Kenneth Smith
Born
Kenneth Eugene Smith

(1965-07-04) July 4, 1965
Criminal statusIncarcerated
Conviction(s)First-degree murder
Details
VictimsElizabeth Dorlene Sennett, 45
Imprisoned atHolman Correctional Facility[1]

Kenneth Eugene Smith (born July 4, 1965)[1] is an American man convicted of the March 18, 1988 murder-for-hire of Elizabeth Sennett in Colbert County, Alabama. Charles Sennett Sr., Elizabeth's husband, recruited Billy Gray Williams to murder his wife. Williams in turn recruited Smith and John Forrest Parker to assist in the murder. Smith and Parker carried out the murder and stabbed Elizabeth Sennett to death at her home in Colbert County.

A week after Elizabeth Sennett's murder, Charles Sennet Sr. killed himself when he learned he was a suspect in the murder. Billy Gray Williams was sentenced to life without parole and died in prison in November 2020 due to an illness. Smith and John Forrest Parker were both sentenced to death. Parker was executed via lethal injection in June 2010. Smith remains on death row.[2]

In November 2022, Smith was scheduled to be executed by lethal injection, but the execution was stopped after the execution team was unable to connect the intravenous lines to Smith in the time available before the expiration of the death warrant issued by the Alabama Supreme Court. As part of a settlement between the state and Smith, the state agreed not to pursue Smith's execution by lethal injection (the default primary method of execution in Alabama) and allow Smith to instead elect a secondary novel method of execution, nitrogen hypoxia.[3] Smith is now scheduled to be executed on January 25, 2024, and if it proceeds will make him the first person in the United States ever to be executed using nitrogen hypoxia.

Crime and investigation

Pastor Charles Sennett Sr. hired Billy Gray Williams, one of his tenants, to murder his wife, 45-year-old Elizabeth Dorlene Sennett.[4] To carry out the plan, Williams hired Kenneth Smith and John Forrest Parker to assist him.[4] Charles was going to pay each of the men $1,000 for the murder.[4] On March 18, 1988, Elizabeth Sennett was found dead in her home in Colbert County, Alabama.[4]

Sheriff Ronnie May was one of the first people to arrive on the scene and he was unable to find a pulse for Elizabeth; however, when emergency medical technicians arrived they found a pulse.[4] May stated that Charles "almost fell" when he was told that Elizabeth had a pulse.[4] May then rode with Elizabeth in the ambulance and she was declared dead by doctors at the hospital.[4]

Investigators thought that the home looked staged to make it appear that there had been a home invasion.[4] May remembered meeting Charles Sennett a few weeks prior to the incident when they were investigating another murder and had to ask Sennett to leave several times.[4] Investigators received a call from Crime Stoppers which gave them the suspects' names.[4] Subsequently, on March 25, investigators brought Charles in for questioning, but he denied involvement. When Charles went to leave, someone asked if Charles knew Kenneth Smith and Charles turned red.[4] Charles left the interview and went to his church, where he met with his sons and their families and admitted to having an affair and having their mother killed.[4] Charles then went to the parking lot, got in his truck, and fatally shot himself.[4]

Investigators received a search warrant to search Smith's home and found a VHS tape from the Sennetts' home.[4] Smith and Parker provided information to the police about Elizabeth's death.[4]

Sentencing and appeals

Smith was tried and convicted in Jefferson County on a change of venue from Colbert County to reduce pre-trial publicity.[1] The jury in Smith's first trial found Smith guilty of the murder of Elizabeth Dorlene Sennett and recommended to the trial judge that he be executed by a vote of 10–2.[5] For inmates convicted before 2017, the jury issued a sentencing recommendation; if less than 10 jurors vote for a death sentence then that constitutes a life sentence. The judge however is not bound by the jury's recommendation but gives it weight before making the ultimate sentencing decision. Smith was sentenced to death however the conviction and sentence were vacated on appeal. In Smith's second trial, the jury in Smith's case recommended a life sentence, however, the judge overruled their recommendation and sentenced him to death.[6] Parker was also sentenced to death,[7] while Williams was sentenced to life without parole.[4][8][9] Parker was executed on June 10, 2010, via lethal injection.[4][10] Williams died in prison in November 2020 from an undisclosed illness.[2] Smith exhausted his final appeals from the second conviction and sentence in 2022.

