Mr. Smith went into the home with an accomplice under the guise of looking over the ptoperty. He then beat, tortured and killed a defenseless woman he didn't even know. I wonder how long it took Elizabeth to die and did she suffer? I do not see the problem
My thought! The audacity of this man talking about "a step back in humanity" after he killed a defenseless, innocent woman for financial gain. He deserves no sympathy from me.
Well she was also stabbed in the neck twice. If they got her jugular and carotid she wouldn't be dead in less than the 28 minutes it to this prisoner. He'll botched hangings at Nuremberg only went for 14 minutes.
Thinking the same thing. We do need to aim for being humane and civilized when it comes to any form of punishment including execution, but when thinking about "fairness" this asshole was treated more than fairly. He probably had more invested into him than some of our best students in regards to education. He probably received better medical Care throughout his time in prison than most law-abiding hard-working citizens receive
I’m a physician. A convulsion actually is a normal hypoxic response and the person would be unconscious during the convulsion and insensible for awhile afterward. Gasping respiration patterns just before death are often called agonal respirations and occur commonly in unconscious individuals just prior to death. I would like to know how long it took before the convulsion started. Convulsions are hard to watch for those who don’t understand them. But we know a lot about what it’s like for folks to have convulsions because they aren’t that uncommon. I would much rather die from nitrogen than a firing squad or electric chair. One thing I’m surprised about is that they don’t have a good backup plan for folks with difficult IV access. The area can be anesthetized prior to all the IV attempts, infrared vein finders can be used and it’s not that hard to cut down to isolate and cannulate a vein. There are lots of doctors and nurses who are experienced at accomplishing intravenous cannulation in such patients in order to save lives. Surely there are some of them who would be willing to participate in executions if paid enough.
Thank you for your informed response. I have recently, unfortunately, been exposed to the concept of an "exit bag," which appears to use a similar method for painless suicide. So, I'm certainly not seeing the problem here. Not that I would. I believe we are far too compassionate to those who victimize others, but that is beside the point.
Thank you! I had many of the same questions regarding the IV access problem. Seemed as if they were maybe unprepared or inexperienced obtaining difficult IV access but it's something that is done every day in Healthcare.
Exactly. It's ridiculous they couldn't find a vein in a man who wasn't 80 years old. Also, my daughter and son have both had convulsions. They don't remember it, they aren't aware it's happening. It is painless except for muscle soreness the next day. Sounds like Alabama just doesn't have competent people.
He murdered someone for money. He was sentenced to death. He lived over 30 years longer than the woman he murdered. I have no concern for that Criminal It seems the news media gives him so much attention but only slightly about the Victim. His last words were non-apologetic victim-playing. It's really not fair to that Lady that was killed. I’m not concerned.
I also generally don’t have strong feelings on the death penalty either way, but it’s hard to have any real sympathy for someone who did that to an innocent woman and got to live a lot longer than her. Life owed him some suffering.
I understand that the condemned man attempted to game the system by selecting nitrogen hypoxia as his choice of execution (rather than lethal injection or firing squad), believing that the State of Alabama would never be able to actually establish a protocol for its use. Once it became clear that Alabama was ready to proceed with nitrogen hypoxia, the condemned man objected to its use as cruel and unusual punishment. With that background to consider, the US Supreme Court denied a stay of execution on the day prior to the execution. The State of Alabama was bound by state law to honor the condemned man's request for method of execution, and should not be criticized for doing so.
The state “tortured” Smith by trying to start an IV. I bet that hurt a lot less than being stabbed with a six inch knife like he did to Elizabeth. Elizabeth struggled for her life too. No compassion here for this monster.
I recently had a medical procedure and it took a couple of nurses multiple attempts to get an IV going in me. It was certainly unpleasant but far from what I would consider torture.
@@GoodnightJLH Same here. The nurses poked me so many times that I verbally revoked consent for anyone who wasn't a doctor to do it. My doctor was scrubbing but another one came in and got the needle right on his first try. While I was irritated & angered by the poking, it was far from inhumane, or torturous.
He's dead, so it worked. I'm sure Elizabeth was thrashing around, trying to breath during the horrific method he used to execute her. He was the last person to give a speech on the state of humanity. He didn't care about it when he was committing murder, but now that it's his turn to die at the hands of another, he is righteous all of a sudden. 🙄
@@kapilsethia9284The death penalty doesn’t deter crime, though. I’m sure people feel better about criminals out on the streets when they see a guy get the electric chair but it doesn’t do anything about all the other crimes that don’t fall under capital punishment. Most murders are committed in the heat of the moment. A person willing to kill somebody probably isn’t thinking about the electric chair when they commit the crime.
@@waynemanning3262 That may be true, but arguably the extensive media coverage crimes get + true crime fanatics reaching out to make documentaries and videos does the same thing
The irony is not lost to me that this man and his accomplices chose to spend the money they were given for a gun on drugs. This led them to kill this innocent woman in a horrifically violent manner. She suffered tremendously. The state of Alabama gave him the same courtesy he gave her. Actually, he got more. He was able to live 30 years longer than she was..and he was guilty.
Pretty rare that most people in the comment section disagree with Dr. Grande, this is one of those times. Leaving the part out about this guy trying to game the system with the execution method was a huge miss. And this wasn’t a case of well maybe he didn’t do it. He confessed and there is no doubt of his crime against humanity. The state finally served justice for the innocent victim who undoubtedly screamed for help, writhed in pain, called for God, sobbed for her family while she slowly succumbed to her injuries. I will not cry for the murderer who exacted death on that poor woman because he not only wrote her death sentence that day, he also wrote his own.
You failed to mention one thing in your analysis. Had he not murdered an innocent woman in cold blood he would never have been in this position to begin with. I'd be willing to bet he didn't suffer nearly as much as his innocent victim did.
Authority figures have more of a responsibility to not force subjective opinions onto other people without necessity. Freedom is more important than safety and happiness.
The woman most certainly suffered, and it sounds like she had to have been aware her husband was behind it as she was dying. Regardless, our constitution specifically forbids cruel and unusual punishment. And that's the problem we run into here. Is this cruel?
Dr. Todd Grande looks at all sides of an issue. He does feel empathy for the victim, and the perpetrator, also Most of the comments on these boards are one dimensional and short sighted😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮
@@michaelfrietdch9833 I agree 👍 I also feel bad for the husband having to do what he did Go thru all that trouble just to get caught It's just no right 😢
I honestly do not care how he was killed and what all he went through before he died. He didn't care about that. Innocent lady he killed and would all she went through before she died.
If this monster didn't want to be legally executed for his crimes, then why did he execute an innocent woman whose only crime was to be married to the wrong man (who hired this monster to assassinate his wife)?
So thankful this monster is no longer on this earth. Now, Elizabeth's two sons, Mike & Chuck, can find closure. His manner of execution was controversial. So was his manner of executing an innocent, beautiful woman who did nothing to him. He decided to blow the gun money on drugs & to use a knife to torture Elizabeth. What goes around, comes around.
It sounds to me like she probably didn't suffer that much. Probably being married to a poor womanizer was more painful. My thoughts are also with the mistress who paid three thousand dollars for the man that she loved and in return she lost him, he lost his life and his wife and three of his accomplices also died. Ultimately she killed five people for her three thousand dollars! Not all men who cheat on their wives will also kill them, but almost all who killed their wife also cheated on them Please be aware of how harmful unlawful sex can be.
@joanlynch5271 The pastor paid the hitmen, not his mistress. How can you say that poor woman didn't suffer that much? She was beaten and stabbed! You sound the devil himself! Ugh!
There are four or five states that still execute by firing squad. How is that a pain free execution and why does the execution have to be pain free? What they did to get there certainly wasn't pain free. I guess I am more of an eye for an eye person.
Firing squad is generally considered painless due to the fact that hypovolemic shock usually renders the subject unconscious near instantly and the fact that you typically don't feel a gun shot for some time because the kinetic shock temporarily knocks out the effected peripheral nerves.
No no no. I think his last words coupled with him holding his breath to make that execution method look barbaric, was a sociopaths true way of getting control and a reaction one last time on his way out
Do you really believe he was holding his breath? Think about it. The powers that be that signed off on the execution haven’t got the balls to admit that the procedure was torturous & inhumane. They are going to duck, weave, lie & sugarcoat. Dr Grande said it best, “If they want to execute prisoners, they need to own the viciousness of the act & not shy away from reality.”
According to the information received by Dr. Grande, the executed person would have held his breath for four minutes. Most people can hold their breath for between one and one and a half minute.
My empathy goes to Elizabeth who was only guilty of marrying and trusting the wrong man. As for Kenneth, he got his just due. He didn’t have the level of empathy, respect or regard for Elizabeth that people are wanting us to give him. Assuming he was guilty, he made his bed. He got what he gave. In my opinion Alabama should keep this practice (so long as it doesn’t hurt the other people in the room) and use Kenneth as an example of what happens when you disregard the rights and dignity of others.
