A cruel, inhumane death. It is what causes nitrogen hypoxia, i.e. the inhalation of nitrogen for 15 minutes until the total disappearance of oxygen, with lethal compromise of vital organs. Such a barbaric method, used on Kenneth Smith, a 58-year-old sentenced to death in Alabama for a murder-for-hire committed in 1988 (and survived a first execution), that it outraged world public opinion and sparked Amnesty International, which said: «It is an absolutely experimental method of execution, unfortunately approved by the Alabama Supreme Court, but which paradoxically is prohibited on animals».
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Alabama, Kenneth Smith is the first inmate in the world killed with nitrogen
by our correspondent Alberto Simoni
What happens to the body is devastating. Let's start by saying that nitrogen is a colorless, odorless and tasteless gas, which is administered to the victim through an oxygen mask, in pure form (as in Smith's case) or in higher concentrations than those found in the air we breathe. When breathing nitrogen, our body does not immediately recognize the difference from the air we breathe normally, so there is no immediate suffocation. But in just a few minutes the oxygen levels in the body begin to collapse, hypoxia in fact, and this triggers a chain reaction on the organs. People die of suffocation due to lack of oxygen and the direct consequence is the collapse of vital organs, heart, lungs and brain.
As nitrogen fills the airways, the flow of oxygen to the brain is interrupted, leading to loss of consciousness. One organ after another begins to stop and death should occur within a few minutes. The condition of death is ascertained by following the indicator of a connected cardiac machine, as happened for the American condemned man: when the line is flat, the execution can be considered concluded. If this is not the case, the employee will have the task of letting pure nitrogen enter the mask for another 15 minutes.
The execution lasted approximately 22 minutes, and Smith appeared to remain conscious for several minutes. Then the nitrogen took its toll on him, leading to his death by suffocation and his heart stopped.
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