Sometime Thursday, the State of Alabama will attempt, for a second time, to execute Kenneth Eugene Smith. Smith has been on Alabama’s Death Row since 1988 (that would be nearly 36 years) for the murder-for-hire of Elizabeth Sennett. The failed execution attempt was by lethal injection. The Supreme Court has cleared the way, and the “second time’s the charm” attempt will be made by using a new and untested nitrogen hypoxia method where the condemned’s oxygen supply is replaced with nitrogen, causing unconsciousness and, if luck holds death.
Smith and his co-defendants, Billy Gray Williams and John Forrest Parker, were hired by Elizabeth’s husband, Church of Christ pastor Charles Sennett, Sr., for $1,000 each to kill her. That is a premium over the $20 and a bottle of Night Train that was rumored to be the going price where I was raised. Investigators became suspicious that the home…