If I could go back in time, I would have paid for a fMRI on my ex before I married him to see if he had empathy pathways in his brain. If they found a figurative "black hole" where those pathways should be, I would not have married him.
"Assuming he was guilty", you write - and there's the problem in a nutshell. Execute an innocent man and the mistake can't be undone. And no justice system can guarantee mistakes won't be made.
@@stevenmcghee6649 The U.S. "justice" system is horrible. Racial bias and also strong bias regarding poverty. You need money to navigate it successfully.
@@bjjposts6349 Right and wrong is intrinsic to reality. It has nothing to do with emotion. If you think "inflicting suffering is wrong" is an emotional response then you're a sociopath too. One should not inflict suffering, EVER. For any reason.
That’s how I feel about child killers. But this man had already served 30 years and a life sentence would have been sufficient. Context is important. The true devil was the fake Jesus loving Pastor who cheated on his wife and sought out someone to kill his wife. He took the easy way out.
I'm not sure, but it seems like the murderer demonstrated "recklessness and overconfidence" when he stabbed that lady in the neck. So the punishment fits the crime, doc.
If that were my mom, the punishment would fit the crime!!! They keep bad people on the streets, for the same reason they make wars happen: money, power and control. don't be so daft to reality.
That's disturbing. I mean that those who comment here must in most cases be followers of Dr. Grande and understand his analyses. And agree with them. That is, not be the one he analyzes. But there you see...
Yeah...I am finding the comments incredibly disturbing. There also seems to be a misunderstanding that because someone does not support the death penalty or believes it should be humane when it is used means that person doesn't care about the victim/victims. It's just all... Very disturbing.
@@disgruntledmoderate5331 Why? Hammurabi's code, an eye for an eye ("makes the world go blind" only if everyone is a murderer so it's a stupid addition to this phrase). Would you rather have him treated the same way he treated his victim (I do) or just a much more comfortable death? I wonder if those who somehow could see the execution of the wife would say "I've seen worse, a guy convulsing in a gas mask".
@@belladonnahigh9206 I think you are misunderstanding my discomfort. I can be both horrified (and I am) at what that man did, and at his execution. I am more horrified at the murder, but I am allowed to be horrified by his execution too. By the way, the "eye for an eye" meant that the punishment could not be WORSE than the crime. Not that it absolutely has to match the crime. I do think people misunderstand what our prison system is like.
@mrsshagsswagfrosty the answer to this question is that it's our responsibility as reasonable adults to maintain our sense of morals and ethics, even in the face of those who fail to maintain theirs. Sadly, many are all too willing to congratulate themselves on their willingness to stoop to the level of murderer, and somehow feel exceptionally enlightened when they do.
Just a reminder I'm not diagnosing anybody in this video; only speculating why one death row inmate would try to spoil it for the rest of the prisoners on death row by holding his breath like this.
Violent? Horror? Interesting choice in adjectives. He died more humanely than his victim. Strangely, his last words were to proclaim the humanity he was being deprived of, while expressing remorse only for himself. Compelling & rich.
I'm against the death penalty, but I can't understand why people say there's no humane and effective drug. People overdose on fentanyl all the time, many willingly 🤷🏻♀️
Nobody's asking you to do that. But allowing the death penalty to exist is allowing a society to succumb to its worst instincts. We're supposed to be better than that.
@@philaufan6 That's an old myth. If it was an effective deterrent the USA would have a much lower murder rate than its peer nations that have abolished the death penalty, but it doesn't. In fact the USA murder rate is much, much higher than its peer nations. The death penalty has been proven to be an ineffective deterrent.
@@johnnydjiurkopff "remove one demographic" Can you elaborate? Please...expand on that. I'm interested in what you have to say on the subject. If you have the courage, that is. Go on.
I love you Dr. Grande and usually agree with u- but not this time. The only injustice is that evil man got to live 30+ years and get a last meal that wasnt cat food or road kill
I could NOT care LESS about how much he “suffered”. Where was HIS humanity when he killed an INNOCENT woman for $$?!? Did his victim get a last meal, get to see her family one last time or get to make final words? One witness called it “the most violent execution he’d ever witnessed” Another called it a “horror show”. Wonder what They would’ve thought if they’d WITNESSED the MURDER of his INNOCENT VICTIM. AGAIN- COULD NOT CARE LESS- Good Riddance to Bad Rubbish.
Not too many complaints about assisted suicide. In 2020, around 1,300 people died by assisted suicide in Switzerland, almost all by ingesting liquid sodium pentobarbital, which puts a patient into a deep coma before killing them. Assisted suicide is also legal in the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Canada.
What weird comparison is that?? Also, there is no assisted suicide in my country (Netherlands). Only euthanasia, and only under extreme strict rules. In fact, there’s many who want it but are not getting it and eventually commit suicide because of it.
Yes, but he's a criminal, the State represents the people and is supposed to punish but not to the same low standards as criminals or murderers. Very few countries still have the death penalty; China, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Iran, Nigeria, Pakistan, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, South Sudan, Sudan, the United States, and Yemen. As you can see very few of these countries have democratically elected leaders or legislatures and they're mainly Moslem countries. Of course, as has happened many times in the past the wrong person is executed or killed because they threatened the regime in power. Russia is a good example of this and is the one blot in Europe which has led the world in not only leaving its long history of the worst wars ever fought, dividing the world into its empires and death penalties given out for stealing a carrot to trading partners, joint military commands and punishment without the need to murder the criminal.
@@chrisparnham pfthhhh.. "mainly moslem countries" ... buddy, you even dont have your geographical knowledge right, not to speak about your logical failure. pathetic.
@@joandeigan7826 Have you ever been in a prison? I’ve worked as a psych nurse in one. What would you think or feel if you saw an old man with dementia wandering around confused, barely able to eat, but still forced to sleep on a futon mattress over a flat steel plate. Is that inhumane? That’s what LIFE IN PRISON means. You grow old, get dementia, get sick and hurt, and die in a concrete building. Is that more humane? What about the DECADES of money the law abiding citizens are forced to pay to support that? I think people need to grow up and stop tainting their sense of justice with their feelings. He murdered an innocent woman and was able to live at no personal expense for decades longer than he let her live. Grow up.
Maybe you'd like to volunteer and find out if it's torture the way Christopher Hitchens did with waterboarding. Hitch lasted about 4 seconds. Smith's first execution attempted lasted 4 hours with him strapped to a gurney, unable to draw a full breath while needles were stuck into his hands, his feet, his arms, his legs, his collarbone, and his groin (and I may be missing a few places). Do you think you'd last 4 minutes?
I have experienced many jabs in one sitting because my veins are hard to find. It's uncomfortable but certainly not agonizing.His victim suffered and she was innocent.
Why do we have such sympathy for this barbaric killer I can only imagine the violence and the terror that this lady that he murdered by stabbing went through when she realized her life was over in the worst possible way and here we're going to nitpick after he sat how long without a death sentence and before he was finally executed from the time he committed the murder and we're going to have sympathy for him and we're going to say will that was such a violent death but we don't think about how violent the death the lady went through put yourself in the victim's shoes for once people instead of always Living Through The Eyes of the murderous sadistic I don't understand man😢
I've found that there are those who have sympathy for people who love them and there are those who have the most sympathy for those who hate them. The latter group often has this desire to be the "bigger person". This type of thinking often looks good on a global stage, but it isn't appreciated nearly as much by those involved.
Recognizing that an execution method is inhumane and having sympathy for Elizabeth aren't mutually exclusive. Kenneth Smith did something barbaric but that doesn't justify barbaric acts done to him.
@@krispycreamsicle Why not?, I want you to give me a fucking real masculine reason to deal with that guy in effeminate way like you live your effeminate life!..
I have no concern for this man's "discomfort" during his execution. Imagine the discomfort and absolute horror his victim felt the last minutes of her life.
Everyone suffers. It's a part of life. I find it a strange moral stance that we need to make sure monsters who caused tremendous suffering don't suffer in their final moments 🤷♂️
I suppose as a society we’re conflicted about killing, period. And maybe we’re more concerned about the witnesses of the execution than the murderer. I dunno.
@@ahill4642 I'm no longer pro death penalty myself. My reasons are practical - we get the wrong person way too often for me to feel ok about ending life of the convicted, and it ends up costing tax payers much more money. It just seems strange to me to care so much about the suffering of someone who caused so much suffering. Maybe I'm just a cold person, I dunno.
I guess the stance is that our society must be seen as just. However , it's not like prisoners are't beaten or killed in prison. I guess it's all about society appearing to be above any vindictiveness in metering out justice.
It's called being a normal human who thinks torture and murder are wrong. Period. Using the acts of the worst criminals among us as an excuse to commit acts at least as gruesome and horrific as the ones being punished is the stance that seems insane to me.
