A death row inmate in the US state of Louisiana was executed on Tuesday by nitrogen inhalation, a method previously used only in neighbouring Alabama and compared by United Nations experts to a form of torture.
The execution of 46-year-old Jessie Hoffman, convicted of kidnapping, raping and murdering Mary “Molly” Elliot in 1996, was the first in Louisiana after a 15-year hiatus.
The carrying out of the death sentence was announced by two of Hoffman’s lawyers in statements published by local media, but was not immediately confirmed by state authorities.
“The State was able to execute him by pushing out a new protocol and setting execution dates to prevent careful judicial review and shrouding the process in secrecy,” said Cecelia Kappel, one of the lawyers.
Three more executions are scheduled to be carried out in the United States this week, with one in Arizona slated for Wednesday and two more on Thursday in Florida and Oklahoma.
All three will be carried out by lethal injection.
Six other executions have been carried out in the country since the beginning of the year, all by lethal injection, except for one in Alabama by nitrogen inhalation, and one by firing squad in South Carolina.
Hoffman’s lawyers had taken the request to stay his execution all the way to the Supreme Court, but to no avail.
The execution of Kenneth Smith on January 25, 2024, in Alabama was the world’s first by nitrogen inhalation and had raised a wave of indignation.
Three more have since been carried out in the state.
The death penalty has been abolished in 23 of the 50 US states. Six others (Arizona, California, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Tennessee) observed a moratorium on executions.
