Alabama modifies execution chamber for gas executions involving nitrogen hypoxia

Alabama is actively modifying its execution chamber to kill prisoners via nitrogen hypoxia, an untested method that would asphyxiate the condemned through a gas chamber or gas mask.

A federal judge last month ordered the Alabama Department of Corrections to provide information about the hypoxia protocol in an ongoing lawsuit filed by a man petitioning the court to have his spiritual advisor present at his execution.

"The ADOC is nearing completion of the initial physical build for the nitrogen hypoxia system and its safety measures. Once the build is completed, a safety expert will make a site visit to evaluate the system and look for any points of concern that need to be addressed," Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said in a Tuesday court filing.

ADOC on Wednesday declined to answer a number of questions regarding the "physical build" referenced in court documents, including whether it intends to use a gas chamber or a gas mask to administer an execution method that has yet to be tested on human beings.

"The ADOC’s nitrogen hypoxia execution protocol is still under development, and the physical building modifications to the execution chamber are still in process," the department said in a Wednesday statement. "Due to the fact those two items are not yet in a finalized state and potential security concerns exist, that is all we are able to share at this time."

Alabama passed nitrogen hypoxia legislation in 2018, one of only three states to legalize the method of execution. In theory, a condemned person would inhale pure nitrogen, which would asphyxiate them.

The legislation, which proponents argued offered a more humane method of execution, effectively ended an ongoing lawsuit over lethal injection in Alabama. The legislation provided people incarcerated on death row a short window in 2018 to opt in to the method.

But the new law codified a largely hypothetical method of execution. The method has never been tested on humans, and much of the scientific record on the subject comes from veterinary science or hazard investigations, where humans accidentally died in industrial accidents or similar situations.

In Oklahoma, nitrogen hypoxia executions have technically been legal since 2015, but last year the state said it would revert to lethal injections. In 2019, The Oklahoman reported multiple manufacturers declined to be involved in the execution process, with at least seven companies declining to sell the necessary "gas delivery device."

"The big issue with nitrogen hypoxia is it is experimental," said Robert Dunham, director of the Death Penalty Information Center. "We just have no idea whether it's going to work the way its proponents say it will. If it does, then there may be a viable alternative to lethal injection. If it doesn't, it may be just another method that was advertised as being humane that turns out not to be. It's completely unethical to experimentally kill someone, so we won't know. ... Nobody knows, nobody has indicated how its going to be carried out, though I suspect the death mask is more likely than a gas chamber. There was never any indication that Oklahoma intended to construct a gas chamber."

Multiple pharmaceutical companies have blocked purchases of lethal injection drugs in recent years amid growing opposition to the death penalty, leading some states to revert to alternate methods.

New legislation in South Carolina resurrected the firing squad, though the state hasn't killed a prisoner in a decade, according the NPR.

A Guardian investigation found Arizona recently purchased materials to kill condemned prisoners with cyanide gas, the same method used at the Auschwitz concentration camp during World War II.

Arizona has "refurbished" an old gas chamber for the executions. Like Alabama, Arizona prisoners can choose between lethal injection or the gas chamber, though executions have been halted in the state for nearly a decade after a botched injection attempt.

Source: montgomeryadvertiser.com, Melissa Brown, June 10, 2021

🚩 | Report an error, an omission, a typo; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece, a comment; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com.

Opposed to Capital Punishment? Help us keep this blog up and running! DONATE!

"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde

South Carolina | Inmate who believes he’s died repeatedly can’t be executed, judge rules

SPARTANBURG — A 59-year-old man sentenced to death for killing a state trooper in Greenville County in 2000 can’t be executed because of a mental illness that’s left him incoherent and believing he’s immortal, a Circuit Court judge has ruled. John Richard Wood is the first condemned inmate in South Carolina found not competent to be executed since the state restarted capital punishment in September 2024. The seven executions since then include three men who chose to die by firing squad — the latest in November. Wood, convicted 24 years ago, was among death row inmates in line to receive a death warrant after exhausting their regular appeals.

Idaho eyes restart of death row executions as firing squad draws near

BOISE, Idaho — Idaho’s prison system has nearly completed execution chamber upgrades to carry out the death penalty by firing squad as the state’s lead method and will have a team of riflemen ready to go by the time a state law takes effect this summer. As part of the transition, the Idaho Department of Correction hopes to limit participation by its officers as the shooting of condemned people in prison to death is prioritized over lethal injection. Toward that effort, prisoner leadership sought to implement a push-button technology to avoid needing IDOC workers to pull the triggers.