& so did the innocent & unwitting people present (the public servants assigned to administer & stand guard, the pastor, the reporters & Kennith’s family). They, along with the public, were lied to & now they witnessed a death they were not expecting to be torturous, they will have to live with the consequences (PTSD, depression, anxiety, etc). If they were told his death could’ve been anything like it was, I’m certain some would’ve opted out of participating & witnessing.
The people present were there for an execution. The only innocent person was the victim and the ones affected by the crime. The victim was the only victim. RIP
The poor thing that was submitted to `the vicious act` had no qualms unleashing 2 strangers on his wife, who had done him no harm whatsoever, to kill her any which way they chose to. I don feel sorry for him or the likes of him. As far as I know, the law tries to kill them the most painless way possible, a mercy they do not show their victim.
I wonder what the innocent woman who was murdered by being tricked, trapped, beaten, and stabbed would think about her murderer having an uncomfortable death? I'd venture to think she isn't rolling over.... God rest her soul.
“They repeatedly tortured him stabbing him with needles” . Ok and he tortured an innocent woman by stabbing her. I really don’t get the obsession with making the death penalty sweet and tender. He prayed for rain and had to deal with the mud.
He tried to game the system, and it backfired. The state had to honor the inmate's wishes. I think this method is horrific but he chose it, hoping he could get out of it by claiming it was unconstitutional.
@@johnboutwell4354 Crazy that you can call incapacitation a life. Especially when it comes to America's prisons which are more inhumane than animal cages. Totally out of touch with reality!
@@Redbaron_sites I don't know what your requirements are for comfy. But to be in a cell two by three meters with only a bunk and a toilet seat 23 hours a day, seven days a week, year after year. It's not something I would punish myself into. Or any human for that matter.
It is lack of thought like this that illustrates the sad state of the American mind. Behaving like the criminal is not justice Obviously, the lights are not on in your lighthouse
@@johnthompson3462 The state has the right and the authority to execute. Individual criminals do not. Don’t pretend that you don’t understand the difference.
@@fs663no, he was torturously & painfully suffocated while innocent people (public servants, the pastor, his family) were lied to & will now have to suffer the consequences of having witnessed such a horrific death (ie. PTSD, Depression, Anxiety, etc).
There have been patients who have died in dental offices who received nitrous oxide or an IV form of sedation and suffered from unrecognized hypoxia. Their resulting vegetative state or deaths are not considered painful. The dentist and/or their untrained/poorly educated/inexperienced staff member responsible for administering and/or monitoring the sedation doesn't receive the backlash that this prison is getting for killing a killer.
The argument that this new method of execution is too cruel for inmates because it is deemed too cruel for animals, DOES NOT STAND. The animals are innocent.
It's just Liberal belly-aching, they only care for the criminals, they'll get worked up if a multiple murderer is slightly inconvenienced but say nothing about the hundreds of lives devastated by the animal.
The other killer was exacuted in 2010 this was the second time they tried to exacute this person. I believe in the Death Penalty and if you are found quilty you should not be able too continue living for 30 years. No one cares about the children that were left behind because of this man his friend and their father maybe now they can get some kind of peace 🕊️🥀
Of course, do you believe in the death penalty even if it were to apply to yourself, your parents, siblings, or children? And despite the fact that you know that any number of innocent people have been sentenced to death. I ask myself how in the world can you be so d*m?!
“ he was struggling for his life …..” I bet his victim was too. Sorry I can’t seem to find any compassion. For someone who murdered an innocent woman in her home….
Talking about health and safety when referring to a death sentence strikes me as hugely ironic. Humane? They weren't humane when they stabbed someone 8 times. Punishment? Yes. Retribution? Absolutely!
So for you there is no difference between when an individual murders and when the state does it? There is such a thing as human rights and torture is not ok. Not the death penalty either if you want to be seen as a civilized society.
Nobody’s perfect. He is a psychologist, so of course his sense of justice will be dictated by his emotions. I’ve worked with dozens of them in the prison setting. They’re all like that. It’s really immature.
"He appeared to have suffered tremendously." He didn't suffer nearly as much as the victim, so boo hoo. "The execution did not go as planned." Actually it did. He became room temperature in the end.
Should we be worried about how he suffered? I find it strange that he seems fixated on how horrific this man’s execution was rather than the vile way this poor woman was murdered. Why would he need to die softly?
You have got to be being sarcastic about torture but repeatedly getting stuck with needles Happened to me last week when the nurse couldn't find a vein to draw my blood.
Last time I checked, the USA is not ruled by the U.N. or influenced by its unsolicited opinions. I sympathize with Elizabeth Sennett, who, unlike Kenneth Smith, did nothing to deserve her fate.
Thanks for showing the pictures on who you’re talking ab many times it’s so many moving characters in these stories I have to rewind to see who you’re referring to thanks for going the extra mile
Why would 3 grown men casually murder an innocent woman for a thousand dollars each, as if they were just going to do some house repairs? It truly beggars belief. It's impossible to have any sympathy for any of these men, who had no insight or that there would be consequences!!!
going by what the story told here offered, I'd say drugs. i've known some truly lost and hollow people who have done things for drugs that stagger the imagination.
No one has the right to take a person's life. Not even the state. And don't you think it's bizarre that the state says that citizens can't kill? Only the state?
It's not right to kill. What if the Pastor (husband) was very convincing as desperate people are known to be...that Elizabeth was a tramp, abusive mother, violent to random people and a bunch of other ugly thigs, you can fill in the blanks of what's ugly in your opinion!!! Had these 3 guys going that it was for the greater good of the community that she die...Some people are super convincing and believable.
I used to be like you, Dr. Grande. But I've come to realize some crimes can never be repayed. No matter what Smith would've done with the rest of his life, he could've never repayed society for what he has done to his victim and the public. It is actually unethical in my eyes to allow such criminals the right to life and is an insult to their victims and our society.
I think death penalty should be abolished. We just had the recent case in NC where a man spent 40 years behind bars for a murder he did not commit. The state settled for a few million. The courts don't always get it right. He would not be repaying his debt because he took a life. No matter what happens, that cannot be repaid.
@nuclearwessels2078 stop using exceptions as the rule. There was no mistake in this case. He helped murder someone's mother for $3000 so he can get high. What's the appropriate punishment? Give him 3 meals a day, health care, housing, access to books and entertainment for the rest of his life? The average person doesn't get that from the government. Why should we support someone who committed an unspeakably cruel act against one of us? He had to go, sorry.
@@Harry_Stylus So your stance is you gotta crack some eggs to make an omelet? What do you say about those who have been exonerated years later? Irrelevant?
This is a super well known phenomena and I use it in my field of anesthesia to get nitrous oxide into patients quickly for surgery. Anyone with any background in surgery would've known this. Was no one with any medical background or even taken a chemistry class present??? Why would they let him eat? Of course he's going to vomit. A google search of the second gas effect could've told anyone above 4th grade reading level that this would occur. I guess it is Alabama though so maybe none of those are around? (I'm in WV I understand your pain) I love your dry humor. The way you eloquently put things is a gift. Thank you for not wasting it. These are some of my favorite videos on UA-cam because of this.
Medical personnel have always declined to participate in executions. The argument is that the Hippocratic Oath and medical ethics preclude medical people from participating in executions. Further, the companies that manufacture anesthetic drugs do not want their drugs associated with executions and will not sell the drugs to states for that purpose.
They didn’t let him eat. They made him NPO. And it sounds like he didn’t vomit or aspirate. It was just discussed that that was possible. Sounds pretty normal to me that he would become hypoxic have convulsions then have agonal respirations and myoclonic jerks for a few minutes. I’m sure the lay people present had a hard time watching the seizures but that didn’t mean that Smith was suffering, as you well know.
@@bettagems9209 A medieval view of humanity based on primitive emotions such as revenge. No one has the right to take a person's life. Besides, nobody is born a monster.
@@ilonakarlsson537 It's not revenge, it's protecting the innocent. And if 'nobody is born a monster,' how do you explain kids who are sociopaths & psychopaths, who torture & kill animals, and sometimes their own siblings or parents? Psychopaths & sociopaths cannot be 'cured' no amount of therapy or medication fixes them, plus at least in the USA you cannot legally force anyone to get therapy or take medication. You must live in a fairy tale world of rainbow unicorns & happy joyful people who never hurt each other. Good for you, but for the rest of us in the real world, monsters exist, they can't be fixed, and sometimes the only way to stop them is to get rid of them. I'm sure you've never had to consider the possibility that to protect yourself or your family, you might have to use deadly force. I have. IDK where you live, but if it's not in the USA, you have no freaking idea of how to survive in a gun culture. I didn't create the mess in this country, but I have to live in it.
I wonder how much thought Kenneth put into the execution he carried out, and if he considered that execution "a step back for humanity." They put far more effort into his execution than he did into taking an innocent woman's life. I'm of the opinion that one 13 cent bullet would've done the trick. I bet that unsuspecting house wife did not get a T-bone steak prior to her execution. We have a problem with truth in this country.
