On January 25, Alabama tortured a man to death. It was a planned torture of a human being in the United States using nitrogen gas — the first time that execution method has ever been used.
A witness to this abomination, eyewitness reporter for the Montgomery Advertiser, Marty Rooney, reported: “Smith was shaking violently with his eyes rolling in the back of his head.” Rooney also told the New York Times: “For four minutes he was gasping for air. He appeared to be conscious. He was convulsing, he was writhing, the gurney was shaking noticeably.” Rooney’s observations were echoed by another eyewitness, journalist Lee Hedgepeth. Hedgepeth said soon after the noxious nitrogen began its nasty mission: Smith “began thrashing against the straps, his whole body and head violently jerking back and forth for several minutes.” The Inquirergrimly catalogued too, in the aftermath: “Smith’s execution lasted roughly 22 minutes from the time the viewing room curtains opened and closed…[Smith’s] eyes were open as he gasped and convulsed. That was followed by five to seven minutes of heavy breathing.”