Alabama death row inmate served steak as last meal hours before novel execution in murder-for-hire killing

Kenneth Eugene Smith, the Alabama convicted killer put to death Thursday night by nitrogen gas, was served a last meal hours before his execution, corrections officials said. 

For his final meal, Smith was served steak with A.1. sauce, hash browns and eggs, the Alabama Department of Corrections said. Before that, he was served a breakfast meal that consisted of two biscuits, eggs, grape jelly, applesauce and orange juice at the William C. Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore. 

Smith, 58, was pronounced dead at 8:25 p.m. after breathing pure nitrogen gas through a face mask to cause oxygen deprivation. The method marked the first time that a new execution method has been used in the United States since lethal injection was introduced in 1982. 

In a final statement, Smith said: "Tonight Alabama causes humanity to take a step backwards. ... I’m leaving with love, peace and light."

He made the "I love you sign" with his hands toward family members who were witnesses. "Thank you for supporting me. Love, love all of you," Smith said.

ALABAMA INMATE WHO SURVIVED BOTCHED EXECUTION FEARS HE ‘WILL FARE NO BETTER’ IN SECOND ATTEMPT

Kenneth Eugene Smith was convicted in a 1988 murder-for-hire slaying of a preacher's wife. He was put to death, the first American inmate executed by nitrogen hypoxia. (Alabama Department of Corrections via AP, File)

The execution followed a last-minute legal challenge from Smith's lawyers, who argued the state was making him the test subject for an experimental execution method that could violate the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment.

Smith was put to death for the 1988 murder-for-hire killing of Elizabeth Sennett. Prosecutors said he and another man were each paid $1,000 to kill Sennett on behalf of her pastor husband, who was deeply in debt and wanted to collect on insurance.

Smith's accomplice, John Forest Parker, was also convicted for the slaying and was executed in 2010. 

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Sennett, 45, was found dead March 18, 1988, in her home with eight stab wounds in the chest and one on each side of her neck, according to the coroner. 

Her husband, Charles Sennett Sr., killed himself when the investigation focused on him as a suspect. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.