In Mosaic law, the witnesses for the prosecution were required to throw the first stones. While this may seem barbaric because it is execution by stoning, it did provide some natural restraint. It didn't allow others to do the dirty work and it also tested the veracity of the testimony. And a person convicted of false witness was required to suffer the exact same penalty as the one they imposed.
My career was built around getting Atlas and Delta space boosters assembled, tested and launched. Many parts of these vehicles had a nitrogen purge on them to prevent explosive or flammable gases from accumulating in propellant tanks, pumping machines and plumbing. There was always the danger of the gas leaking out of joints, valves and fittings and into confined spaces within the vehicles. We had to be very, careful with backup personnel on site, because (and it did happen), workers in confined spaces filled with nitrogen would become unconscious suddenly and without any warning and if not removed to fresh air immediately, they would suffocate and die, all without feeling a thing or being aware that anything was wrong. I don't know about the reported convulsions, I never witnessed any myself and that time I nearly passed out, I did not convulse. I think this needs to be looked into, but it is my opinion (as of right now), that by the time any convulsions could start, brain activity would have already rendered the person unconscious (and probably clinically dead) and without consciousness, there would be no sense of suffering while convulsing. Having said all that, I am likewise very much opposed to the death penalty and wish this particular one had not been carried out. By killing a criminal, you put him/her beyond all pain, all suffering and all regret and that's a heck of a way to punish someone, in my opinion. Regardless, death comes to us all and most deaths are unpleasant to say the least. Who wouldn't chose death by nitrogen over say death by gunshot to the head and the horrible mess that entails? Who wouldn't want to ease out of life by nitrogen rather than a slow death in unassuageable pain from one of the many, many diseases flesh is heir to?
Maybe they should think about the person that was murdered and how they suffered for hours while being stabbed and left for dead. That is an inhumane death.
Brilliant analysis! Thank you for having the courage to address this controversial issue. After reading the book "Gruesome Spectacles" detailing botched executions i have come to more fully appreciate the truth of your comments. You never allow raw emotions to blind your rational perspective.
Mr. Smith went into the home with an accomplice under the guise of looking over the ptoperty. He then beat, tortured and killed a defenseless woman he didn't even know. I wonder how long it took Elizabeth to die and did she suffer? I do not see the problem
My thought! The audacity of this man talking about "a step back in humanity" after he killed a defenseless, innocent woman for financial gain. He deserves no sympathy from me.
Well she was also stabbed in the neck twice. If they got her jugular and carotid she wouldn't be dead in less than the 28 minutes it to this prisoner. He'll botched hangings at Nuremberg only went for 14 minutes.
Liberal tears for the brutal murderer and zero concern for the victims...that's Liberalism in a nutshell.
Thinking the same thing.
We do need to aim for being humane and civilized when it comes to any form of punishment including execution, but when thinking about "fairness" this asshole was treated more than fairly.
He probably had more invested into him than some of our best students in regards to education.
He probably received better medical Care throughout his time in prison than most law-abiding hard-working citizens receive
same
I’m a physician. A convulsion actually is a normal hypoxic response and the person would be unconscious during the convulsion and insensible for awhile afterward. Gasping respiration patterns just before death are often called agonal respirations and occur commonly in unconscious individuals just prior to death.
I would like to know how long it took before the convulsion started.
Convulsions are hard to watch for those who don’t understand them. But we know a lot about what it’s like for folks to have convulsions because they aren’t that uncommon.
I would much rather die from nitrogen than a firing squad or electric chair.
One thing I’m surprised about is that they don’t have a good backup plan for folks with difficult IV access. The area can be anesthetized prior to all the IV attempts, infrared vein finders can be used and it’s not that hard to cut down to isolate and cannulate a vein. There are lots of doctors and nurses who are experienced at accomplishing intravenous cannulation in such patients in order to save lives. Surely there are some of them who would be willing to participate in executions if paid enough.
Thank you for your informed response. I have recently, unfortunately, been exposed to the concept of an "exit bag," which appears to use a similar method for painless suicide. So, I'm certainly not seeing the problem here.
Not that I would. I believe we are far too compassionate to those who victimize others, but that is beside the point.
Thank you! I had many of the same questions regarding the IV access problem. Seemed as if they were maybe unprepared or inexperienced obtaining difficult IV access but it's something that is done every day in Healthcare.
I bet they would because some nurses are hypocrites
The love of money is the root of all evil
Exactly. It's ridiculous they couldn't find a vein in a man who wasn't 80 years old. Also, my daughter and son have both had convulsions. They don't remember it, they aren't aware it's happening. It is painless except for muscle soreness the next day. Sounds like Alabama just doesn't have competent people.
How long did the poor paster’s wife suffer while she was beat and bludgeoned to death in her own home?
Too long!
Are you a sadist?
@@amyhenningsgard8618 amen!
Right. I believe it was mentioned she died 2 hours after being at the hospital.
2 his plus however long it took to find her
that litteraly doesn't matter;
stay on the subject
He murdered someone for money. He was sentenced to death. He lived over 30 years longer than the woman he murdered. I have no concern for that Criminal It seems the news media gives him so much attention but only slightly about the Victim. His last words were non-apologetic victim-playing. It's really not fair to that Lady that was killed. I’m not concerned.
Amen!
I also generally don’t have strong feelings on the death penalty either way, but it’s hard to have any real sympathy for someone who did that to an innocent woman and got to live a lot longer than her. Life owed him some suffering.
I agree!
Some of us are interested in justice, not revenge.
Some of us try to be better than murderers. But hey you do you I guess lol
I understand that the condemned man attempted to game the system by selecting nitrogen hypoxia as his choice of execution (rather than lethal injection or firing squad), believing that the State of Alabama would never be able to actually establish a protocol for its use. Once it became clear that Alabama was ready to proceed with nitrogen hypoxia, the condemned man objected to its use as cruel and unusual punishment. With that background to consider, the US Supreme Court denied a stay of execution on the day prior to the execution. The State of Alabama was bound
by state law to honor the condemned man's request for method of execution, and should not be criticized for doing so.
You speak the truth.
Carry on.
Well said and I agree.
@@VirgilTStoneAlabama doesn’t use the firing squad for the death penalty, so keep on talking about the truth.
@@nkmcfrln
Ok, I will.
You seem like an arrogant horse's....butt.
I don't have to explain myself to you.
Have a nice day.
@@nkmcfrln
I will.
You seem like a horse's.....butt.
The state “tortured” Smith by trying to start an IV. I bet that hurt a lot less than being stabbed with a six inch knife like he did to Elizabeth. Elizabeth struggled for her life too. No compassion here for this monster.
How casual and easy it is to forget about the victims in such cases.
I recently had a medical procedure and it took a couple of nurses multiple attempts to get an IV going in me. It was certainly unpleasant but far from what I would consider torture.
So true! Poor woman!
Was this the guy that is scheduled to meet his maker today?
@@GoodnightJLH Same here. The nurses poked me so many times that I verbally revoked consent for anyone who wasn't a doctor to do it. My doctor was scrubbing but another one came in and got the needle right on his first try.
While I was irritated & angered by the poking, it was far from inhumane, or torturous.
He's dead, so it worked. I'm sure Elizabeth was thrashing around, trying to breath during the horrific method he used to execute her. He was the last person to give a speech on the state of humanity. He didn't care about it when he was committing murder, but now that it's his turn to die at the hands of another, he is righteous all of a sudden. 🙄
I agree, but I disagree.
State uses death penalty as punishment and deterrent not revenge.
@@kapilsethia9284The death penalty doesn’t deter crime, though. I’m sure people feel better about criminals out on the streets when they see a guy get the electric chair but it doesn’t do anything about all the other crimes that don’t fall under capital punishment. Most murders are committed in the heat of the moment. A person willing to kill somebody probably isn’t thinking about the electric chair when they commit the crime.
Death penalty keeps the victims families from having to re-live the horrors every parole hearing for the rest of their lives.
@@waynemanning3262 That may be true, but arguably the extensive media coverage crimes get + true crime fanatics reaching out to make documentaries and videos does the same thing
The irony is not lost to me that this man and his accomplices chose to spend the money they were given for a gun on drugs. This led them to kill this innocent woman in a horrifically violent manner. She suffered tremendously. The state of Alabama gave him the same courtesy he gave her. Actually, he got more. He was able to live 30 years longer than she was..and he was guilty.
And he got to choose his manner of death.
💯 this ⬆️
And he only got a thousand bucks. Crime certainly didn't pay for this loser all the way 'round.
He even got a meal of his choice, that his victim didn't.
@@dogtrainer4645 the classic eye for an eye
Pretty rare that most people in the comment section disagree with Dr. Grande, this is one of those times. Leaving the part out about this guy trying to game the system with the execution method was a huge miss.
And this wasn’t a case of well maybe he didn’t do it. He confessed and there is no doubt of his crime against humanity.
