed by nitrogen gas
Smith’s lethal injection failed in November 2022 and he survived long enough for his death sentence to expire. Pictured: Alabama’s lethal injection chamber at Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore, Ala., is depicted in this Oct. 7, 2002 file photo
On its website, Allegro advertises itself as a “proven” safety equipment company
On its website, Allegro advertises itself as a “proven” safety equipment company.
“Since 1987, our growth in this market has been the result of our commitment to designing and manufacturing reliable, innovative and high-quality products that meet industry needs and make safety compliance easier,” wrote founder Tom Johnson. the website.
In recent years, it has proven difficult for prisons to purchase the necessary chemicals needed for lethal injections, as most pharmaceutical companies have banned their sale for that purpose.
In addition to Alabama, Oklahoma and Mississippi have also approved the use of nitrogen gas in executions.
The state had previously tried to execute Smith in 2022, but the lethal injection was called off at the last minute because authorities were unable to connect an IV line.
The state had predicted that the nitrogen gas would cause unconsciousness within seconds and death within minutes.
Kenneth Eugene Smith was sentenced to death in 1996 after admitting to the murder of Elizabeth Sennett (pictured)
State Attorney General Steve Marshall said late Thursday that nitrogen gas “was intended to be — and has now proven to be — an effective and humane method of execution.”
State Attorney General Steve Marshall said late Thursday that nitrogen gas “was intended to be — and has now proven to be — an effective and humane method of execution.”
Asked about Smith’s shaking and convulsions on the gurney, Alabama Corrections Commissioner John Q. Hamm said they appeared to be involuntary movements.
“That was all expected and included in the side effects that we’ve seen or studied for nitrogen hypoxia,” Hamm said. “Nothing was more out of the ordinary than we expected.”
Smith’s spiritual adviser, the Rev. Jeff Hood, said the execution did not match the attorney general’s prediction in court filings that Smith would lose consciousness within seconds, followed by death within minutes.
“We haven’t seen anyone become unconscious within 30 seconds. What we saw were minutes of someone fighting for his life,” said Hood, who attended the execution.
Some doctors and organizations had raised concerns about the method, and Smith’s lawyers asked the Supreme Court to halt the execution to review claims that it violates the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment and deserved more legal scrutiny before it was used on a person.
‘Little research has been done into mortality due to nitrogen hypoxia. When the State considers using a new form of execution that has never before been attempted anywhere, the public has an interest in ensuring that the State has adequately investigated the method and established procedures to minimize the pain and suffering of the convicted person,” Smith’s lawyers wrote. .