FILE – This undated photo provided by the Alabama Department of Corrections shows inmate Kenneth Eugene Smith, who was convicted in a 1988 murder-for-hire slaying of a preacher’s wife. Alabama will be allowed to put Smith to death with nitrogen gas, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2024, refusing to block what would be the nation’s first execution by a new method since 1982. Alabama says it plans to replace the 58-year-old’s breathing air with nitrogen gas on Thursday, Jan. 25, rendering him unconscious within seconds and killing him within minutes. (Alabama Department of Corrections via AP, File)