The state finally served justice for the innocent victim who undoubtedly screamed for help, writhed in pain, called for God, sobbed for her family while she slowly succumbed to her injuries.
I will not cry for the murderer who exacted death on that poor woman because he not only wrote her death sentence that day, he also wrote his own.
You failed to mention one thing in your analysis. Had he not murdered an innocent woman in cold blood he would never have been in this position to begin with. I'd be willing to bet he didn't suffer nearly as much as his innocent victim did.
That's not a valid argument
@@dovidstaples9985 Says you. Everyone has their own definition of "valid".
@@dovidstaples9985 how so? lol
Exactly.
Agree.
Lets not forget what the poor woman went through while she was being murdered. I'm sure it wasn't a walk in the park for her..
there were 2 of them and nothing proves that kenneth killed this woman, especially stole things from her in the house and found her at his place
@@Manu_Lemoine_FRhe was there during her murder to read her bible 😂 use common sense man
Yes. Dr. Todd is an evil man.
Authority figures have more of a responsibility to not force subjective opinions onto other people without necessity. Freedom is more important than safety and happiness.
The woman most certainly suffered, and it sounds like she had to have been aware her husband was behind it as she was dying. Regardless, our constitution specifically forbids cruel and unusual punishment. And that's the problem we run into here. Is this cruel?
I'm more concerned about how poor Elizabeth died than the monster that killed her. I'm sure that she suffered tremendously.
Senor Grande doesn't care about that.
@@soulquesthealingmusic2307 fr
Dr. Todd Grande looks at all sides of an issue. He does feel empathy for the victim, and the perpetrator, also
Most of the comments on these boards are one dimensional and short sighted😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮
I'm sure she wasn't so "innocent". Why do you think a pastor wanted her dead? Probably the typical nagging 🐕. 🤷♂️
@@michaelfrietdch9833
I agree 👍
I also feel bad for the husband having to do what he did
Go thru all that trouble just to get caught
It's just no right 😢
I honestly do not care how he was killed and what all he went through before he died. He didn't care about that. Innocent lady he killed and would all she went through before she died.
I agree with you. I can't even imagine what that poor woman went through:((
Yeah well, some of us try to be better than murderers. But you do you lol
Well said..Elizabeth is the one person everyone should be thinking of.
@@shawnfoster4506unhinged if you think having an opinion is worse than being a murderer
But you do you
@@shawnfoster4506would you still think that way if ur mother was stabbed 7 times in the chest and twice in the neck?
Fucked up execution method aside, I find no sympathy for this man. The lady he murdered suffered far more than he did in his death.
If this monster didn't want to be legally executed for his crimes, then why did he execute an innocent woman whose only crime was to be married to the wrong man (who hired this monster to assassinate his wife)?
the real injustice is that he got to breath 36 years before they carried out a just sentence.
Whatever happened to the firing squad?
*breathe
@svenhoek It was eliminated. However, Ronnie Lee Gardner was executed by firing squad in Utah in 2010.
Yes.
What an inhumane statement
So thankful this monster is no longer on this earth. Now, Elizabeth's two sons, Mike & Chuck, can find closure. His manner of execution was controversial. So was his manner of executing an innocent, beautiful woman who did nothing to him. He decided to blow the gun money on drugs & to use a knife to torture Elizabeth. What goes around, comes around.
Yes!
How do you know for sure that Mike and Chuck will get closure just because their mother's killer was executed?
What kind of punishment have the murderer's relatives committed to receive a lifetime of suffering?
@@ilonakarlsson537 The family has said as much.
Their father was the actual murderer, both their parents are dead , you actually think this can give them closure? Only Jesus Christ can give closure.
Hard to sympathize when his victim was terrorized before she succumbed to the horrific stabbing death that was inflicted on her.
It sounds to me like she probably didn't suffer that much. Probably being married to a poor womanizer was more painful. My thoughts are also with the mistress who paid three thousand dollars for the man that she loved and in return she lost him, he lost his life and his wife and three of his accomplices also died. Ultimately she killed five people for her three thousand dollars!
Not all men who cheat on their wives will also kill them, but almost all who killed their wife also cheated on them
Please be aware of how harmful unlawful sex can be.
@joanlynch5271 The pastor paid the hitmen, not his mistress. How can you say that poor woman didn't suffer that much? She was beaten and stabbed! You sound the devil himself! Ugh!
There are four or five states that still execute by firing squad. How is that a pain free execution and why does the execution have to be pain free? What they did to get there certainly wasn't pain free. I guess I am more of an eye for an eye person.
Firing squad is generally considered painless due to the fact that hypovolemic shock usually renders the subject unconscious near instantly and the fact that you typically don't feel a gun shot for some time because the kinetic shock temporarily knocks out the effected peripheral nerves.
Because otherwise it would be unconstitutional
@@dovidstaples9985wrong, the constitution forbids CRUEL AND UNUSUAL not painful.
@@nhmooytis7058 inflicting pain is cruel.
@@oliviachetcuti225 so is murdering an innocent person. Dowanna be executed? Don’t murder anyone. DDUUUUUHHHHH
I still don't think that he was given anywhere near the same nightmarish ending that his victim received from him.
No no no. I think his last words coupled with him holding his breath to make that execution method look barbaric, was a sociopaths true way of getting control and a reaction one last time on his way out
Do you really believe he was holding his breath? Think about it. The powers that be that signed off on the execution haven’t got the balls to admit that the procedure was torturous & inhumane. They are going to duck, weave, lie & sugarcoat. Dr Grande said it best, “If they want to execute prisoners, they need to own the viciousness of the act & not shy away from reality.”
How do you know he was actually holding his breath? Where you there?
According to the information received by Dr. Grande, the executed person would have held his breath for four minutes. Most people can hold their breath for between one and one and a half minute.
What expertise do you have when it comes to this method of execution?
Your no professional to even assume that,
My empathy goes to Elizabeth who was only guilty of marrying and trusting the wrong man. As for Kenneth, he got his just due. He didn’t have the level of empathy, respect or regard for Elizabeth that people are wanting us to give him. Assuming he was guilty, he made his bed. He got what he gave. In my opinion Alabama should keep this practice (so long as it doesn’t hurt the other people in the room) and use Kenneth as an example of what happens when you disregard the rights and dignity of others.
If I could go back in time, I would have paid for a fMRI on my ex before I married him to see if he had empathy pathways in his brain. If they found a figurative "black hole" where those pathways should be, I would not have married him.
"Assuming he was guilty", you write - and there's the problem in a nutshell. Execute an innocent man and the mistake can't be undone. And no justice system can guarantee mistakes won't be made.
@@stevenmcghee6649 But the courts were not assuming, only fluffysox.
@@stevenmcghee6649 The U.S. "justice" system is horrible. Racial bias and also strong bias regarding poverty. You need money to navigate it successfully.
@@nanettevantriesteharder2469 Is that actually a reliable way of detecting psychopathy/sociopathy in people?
He forfeited all compassion and concern for his life when he murdered her. Toodles, hope you got all the fear and pain you inflicted on her.
Dr. Grande is an idiot.
A legal system should not be based on emotions.
@@ilonakarlsson537all legal systems are. What do you think morals are based on?
there were 2 of them and nothing proves that kenneth killed this woman, especially stole things from her in the house and found her at his place
@@bjjposts6349 Right and wrong is intrinsic to reality. It has nothing to do with emotion. If you think "inflicting suffering is wrong" is an emotional response then you're a sociopath too. One should not inflict suffering, EVER. For any reason.
Maybe he shouldn’t have killed his victim. 🤷♀️ It sounds like her death was brutal. I hope her family now has closure. ❤
Really, you think anyone has closure on something like this: only when they are gone!!! Don't be a moron!!!
He tried to screw up the execution to get another stay. He failed.
Like a complete coward the same way he did his wife
Be careful what you wish for?
That’s quite possibly what happened.
May not be relevant to this case but 99% of those guys are eager to be put down. Imagine being in a doctors waiting room for 20 years
@@mrsshagsswagfrostytwo wrong DONT make it right
Kenneth was probably thinking:
"Damn you Elizabeth, look at the excruciating pain I am going through because of you, have you no mercy, woman...?"
I'm not concerned about his suffering because he clearly was not concerned about his victim's suffering. Actions = Consequences
aka FAFO
It's unconstitutional
Allowing the death penalty to exist is allowing a society to succumb to its worst instincts. We're supposed to be better than that.
Ah yes. An eye for an eye
@@GBennet leaves everyone blind
No compassion for murderers. Even if he suffered, he did not suffer as much as that poor woman did as she watched this monster take her life away.
Soldiers could be considered murderers it’s not so black and white it’s all about walking a thin line but at the end murder is murder
Sadist?
Justice. @@ilonakarlsson537
That’s how I feel about child killers. But this man had already served 30 years and a life sentence would have been sufficient. Context is important. The true devil was the fake Jesus loving Pastor who cheated on his wife and sought out someone to kill his wife. He took the easy way out.