November 2022 attempted execution

Smith was initially scheduled to be executed by lethal injection on November 17, 2022.[6] Despite the fact that Smith had a motion to stay his execution pending before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, at 7:45 p.m. on November 17, 2022, a lawyer for the Alabama Department of Corrections emailed Smith's lawyers to let them know they were preparing him for execution.[11] Smith spoke with his wife, and at 7:57 p.m. they ended his phone call with her.[11] Smith was handcuffed and shackled and taken to the execution chamber.[11] Shortly after this, the Eleventh Circuit issued a stay of execution, which Smith's lawyers immediately provided to the Alabama Department of Corrections.[11] The Department of Corrections replied that they had received notice of the stay, but did not inform Smith or allow him to speak with his lawyers, instead keeping him strapped to a gurney in the execution chamber.[11] At 10:00 p.m. the execution team entered and attempted to place an IV into Smith's arm. At approximately 10:20 p.m. the United States Supreme Court lifted the Eleventh Circuit's stay of execution. Smith told a member of the execution team that they were inserting the needle into his muscle, but the team member told him that was not true.[11] The team then moved Smith into an inverted crucifixion position and left the room, returning after a few minutes to inject him with an unknown substance, despite Smith's objection.[11] Another individual began repeatedly stabbing Smith's collarbone with a needle, attempting to place a central IV line.[11] The results were unsuccessful and at approximately 11:20 p.m. Smith's execution was called off.[11] Smith was unable to walk or lift his arms on his own, and was sweating and hyperventilating.[11] This marked the third consecutive botched execution by the state of Alabama.[11] Following the incident, Governor Kay Ivey ordered a review of Alabama's execution process. Governor Ivey also asked the Alabama Supreme Court to amend state court rules governing death warrants to allow Department of Corrections personnel additional time to carry out executions.[11] The Alabama Supreme Court approved the amendment on January 12, 2023.[11]

January 2024 scheduled execution

Smith is currently scheduled to be executed on January 25, 2024, by nitrogen hypoxia.[6] If the execution goes forward as planned, Smith will be the first person in the United States to be executed using this method.[6] On January 10, 2024, a federal judge ruled that Alabama could proceed with the execution of Smith using nitrogen gas.[12][13]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Alabama Inmates Currently on Death Row". Alabama Department of Corrections. Archived from the original on October 24, 2012. Retrieved January 14, 2024.
  2. 1 2 Faulk, Kent; Hrynkiw, Ivana (November 18, 2022). "Alabama calls off lethal injection of man for 1988 murder-for-hire, citing issues finding a vein". The Huntsville Times. Archived from the original on January 2, 2024. Retrieved January 2, 2024.
  3. ↑ Cason, Mike (November 2, 2023). "Alabama Supreme Court grants state's request to execute Kenneth Eugene Smith by nitrogen hypoxia". The Huntsville Times. Archived from the original on January 14, 2024. Retrieved January 4, 2024.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Faulk, Kent (November 17, 2022). "Former sheriff recalls woman's 'horrific' murder-for-hire by pastor as Alabama prepares execution". Alabama.com. Retrieved January 2, 2024.
  5. ↑ "Jury recommends death sentence for killer-for-hire". Montgomery Advertiser. November 5, 1989. p. 22. Retrieved January 14, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Squire, Paul (December 12, 2023). "Alabama is going to use gas to execute someone, but corrections officials warned it could hurt other people in the room". Business Insider. Retrieved January 2, 2024.
  7. ↑ "Judge sets death order for slaying". Ledger-Enquirer. June 23, 1989. p. 10. Retrieved January 14, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ↑ "Jury finds 1st of 3 defendants guilty of killing preacher's wife for $1,000". Alabama Journal. January 31, 1989. p. 2. Retrieved January 14, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ↑ "Judge rejects death penalty in contract slaying". Birmingham Post-Herald. February 23, 1989. p. 21. Retrieved January 14, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ↑ Johnson, Bob (June 11, 2010). "Alabama man executed in 1988 Colbert County killing". The Tuscaloosa News. Retrieved January 2, 2024.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 "Kenneth Smith Describes Alabama's Failed Attempt to Execute Him". Death Penalty Information Center. Retrieved January 2, 2024.
  12. ↑ Michelle Del Rey (January 11, 2024). "Judge rules Kenneth Smith execution by nitrogen gas can move forward". The Independent. Retrieved January 14, 2024.
  13. ↑ Chandler, Kim (January 10, 2024). "Federal judge says Alabama can conduct nation's 1st execution with nitrogen gas; appeal planned". Associated Press. Retrieved January 14, 2024.
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