20 Minutes to Death: Witness to the Last Execution in France

The following document is a firsthand account of the final moments of Hamida Djandoubi, a convicted murderer executed by guillotine at Marseille’s Baumettes Prison on September 10, 1977. The record—dated September 9—was written by Monique Mabelly, a judge appointed by the state to witness the proceedings. Djandoubi’s execution would ultimately be the last carried out in France before capital punishment was abolished in 1981. At the time, President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing—who had publicly voiced his "deep aversion to the death penalty" prior to his election—rejected Djandoubi’s appeal for clemency. Choosing to let "justice take its course," the President allowed the execution to proceed, just as he had in two previous cases during his term: Christian Ranucci , executed on July 28, 1976 and Jérôme Carrein , executed on June 23, 1977. Hamida Djandoubi , a Tunisian national, was sentenced to death for killing his former lover, Elisabeth Bousquet. He was execu...

China | Man sentenced to death for murder executed in Yunnan

Tian Yongming, who was initially sentenced for a series of violent crimes and then had his sentence changed to death early this year, has been executed in Yunnan province following approval from China's top court. The execution was carried out by the Intermediate People's Court in Yuxi, Yunnan, on Tuesday, with local prosecutors supervising the process. Before the execution, Tian was allowed to meet with his family members. The case dates back to September 1996, when Tian was sentenced to nine years in prison for the rape and attempted murder of his sister-in-law. After his release on July 15, 2002, he plotted revenge against the woman. On the night of Nov 13, 2002, he broke into her home armed with a knife.

South Dakota | Latest appeal from state's lone death row inmate denied

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit has rejected the latest appeal from Briley Piper, the only person on death row in South Dakota. In March 2000, Briley Piper, along with co-defendants Elijah Page and Darrell Hoadley, conspired to burglarize the Lawrence County home of 19-year-old Chester Poage before abducting and murdering him by beating, stabbing, and stoning in a remote area. Piper was subsequently arrested, convicted of murder, and sentenced to death, while his accomplices received either a death sentence—carried out against Page in 2007—or a sentence of life imprisonment without parole.

Iran to execute first woman linked to mass protests after ‘forced confessions’

Bita Hemmati and three others have been sentenced to death for 'collusion' and 'propaganda.' Advocates claim the charges are baseless, citing a secretive process and state-televised interrogations. Iranian authorities are preparing to execute Bita Hemmati, the first woman sentenced to death in connection with the mass protests in Tehran in late December and January, according to the US-based non-profit the Human Rights Activists News Agency. Judge Iman Afshari, of Branch 26 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court, sentenced Hemmati, her husband, Mohammadreza Majidi Asl, and Behrouz Zamaninezhad, and Kourosh Zamaninezhad to death on the charge of “operational action for the hostile government of the United States and hostile groups,” in addition to discretionary imprisonment period of five years on the charge of “assembly and collusion against national security.”

Texas | James Broadnax's appeals: US Supreme Court denies 2 claims, confession pending

Despite an 11th-hour confession from another man, James Broadnax is slated to be executed by the state of Texas later this week. Broadnax, 37, is scheduled to be put to death by lethal injection April 30 in Huntsville. He was condemned by a Dallas County jury in 2009 for the deaths of Stephen Swan, 26, and Matthew Butler, 28, outside their Garland music studio. Broadnax and his cousin, Demarius Cummings, had set out to rob the men, but left with only $2 and a 1995 Ford, according to previous reporting from The Dallas Morning News.

Florida executes Chadwick Scott Willacy

STARKE, Fla. -- A Florida man who set his neighbor on fire after she returned from work to find him burglarizing her home was executed Tuesday evening. Chadwick Scott Willacy, 58, received a three-drug injection and was pronounced dead at 6:15 p.m. at Florida State Prison near Starke for the 1990 killing of Marlys Sather. It was Florida's fifth execution this year. The curtain to the execution chamber went up promptly at the scheduled 6 p.m. time, and the lethal injection got underway two minutes later, after Willacy made a brief statement.

Arizona | Man who murdered pastor crucifixion style requests plea deal after parents killed in plane crash

Adam Sheafe, the California man who admitted to killing a New River, Arizona, pastor in a crucifixion-style attack, has asked prosecutors to offer him a plea deal that would result in a natural life sentence rather than the death penalty he had previously sought. Advisory council attorneys representing Sheafe sent a formal plea offer to prosecutors this week, about two weeks after his father and stepmother died in a plane crash at Marana Airport on April 8, according to 12 News. Sheafe, 51, is charged with first-degree murder in the death of William Schonemann, 76, pastor of New River Bible Church, who was found dead inside his home last April.

Florida executes James Ernest Hitchcock

STARKE, Fla. (AP) — A Florida man convicted of beating and choking his brother’s 13-year-old stepdaughter to death nearly 50 years ago was executed Thursday evening. James Ernest Hitchcock, 70, was pronounced dead at 6:12 p.m. following a lethal injection at Florida State Prison near Starke. He was convicted of the July 1976 killing of Cynthia Driggers. The curtain to the death chamber opened promptly at the 6 p.m. execution time. Hitchcock’s entire body was covered in a sheet up to his head. He stared at the ceiling as the team warden made a call, then gave his final statement.

Death Penalty News

Search This Blog