In your mind, everyone is a sadist.@@ilonakarlsson537
I'm not sure, but it seems like the murderer demonstrated "recklessness and overconfidence" when he stabbed that lady in the neck. So the punishment fits the crime, doc.
If that were my mom, the punishment would fit the crime!!! They keep bad people on the streets, for the same reason they make wars happen: money, power and control. don't be so daft to reality.
An extensive survey of the comments indicates that your viewers do not share your concern for murderers.
That's disturbing. I mean that those who comment here must in most cases be followers of Dr. Grande and understand his analyses. And agree with them. That is, not be the one he analyzes. But there you see...
Yeah...I am finding the comments incredibly disturbing. There also seems to be a misunderstanding that because someone does not support the death penalty or believes it should be humane when it is used means that person doesn't care about the victim/victims. It's just all... Very disturbing.
@@disgruntledmoderate5331 Why? Hammurabi's code, an eye for an eye ("makes the world go blind" only if everyone is a murderer so it's a stupid addition to this phrase). Would you rather have him treated the same way he treated his victim (I do) or just a much more comfortable death? I wonder if those who somehow could see the execution of the wife would say "I've seen worse, a guy convulsing in a gas mask".
This is more about us than the murderer.
@@belladonnahigh9206 I think you are misunderstanding my discomfort. I can be both horrified (and I am) at what that man did, and at his execution. I am more horrified at the murder, but I am allowed to be horrified by his execution too.
By the way, the "eye for an eye" meant that the punishment could not be WORSE than the crime. Not that it absolutely has to match the crime. I do think people misunderstand what our prison system is like.
Kenneth did not show mercy to the person who he killed. Why are we concerned about the execution method?
Why stoop to his level? Why not strive to have a better sense of morals and ethics than a murderer?
Facts😊
tell that to the close ones of the victim@@shawnfoster4506
@mrsshagsswagfrosty the answer to this question is that it's our responsibility as reasonable adults to maintain our sense of morals and ethics, even in the face of those who fail to maintain theirs. Sadly, many are all too willing to congratulate themselves on their willingness to stoop to the level of murderer, and somehow feel exceptionally enlightened when they do.
@@mrsshagsswagfrosty you should get a huge tattoo that says “I ❤️ capital punishment”
Just a reminder I'm not diagnosing anybody in this video; only speculating why one death row inmate would try to spoil it for the rest of the prisoners on death row by holding his breath like this.
😂
Lol....
@@texasrefugee7888 😃🦓
@@junehbee29 😃🦓
lol
Violent? Horror? Interesting choice in adjectives. He died more humanely than his victim. Strangely, his last words were to proclaim the humanity he was being deprived of, while expressing remorse only for himself. Compelling & rich.
I'm against the death penalty, but I can't understand why people say there's no humane and effective drug. People overdose on fentanyl all the time, many willingly 🤷🏻♀️
The only sad part of this is that this guy got to live 35 years before his execution was carried out.
Zero sympathy for this criminal.
Nobody's asking you to do that. But allowing the death penalty to exist is allowing a society to succumb to its worst instincts. We're supposed to be better than that.
@@klauswigsmithThe death penalty deters...
@@philaufan6 That's an old myth. If it was an effective deterrent the USA would have a much lower murder rate than its peer nations that have abolished the death penalty, but it doesn't. In fact the USA murder rate is much, much higher than its peer nations.
The death penalty has been proven to be an ineffective deterrent.
@@klauswigsmithremove one demographic and America joins it's peer nations lol.
@@johnnydjiurkopff "remove one demographic"
Can you elaborate? Please...expand on that. I'm interested in what you have to say on the subject. If you have the courage, that is.
Go on.
I love you Dr. Grande and usually agree with u- but not this time. The only injustice is that evil man got to live 30+ years and get a last meal that wasnt cat food or road kill
Alabama finally got the justice for this case. It’s tragic a pastor would do this to his wife for money.
Only if he was a pastor?
Did they though?
Its just about expected for a clergyman go do this for money. The sanctimonious prig was committing adultery as well.
It’s tragic that any human being would choose to do this to another human period
Alabama didn't get stabbed to death. Elizabeth did.
7:37 I wonder if it was as violent as what happened to his victim?
My thoughts exactly. I can't imagine how scared she must have been while she was being brutally murdered.
I could NOT care LESS about how much he “suffered”. Where was HIS humanity when he killed an INNOCENT woman for $$?!?
Did his victim get a last meal, get to see her family one last time or get to make final words?
One witness called it “the most violent execution he’d ever witnessed”
Another called it a “horror show”.
Wonder what They would’ve thought if they’d WITNESSED the MURDER of his INNOCENT VICTIM.
AGAIN- COULD NOT CARE LESS- Good Riddance to Bad Rubbish.
It's being done in your name. I guess your standards aren't very high then.
Not too many complaints about assisted suicide. In 2020, around 1,300 people died by assisted suicide in Switzerland, almost all by ingesting liquid sodium pentobarbital, which puts a patient into a deep coma before killing them. Assisted suicide is also legal in the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Canada.
Assisted suicide is murder too for the clear-eyed.
Yeah but those people willingly drink it. How to make the inmates ingest it without violence?
What weird comparison is that?? Also, there is no assisted suicide in my country (Netherlands). Only euthanasia, and only under extreme strict rules. In fact, there’s many who want it but are not getting it and eventually commit suicide because of it.
I read somewhere Phillip N. The author of the peaceful pill handbook was consulted on what could happen when the method they choose was used..
You really don’t see the difference? Seriously?
He was treated far more humanely than he treated his victim.
based
Yes, but he's a criminal, the State represents the people and is supposed to punish but not to the same low standards as criminals or murderers. Very few countries still have the death penalty; China, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Iran, Nigeria, Pakistan, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, South Sudan, Sudan, the United States, and Yemen. As you can see very few of these countries have democratically elected leaders or legislatures and they're mainly Moslem countries. Of course, as has happened many times in the past the wrong person is executed or killed because they threatened the regime in power. Russia is a good example of this and is the one blot in Europe which has led the world in not only leaving its long history of the worst wars ever fought, dividing the world into its empires and death penalties given out for stealing a carrot to trading partners, joint military commands and punishment without the need to murder the criminal.
@@chrisparnham pfthhhh.. "mainly moslem countries" ... buddy, you even dont have your geographical knowledge right, not to speak about your logical failure. pathetic.
@@chrisparnham perfectly stated. Intellectually sound.
Exactly
He lived 36 years longer than his victim. Was her death cruel and unusual ?
Exactly
34 but close enough
Saying he was "tortured" when they were just trying to find a useable vein is a bit much... its not pleasant but its not "torture"
I'm with you Dr. Grande. I don't believe in the death penalty either. It's cruel and inhumane 😢.
@@joandeigan7826
Have you ever been in a prison? I’ve worked as a psych nurse in one. What would you think or feel if you saw an old man with dementia wandering around confused, barely able to eat, but still forced to sleep on a futon mattress over a flat steel plate. Is that inhumane? That’s what LIFE IN PRISON means. You grow old, get dementia, get sick and hurt, and die in a concrete building. Is that more humane? What about the DECADES of money the law abiding citizens are forced to pay to support that?
I think people need to grow up and stop tainting their sense of justice with their feelings. He murdered an innocent woman and was able to live at no personal expense for decades longer than he let her live. Grow up.
@totallyfrozen Wow! You don't seem to have much compassion for being a nurse! Shame on you Nurse Rachett!
Maybe you'd like to volunteer and find out if it's torture the way Christopher Hitchens did with waterboarding. Hitch lasted about 4 seconds. Smith's first execution attempted lasted 4 hours with him strapped to a gurney, unable to draw a full breath while needles were stuck into his hands, his feet, his arms, his legs, his collarbone, and his groin (and I may be missing a few places). Do you think you'd last 4 minutes?
I have experienced many jabs in one sitting because my veins are hard to find. It's uncomfortable but certainly not agonizing.His victim suffered and she was innocent.
Why do we have such sympathy for this barbaric killer I can only imagine the violence and the terror that this lady that he murdered by stabbing went through when she realized her life was over in the worst possible way and here we're going to nitpick after he sat how long without a death sentence and before he was finally executed from the time he committed the murder and we're going to have sympathy for him and we're going to say will that was such a violent death but we don't think about how violent the death the lady went through put yourself in the victim's shoes for once people instead of always Living Through The Eyes of the murderous sadistic I don't understand man😢
I've found that there are those who have sympathy for people who love them and there are those who have the most sympathy for those who hate them. The latter group often has this desire to be the "bigger person". This type of thinking often looks good on a global stage, but it isn't appreciated nearly as much by those involved.
Recognizing that an execution method is inhumane and having sympathy for Elizabeth aren't mutually exclusive. Kenneth Smith did something barbaric but that doesn't justify barbaric acts done to him.
