DEAD MAN WALKING

Alabama Cancels Another Execution at the Last Moment Over IV Issues

Kenneth Eugene Smith was sentenced to death for his part in a murder-for-hire plot.

Alabama called off a murderer’s execution Thursday night as prison officials struggled to insert intravenous lines to deliver the lethal drugs. Attempts were made for around an hour to access the veins of Kenneth Eugene Smith, 57, who was sentenced to death for taking $1,000 to murder Elizabeth Sennett on behalf of her preacher husband in 1988. After successfully placing one IV line, prison staff couldn’t place a second, despite trying several places on Smith’s body. It was ultimately decided there was not enough time to carry out the execution before Smith’s death warrant expired at midnight. The botched lethal injection is the second execution called off in Alabama in recent months because of IV problems. The execution of triple murderer Alan Miller was halted in September after officials also struggled to establish intravenous lines.