He was sentenced to death in 1996 for the murder-for-hire slaying of a preacher's wife in 1988, where he was paid just $1,000 for the hit.
And this wasn't his first rodeo, as it turns out:
...his previous scheduled execution in November 2022 was called off after painful hours of botched attempts to inject him with an IV line.
Following the failed execution in 2022, Smith sought his subsequent execution to be carried out via nitrogen hypoxia - in an apparent gamble that officials wouldn't follow through with the untested method.
Well, it's tested now!
Maya Foa, director of human rights organization Reprieve, told DailyMail.com: 'They said lethal injection was humane - that was a lie. They'll claim this execution was humane, and that is a lie, too.
'The whole purpose of these methods is to hide pain. How many more prisoners must die agonizing deaths before we see executions for what they really are: the state violently taking a human life?'
You seem OK with citizens doing it and facing no penalty, Maya...
A rope and a long drop. Neck broken. Death instantaneous. Mind you, that would be offering more humane treatment than that meted out by the crim. Perhaps an execution in the same way as the offence. That may concentrate the mind somewhat.
ReplyDeletePenseivat
The EU banned the export to the US of tried & tested execution drugs because they don't agree with the death penalty.
ReplyDeleteWell that plan went well...
I have no problem with his demise. I do question why we are experimenting with the way to do it. We have plenty of examples of injections where they go to sleep and then we kill them. Can't get easier than that.
ReplyDeleteI do like the idea of an execution the same as the offence but what if they are tougher and live. Still the justice of it is good.
"Horrific" and "convulsed"? I call BSx1000 (on the usual biased, manipulated and blatantly lying hyperbole by yet another "journalist/activist").
ReplyDeleteDo you know why you feel 'short of breath', uncomfortable and then desperate when there is insufficient oxygen? (i.e. if your breathing is restricted).
Amazingly it has nothing to do with your body recognising there isn't enough oxygen (yes the arterial chemoreceptors note the reduced O2 partial pressures but that simply stimulates an increase in respiratory rate, something you probably wont even notice - not "convulsions"). The 'discomfort' is caused by the rising levels of CO2 in your bloodstream (as measured by your peripheral chemoreceptors). Any situation where normal respiration (i.e. exhalation of CO2) continues, even if there isn't enough oxygen, will first stimulate increased respiration, then (due to a lower PP of CO2, as it is cleared but not replaced) lower it again. But ... because there is no rise in the PP of CO2 (because you're still exhaling it), there is 'no' discomfort (and in the past, those working in cleaning e.g. helium 'or' nitrogen vessels, died without even 'noticing' they were hypoxic, on 'many' occasions).
It is 'apparently', rather than some "horrific" experience, the "most pleasant way to die possible" (you don't even notice anything is wrong until you're dead).
So, No, the scum didn't get (even close to) what he deserved, and the "usual suspects" are making the whole thing up to (as per usual) further their agenda ... whatever the facts.
Call me "old-fashioned" if you will, but I still subscribe to the "an eye for an eye" philosophy. So what he 'deserved' was to be 'put down' via the very means he murdered his victims. I realise "society" (meaning wimps and women - am I repeating myself?) demand something else, so I suppose I'd settle for their dancing the "hemp fandango" - but only if I must.
"A rope and a long drop. Neck broken. Death instantaneous. "
ReplyDeleteAlbert Pierrepoint always did the job well over here.
"The EU banned the export to the US of tried & tested execution drugs because they don't agree with the death penalty.
Well that plan went well..."
About as well as all their others!
" I do question why we are experimenting with the way to do it. We have plenty of examples of injections where they go to sleep and then we kill them. Can't get easier than that."
As Matt points out, the EU (and various medical lobby groups) put paid to that, thinking that executions would stop as a result.
"there is 'no' discomfort (and in the past, those working in cleaning e.g. helium 'or' nitrogen vessels, died without even 'noticing' they were hypoxic, on 'many' occasions)."
There's a lot of discussion online suggesting the reason for the thrashing about was because the moron was holding his breath... 🙄
"Call me "old-fashioned" if you will, but I still subscribe to the "an eye for an eye" philosophy. "
This is one area where I feel the Chinese are ahead of the game - bullet to the back of the head and send the family the bill for it.