.ON JANUARY 25TH Kenneth Eugene Johnson came to be the first person anywhere to become put to death by nitrogen hypoxia. He was convicted in 1989 of slaughtering Elizabeth Sennett, the partner of a minister from Alabama, on her other half's orders. The state possessed very first attempted to execute him, by dangerous treatment, in Nov 2022, yet bungled the technique. Afterwards, Mr Johnson opted for to become nailed to a cross through unfamiliar methods. His execution has triggered flare-up: Alabama asserts nitrogen hypoxia is an easy, pain-free death yet many medical specialists differ. Some have parallelled it to torture. Why carried out Alabama authorise this untried approach?