'Horrific' 22 minutes: Kenneth Smith's wife cried as he struggled during cruel nitrogen gas execution

Warning: This article contains a recollection of crime and can be triggering to some, readers’ discretion advised.

MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA: The wife of killer Kenneth Eugene Smith reportedly "cried out" as he thrashed against his restraints during the "horrific" 22 minutes it took for him to become the first person in US history to be executed by nitrogen gas.

However, 36 years after the victim's murder, the victim's son declared that his mother had at last received "justice." 

Kenneth Smith forced to breathe nitrogen gas through mask

At the Holman Prison in Atmore, Alabama, Eugene Smith, who had previously survived a botched execution day, appeared to be conscious for a few minutes on Thursday while being forced to breathe in the toxic gas through a mask, depriving his body of oxygen until he suffocated.

Reporters at the scene said that the killer's wife, Deanna Smith, who was wearing a "Never Alone" T-shirt, "cried out for him" from the witness box as he pushed against his restraints, DailyMail reported.

She was accompanied by other family members to witness the execution, which, according to Jeff Hood, the family's spiritual advisor, took approximately 22 minutes or much longer than what they had been told.

Even prison officials "were visibly surprised at how bad this thing went," according to Hood, who called it the "worst thing" he had ever seen.

Hood, who was standing beside Smith's wife, remarked, "We didn't see somebody go unconscious in 30 seconds." "What we saw was minutes of someone struggling for their life," the speaker further stated.

He added, “We saw minutes of someone heaving back and forth. We saw spit. We saw all sorts of stuff from his mouth develop on the mask. We saw this mask tied to the gurney, and him ripping his head forward over and over and over again.”

In his last words, he repeated the murderer's assertion that "Alabama caused humanity to take a step backward."

Hood stated, "Kenny Smith was by no means a perfect person, but we have to make sure that this never, ever happens again." 

Prison commissioner confirmed execution went according to plan

John Hamm, commissioner of Alabama's prison system, insisted that everything went according to plan during the execution.

“It appeared that Smith was holding his breath as long as he could,” Hamm stated. “He struggled against the restraints a little bit but it’s an involuntary movement and some agonal breathing. So that was all expected.”

Smith was one of two men found guilty in 1988 killing of a preacher's wife for pay. To cash out on insurance, Elizabeth Sennett's husband Charles Sennett paid each man $1,000 to kill her.

Elizabeth Sennett's described execution as bittersweet

Sennet was found dead from a stabbing wound in her house. One week after she passed away, the preacher took his own life while being investigated by detectives.

Mike, Sennett's son, described the day of the execution as "bittersweet."

At a news conference, Mike remarked, "We’re not going to be jumping around, hooting and hollering ‘hooray’ and all that. That’s not us. But we’re glad this day is over."

He said that the death of Eugene Smith was a "weight off his shoulders" and that his family had forgiven all three of the men who had killed his mother "years ago."

“I forgive him,” he said of Smith. “I forgive him [for] what he done. I don’t like what he done, but they are forgiven from us," as per New York Post's report.

“The Bible says evil deeds have consequences — and Kenneth Smith made some bad decisions 35 years ago — and his debt was paid tonight,” the son went on to say. “Elizabeth Dorlene Thorne Sennett got her justice tonight.”