It's not about empathy It's about it being unconstitutional. We seek justice not revenge and torture
Also this argument is like claiming Batman doesn't kill because he has sympathy and empathy for criminals
@@krispycreamsicle Why not?, I want you to give me a fucking real masculine reason to deal with that guy in effeminate way like you live your effeminate life!..
I have no concern for this man's "discomfort" during his execution. Imagine the discomfort and absolute horror his victim felt the last minutes of her life.
Everyone suffers. It's a part of life. I find it a strange moral stance that we need to make sure monsters who caused tremendous suffering don't suffer in their final moments 🤷♂️
I suppose as a society we’re conflicted about killing, period. And maybe we’re more concerned about the witnesses of the execution than the murderer. I dunno.
@@ahill4642 I'm no longer pro death penalty myself. My reasons are practical - we get the wrong person way too often for me to feel ok about ending life of the convicted, and it ends up costing tax payers much more money. It just seems strange to me to care so much about the suffering of someone who caused so much suffering. Maybe I'm just a cold person, I dunno.
Agreed, Kevin Doran. Totally agree.
I guess the stance is that our society must be seen as just. However , it's not like prisoners are't beaten or killed in prison. I guess it's all about society appearing to be above any vindictiveness in metering out justice.
It's called being a normal human who thinks torture and murder are wrong. Period. Using the acts of the worst criminals among us as an excuse to commit acts at least as gruesome and horrific as the ones being punished is the stance that seems insane to me.
I wonder if Kenneth suffered as much as Elizabeth did at the time of her death? Just a thought.
I wonder if you even understand what this is about.
A murderer suffered tremendously for four minutes before he died……AND????????
& so did the innocent & unwitting people present (the public servants assigned to administer & stand guard, the pastor, the reporters & Kennith’s family). They, along with the public, were lied to & now they witnessed a death they were not expecting to be torturous, they will have to live with the consequences (PTSD, depression, anxiety, etc). If they were told his death could’ve been anything like it was, I’m certain some would’ve opted out of participating & witnessing.
And justice was finally served, after 3+decades
The people present were there for an execution. The only innocent person was the victim and the ones affected by the crime. The victim was the only victim. RIP
The poor thing that was submitted to `the vicious act` had no qualms unleashing 2 strangers on his wife, who had done him no harm whatsoever, to kill her any which way they chose to. I don feel sorry for him or the likes of him. As far as I know, the law tries to kill them the most painless way possible, a mercy they do not show their victim.
❤ exactly 💯
That guy offed himself long ago. This guy was the one that helped do the killing of his wife.
Oh my God. He borrowed the money to kill his wife from his mistress? This is a new low.
Whilst standing at the pulpit in his church, instructing everyone on how they should live their lives! 🙄
@leighleigh8725 haha. sadly they game the weak!
@leighleigh8725 community leaders??? what do you mean? and who molested Doug?
People can call it a mistake, inhumane, unethical... strange no one brought up that it could have been karma.
Yes!
Sounds like everything went well, I wouldn’t change a thing. How long did that poor woman suffer?
EXACTLY!
I wonder what the innocent woman who was murdered by being tricked, trapped, beaten, and stabbed would think about her murderer having an uncomfortable death? I'd venture to think she isn't rolling over.... God rest her soul.
“They repeatedly tortured him stabbing him with needles” . Ok and he tortured an innocent woman by stabbing her. I really don’t get the obsession with making the death penalty sweet and tender. He prayed for rain and had to deal with the mud.
He tried to game the system, and it backfired. The state had to honor the inmate's wishes. I think this method is horrific but he chose it, hoping he could get out of it by claiming it was unconstitutional.
He won, he had 35 years of life after his crime.
@@johnboutwell4354
Crazy that you can call incapacitation a life. Especially when it comes to America's prisons which are more inhumane than animal cages. Totally out of touch with reality!
@@ilonakarlsson537 Prisons are far too comfy That's why they keep killing to get inside.
@@Redbaron_sites
I don't know what your requirements are for comfy. But to be in a cell two by three meters with only a bunk and a toilet seat 23 hours a day, seven days a week, year after year. It's not something I would punish myself into. Or any human for that matter.
@@ilonakarlsson537 Are you kidding me?? America has the most HUMANE prisoners around, there actually tooo easy on prisoners!
Never should have lived 30 years after. No sympathy.
His suffering was nothing compared to what the poor lady that he killed went through. I have no sympathy for him.
It is lack of thought like this that illustrates the sad state of the American mind. Behaving like the criminal is not justice Obviously, the lights are not on in your lighthouse
And you're missing the point.
No sympathy
How are we to know? Two wrongs don’t equal a right.
@@johnthompson3462
The state has the right and the authority to execute. Individual criminals do not. Don’t pretend that you don’t understand the difference.
“Most violent execution”? Like the victim’s execution?
In America we are SUPPOSED to believe in being better than murderers.
@@socialcommentary1014 Why are there so many then?
She suffered for 3 hours before dying!😢
@@socialcommentary1014 we are. We didn’t stab him to death.
@@fs663no, he was torturously & painfully suffocated while innocent people (public servants, the pastor, his family) were lied to & will now have to suffer the consequences of having witnessed such a horrific death (ie. PTSD, Depression, Anxiety, etc).
There have been patients who have died in dental offices who received nitrous oxide or an IV form of sedation and suffered from unrecognized hypoxia. Their resulting vegetative state or deaths are not considered painful. The dentist and/or their untrained/poorly educated/inexperienced staff member responsible for administering and/or monitoring the sedation doesn't receive the backlash that this prison is getting for killing a killer.
The argument that this new method of execution is too cruel for inmates because it is deemed too cruel for animals, DOES NOT STAND. The animals are innocent.
It’s unconstitutional. Under cruel and unusual punishment.
It's just Liberal belly-aching, they only care for the criminals, they'll get worked up if a multiple murderer is slightly inconvenienced but say nothing about the hundreds of lives devastated by the animal.
There is something called human rights and they are universal.
The mask is way to big for an animal to use.
Humans are animals too. Some more then others.
His Victims Suffered More.
The victim was beaten to an "unconscious" point and stabbed numerous times including two stabs in her neck.. if I so happen to remember correctly. 😔🥺
This is not a competition in who suffers the most. You seem to have completely missed what this is about.
@@moen4645 The Victim had Children, They are also Victims.
The other killer was exacuted in 2010 this was the second time they tried to exacute this person. I believe in the Death Penalty and if you are found quilty you should not be able too continue living for 30 years. No one cares about the children that were left behind because of this man his friend and their father maybe now they can get some kind of peace 🕊️🥀
The son said they weren’t jumping for joy & nor did it bring his mother back. There’s your answer.
@@oliviachetcuti225 interesting, and it makes sense.
Of course, do you believe in the death penalty even if it were to apply to yourself, your parents, siblings, or children? And despite the fact that you know that any number of innocent people have been sentenced to death. I ask myself how in the world can you be so d*m?!
“ he was struggling for his life …..” I bet his victim was too. Sorry I can’t seem to find any compassion. For someone who murdered an innocent woman in her home….
Well, at least we can all rest assured that his victim died without suffering and pain. Oh wait...
What a stupid comment.
Talking about health and safety when referring to a death sentence strikes me as hugely ironic. Humane? They weren't humane when they stabbed someone 8 times. Punishment? Yes. Retribution? Absolutely!
So for you there is no difference between when an individual murders and when the state does it? There is such a thing as human rights and torture is not ok. Not the death penalty either if you want to be seen as a civilized society.
@@ilonakarlsson537 Huh? When the state does it, it’s obviously punishment.
“Don’t ask what you are killing but what are you allowing to live”.
Athos.
Why should an execution be pain and suffering free for a convicted murderer?
My question too.
I gather from this that Dr. Grande is against the death penalty
now, what gives you that idea?
He actually said so.
@@ilonakarlsson537 sorry, i was being sarcastic. yeah, it's pretty damn obvious
Nobody’s perfect. He is a psychologist, so of course his sense of justice will be dictated by his emotions. I’ve worked with dozens of them in the prison setting. They’re all like that. It’s really immature.
hmmm and i thought he is intelligent
"He appeared to have suffered tremendously." He didn't suffer nearly as much as the victim, so boo hoo.
"The execution did not go as planned." Actually it did. He became room temperature in the end.
Childish! 👶🏻🍼
Should we be worried about how he suffered? I find it strange that he seems fixated on how horrific this man’s execution was rather than the vile way this poor woman was murdered. Why would he need to die softly?
You have got to be being sarcastic about torture but repeatedly getting stuck with needles Happened to me last week when the nurse couldn't find a vein to draw my blood.
He got a taste of what he served his victim
Im surprised to hear DrG opinion on this as the victim of the murder had no choice over their death painful or painless.
