Convicted murderer Kenneth Eugene Smith rose to prominence in 1988 when he was involved in an Alabama murder-for-hire scheme. His crime was the savage murder of Elizabeth Sennett, a preacher's wife, who was set up by her indebted husband as part of a plot to get insurance money. Smith has been on Alabama's execution row for decades after his 1989 conviction. With the possibility that he might be the first person to be executed by nitrogen gas, the case took an extraordinary turn. Because this form of execution was unproven, it attracted attention from throughout the world and led to legal disputes and concerns about human rights. The complexities of Smith's criminal past and the debates surrounding his scheduled execution shed light on the complicated and divisive nature of the death penalty in the US. Whether Smith gets a last-minute reprieve or is put to death by nitrogen gas, his case will have a lasting effect on the ongoing narrative surrounding the death sentence inside the complex framework of Alabama's criminal justice system.