Death Row killer left haunted by nightmares after surviving first execution

24 January 2024 , 17:52

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Kenneth Eugene Smith survived the first attempt to execute him in November 2022 (Image: BBC /ALABAMA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS)

Kenneth Eugene Smith, a man who survived his first execution attempt, is set to face the death penalty again, but this time, things will be different.

On November 17, 2022, Smith spent four hours strapped to an execution gurney while prosecutors tried to lift a stay of execution issued by a federal appeals court. Just over a year later, Alabama is preparing to execute Death Row inmate Smith once more.

This time, they plan to use a controversial method of execution by nitrogen gas, which has never been used before. The details of how this method, known as nitrogen hypoxia, will be carried out are unclear due to security reasons.

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Elizabeth Sennett, 45, was found dead on March 18, 1988, in the couple's home in Alabama's Colbert County (Find a Grave)

Kenneth Eugene Smith will be the first inmate executed with nitrogen gas (Alabama Department of Corrections)

Smith was sentenced to death for his role in the 1988 murder-for-hire of Elizabeth Sennet. Her husband, minister Charles Sennet, had hired someone who then hired two more people, including Smith, to kill his wife and make it look like a burglary. Smith was arrested after investigators found the Sennets' VCR in his home.

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In November 2022, Smith was put in the 'death cell' at the Holman Correctional Facility in Alabama, where prisoners wait to be executed. He said his final goodbyes to his mum and grandson and had his last meal before being taken to the death chamber.

Smith was supposed to be executed by lethal injection, but things didn't go as planned. At 7.57pm on November 17, guards ended Smith's phone call with his wife and put him in handcuffs and leg irons to lead him to the death chamber.

They took him to the execution chamber and strapped him to the gurney. Just two minutes later, according to Smith's Second Amendment Complaint that challenged his execution by lethal injection, the Eleventh Circuit issued a stay of execution. Smith's lawyers gave this information to the Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC) at 8.02pm.

Elizabeth 'Liz' had two sons, Chuck and Mike, and several grandchildren (Find a Grave)

While ADOC replied saying they had received the orders to stay the execution, Smith remained strapped to the gurney until midnight - four hours after he believed he had said his final goodbye to his wife. During that time, Smith's complaint alleges ADOC never informed him of the stay or the status of any of the other legal proceedings going on and that he was not allowed to talk to his counsel.

Smith thought his execution was about to happen any minute. After lying on the gurney for two hours, the IV team came in and tried to insert an IV line. At the same time, the US Supreme Court lifted a stay, but it's not clear if the IV team started before or after this.

As the IV team kept poking Smith with needles, he told them they were hurting him by inserting the needle into his muscle. According to the complaint, one of the team members simply said "No I'm not."

Smith was then put into an upside-down crucifixion position by the team who left the room for a few minutes. When they returned, Smith says he was injected with something unknown, which his lawyer thinks might have been a sedative or anaesthetic.

Smith was strapped to a gurney for hours with no idea what was happening on the day of his execution (AFP via Getty Images)

Then, someone with "unknown medical credentials" came up to Smith and "started repeatedly stabbing [his] collarbone area with a large needle" in an attempt to secure a central IV line. According to Smith's complaint, a prison official "grabbed and held [Smith's] head away from the area where the needle was being inserted".

Smith felt a sharp pain, "as though he were being 'stabbed in the chest'," when someone "repeatedly jabbed him... underneath his collarbone." ADOC Commissioner John Hamm announced to the press on site "at about 11.21[pm], we decided we would not be able to finish that protocol before the midnight hour when the death warrant expired."

But Smith didn't know he wasn't going to die that night. Around 11.20pm, rumours started that the execution might be off, and Smith's lawyers emailed officials to find out but got no reply. Sometime before midnight, the execution team simply told Smith "it's over with".

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After four hours on the gurney, upside down, drugged, and poked with needles, Smith was a mess. He was shaking, sweating, struggling to breathe, dizzy, and couldn't even lift his arms or walk without help.

Because of the messed-up execution attempt, Smith now has PTSD and is on a whole host of meds. His prison doctor says he suffers from insomnia, anxiety and depression.

Kenneth Eugene Smith survived the first attempt to execute him in November 2022 (BBC /ALABAMA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS)

Smith, who is facing his second execution attempt, told The Guardian that he's been having trouble sleeping due to constant nightmares and the "what-if games you play in the middle of the night". He shared a recurring nightmare where he's led back into the death chamber.

"All I had to do was walk into the room in the dream for it to be overwhelming," he said. "I was absolutely terrified. It kept coming up."

The news of a second execution attempt has triggered a new wave of nightmares for Smith. He said: "I dream that they're coming to get me."

As his return to the execution chamber nears, Smith says his physical and mental health are deteriorating, and he spends most days feeling sick. He added: "They haven't given me a chance to heal.

"I'm still suffering from the first execution and now we're doing this again. They won't let me even have post-traumatic stress disorder - you know, this is ongoing stress disorder."

He likened his situation to an abuse victim being forced back into the hospital environment that initially traumatised them. Saying: "A person who did that would probably be seen as a monster. But when the government does it, you know, that's something else."

* An AI tool was used to add an extra layer to the editing process for this story. You can report any errors to [email protected]

Fiona Leishman