Last time I checked, the USA is not ruled by the U.N. or influenced by its unsolicited opinions. I sympathize with Elizabeth Sennett, who, unlike Kenneth Smith, did nothing to deserve her fate.
I think you missed something. You are wrong about that, the US is absolutely part of the UN, WHO and 100% part of the global alliance.
Thanks for showing the pictures on who you’re talking ab many times it’s so many moving characters in these stories I have to rewind to see who you’re referring to thanks for going the extra mile
Maybe don’t “blaze” before you watch. 😮
Why would 3 grown men casually murder an innocent woman for a thousand dollars each, as if they were just going to do some house repairs? It truly beggars belief. It's impossible to have any sympathy for any of these men, who had no insight or that there would be consequences!!!
They were very stupid
going by what the story told here offered, I'd say drugs. i've known some truly lost and hollow people who have done things for drugs that stagger the imagination.
Looking at the car in front of the house, this was decades ago and $100 was enough for the rent.
No one has the right to take a person's life. Not even the state. And don't you think it's bizarre that the state says that citizens can't kill? Only the state?
It's not right to kill. What if the Pastor (husband) was very convincing as desperate people are known to be...that Elizabeth was a tramp, abusive mother, violent to random people and a bunch of other ugly thigs, you can fill in the blanks of what's ugly in your opinion!!! Had these 3 guys going that it was for the greater good of the community that she die...Some people are super convincing and believable.
I used to be like you, Dr. Grande. But I've come to realize some crimes can never be repayed. No matter what Smith would've done with the rest of his life, he could've never repayed society for what he has done to his victim and the public. It is actually unethical in my eyes to allow such criminals the right to life and is an insult to their victims and our society.
Devil's advocate: what if evidence years later (DNA, etc) were to exonerate someone, but it was too late because they were executed?
I think death penalty should be abolished. We just had the recent case in NC where a man spent 40 years behind bars for a murder he did not commit. The state settled for a few million. The courts don't always get it right. He would not be repaying his debt because he took a life. No matter what happens, that cannot be repaid.
@nuclearwessels2078 stop using exceptions as the rule. There was no mistake in this case. He helped murder someone's mother for $3000 so he can get high. What's the appropriate punishment? Give him 3 meals a day, health care, housing, access to books and entertainment for the rest of his life? The average person doesn't get that from the government. Why should we support someone who committed an unspeakably cruel act against one of us? He had to go, sorry.
@@Harry_Stylus So your stance is you gotta crack some eggs to make an omelet? What do you say about those who have been exonerated years later? Irrelevant?
they also said there were no mistakes in those cases also. They are always sure they got it right.@@Harry_Stylus
he got 38 years more than she did he didn't worry about her pain don't feel a bit sorry for him
This is a super well known phenomena and I use it in my field of anesthesia to get nitrous oxide into patients quickly for surgery. Anyone with any background in surgery would've known this. Was no one with any medical background or even taken a chemistry class present???
Why would they let him eat? Of course he's going to vomit. A google search of the second gas effect could've told anyone above 4th grade reading level that this would occur. I guess it is Alabama though so maybe none of those are around? (I'm in WV I understand your pain)
I love your dry humor. The way you eloquently put things is a gift. Thank you for not wasting it. These are some of my favorite videos on UA-cam because of this.
Medical personnel have always declined to participate in executions. The argument is that the Hippocratic Oath and medical ethics preclude medical people from participating in executions. Further, the companies that manufacture anesthetic drugs do not want their drugs associated with executions and will not sell the drugs to states for that purpose.
Could they have done this so he didn’t convulse?
@@Thisismetmanconvulsions are normal during hypoxia. That's why hanged men " danced" .
They didn’t let him eat. They made him NPO. And it sounds like he didn’t vomit or aspirate. It was just discussed that that was possible. Sounds pretty normal to me that he would become hypoxic have convulsions then have agonal respirations and myoclonic jerks for a few minutes. I’m sure the lay people present had a hard time watching the seizures but that didn’t mean that Smith was suffering, as you well know.
Yeah, where is the analysis of the pain and agony Elizabeth went through?
Sounds like he got off easy compared to his victim!
These cut-rate assassins never seem to work out: the Tiger King also paid $3000 for the hitman who got him sent to prison.
His victim suffered longer than he did, how can anyone shed a tear for a person who killed a mother for other reason than money.
How many execution methods did he give the woman he beat to death?
Just wondering how the woman they beat and stabbed, then left for dead reacted to her brutal death.
What do you get out of pitting two sufferings against each other?
@@ilonakarlsson537 you get rid of one who's a monster who slaughtered the other who was an innocent human being. NOT equivalent. Not even close.
@@bettagems9209
A medieval view of humanity based on primitive emotions such as revenge. No one has the right to take a person's life. Besides, nobody is born a monster.
@@ilonakarlsson537 It's not revenge, it's protecting the innocent. And if 'nobody is born a monster,' how do you explain kids who are sociopaths & psychopaths, who torture & kill animals, and sometimes their own siblings or parents? Psychopaths & sociopaths cannot be 'cured' no amount of therapy or medication fixes them, plus at least in the USA you cannot legally force anyone to get therapy or take medication. You must live in a fairy tale world of rainbow unicorns & happy joyful people who never hurt each other. Good for you, but for the rest of us in the real world, monsters exist, they can't be fixed, and sometimes the only way to stop them is to get rid of them. I'm sure you've never had to consider the possibility that to protect yourself or your family, you might have to use deadly force. I have. IDK where you live, but if it's not in the USA, you have no freaking idea of how to survive in a gun culture. I didn't create the mess in this country, but I have to live in it.
I wonder how much thought Kenneth put into the execution he carried out, and if he considered that execution "a step back for humanity." They put far more effort into his execution than he did into taking an innocent woman's life. I'm of the opinion that one 13 cent bullet would've done the trick. I bet that unsuspecting house wife did not get a T-bone steak prior to her execution. We have a problem with truth in this country.
How about how the victim suffered? After she was kind enough to let them use the bathroom. Go Alabama!!!!!
In Mosaic law, the witnesses for the prosecution were required to throw the first stones. While this may seem barbaric because it is execution by stoning, it did provide some natural restraint. It didn't allow others to do the dirty work and it also tested the veracity of the testimony. And a person convicted of false witness was required to suffer the exact same penalty as the one they imposed.
"The man who passes the sentence should swing the sword." Eddard Stark
Judge, jury, and executioner?
Well said!
Tell that to Ilyn Payne 😶 🔇
Maybe. But not convinced. Discussion is needed.Edard Stark had a few problems himself, so....
@@susanfanning9480 There isn't a person in existence who doesn't have a few problems. That said, I agree that discussion is needed.
Seems like his death wasn’t as bad as the women’s, that survived hours with literally holes in her body. Plus he got to live a while.
He had no sympathy when he killed that woman. Why should he receive sympathy?
Sending a prisoner to New Jersey would be a cruel form of death.
"I condem you to go to New Jersey and date Snooki!"
That is a fate worse than death.
😂
My career was built around getting Atlas and Delta space boosters assembled, tested and launched. Many parts of these vehicles had a nitrogen purge on them to prevent explosive or flammable gases from accumulating in propellant tanks, pumping machines and plumbing. There was always the danger of the gas leaking out of joints, valves and fittings and into confined spaces within the vehicles. We had to be very, careful with backup personnel on site, because (and it did happen), workers in confined spaces filled with nitrogen would become unconscious suddenly and without any warning and if not removed to fresh air immediately, they would suffocate and die, all without feeling a thing or being aware that anything was wrong. I don't know about the reported convulsions, I never witnessed any myself and that time I nearly passed out, I did not convulse. I think this needs to be looked into, but it is my opinion (as of right now), that by the time any convulsions could start, brain activity would have already rendered the person unconscious (and probably clinically dead) and without consciousness, there would be no sense of suffering while convulsing.
Having said all that, I am likewise very much opposed to the death penalty and wish this particular one had not been carried out. By killing a criminal, you put him/her beyond all pain, all suffering and all regret and that's a heck of a way to punish someone, in my opinion. Regardless, death comes to us all and most deaths are unpleasant to say the least. Who wouldn't chose death by nitrogen over say death by gunshot to the head and the horrible mess that entails? Who wouldn't want to ease out of life by nitrogen rather than a slow death in unassuageable pain from one of the many, many diseases flesh is heir to?
Mercy to the guilty is cruelty to the innocent.
Justice served . R.I.P to the victim 🎉
"Stabbing him with needles " ??! You gotta be kidding me! Poor thing...🤦🏻
How did his victims body react? How much did she suffer? Hmmm?.....hmmmmm? That's what I thought.
Maybe they should think about the person that was murdered and how they suffered for hours while being stabbed and left for dead. That is an inhumane death.
Brilliant analysis! Thank you for having the courage to address this controversial issue. After reading the book "Gruesome Spectacles" detailing botched executions i have come to more fully appreciate the truth of your comments. You never allow raw emotions to blind your rational perspective.