Using a contentious nitrogen gassing technique that the state of Louisiana does not even authorize for use against dying pets and cats, the state is preparing to carry out its first execution in fifteen years.
Jessie Hoffman, 46, a convicted murderer, was initially scheduled to be put to death by the contentious technique on Tuesday evening, but that could alter based on the outcome of a hearing that is scheduled for this morning. In 1996, he was given a death sentence for the rape and killing of advertising executive Mary Elliott.
Only in Alabama has death by nitrogen gas been employed before.
During the four gassing executions that the state has documented in recent years, witnesses saw the condemned men struggling on the stretcher as they were made to breathe in only nitrogen while still aware.
Hypoxia is forced by nitrogen gas, depriving the body of oxygen and causing a gradual asphyxia. Many people disapprove of this mode of execution; in fact, state lawmakers have declared it to be cruel to put pets to death in this manner.
In accordance with the American Veterinary Medical Association‘s decision, Louisiana state law prohibits the use of nitrogen gassing for the euthanasia of cats and dogs unless they have already been rendered unconscious by sedation.
Most recently, two years after surviving a fatal injection attempt, Kenneth Eugene Smith was gassed to death in late January. He struggled against the bindings repeatedly for 22 minutes as he gradually choked to death.
Opponents of the death sentence have persisted in their efforts to halt Hoffman’s execution. A federal judge granted him a temporary respite, but the Fifth Circuit courts reversed that decision last Friday.
Atypical methods of execution have increased since the New Year. South Carolina led the nation’s first death-by-firing squad in fifteen years after Smith was gassed in late January.
Instead of using more traditional techniques like the electric chair or lethal injection, Brad Sigmon freely decided to be shot to death. In 2002, he was convicted of using a baseball bat to beat his ex-girlfriend’s parents to death.
Sigmon came to the conclusion that “nowhere does God in the New Testament give man the authority to kill another man” after citing four Bible scriptures just before he passed away.
