The first layer was carried out using nitrogen gas in the USA
The first execution using nitrogen gas was carried out in the state of Louisiana, USA. According to American media, after the Supreme Court overturned the district judge's order to stay the execution, 46-year-old inmate Jesse Hoffman was executed.
According to his attorney Cecilia Kappel, the execution was "meaningless" because the inmate's current state was "not the same" as when he committed the murder at the age of 18.
Hoffman kidnapped 28-year-old advertising director Mary Elliott at gunpoint in 1996. He then forced her to withdraw $200 from an ATM. He later raped and shot her.
It is reported that Hoffman's execution is the first to be carried out in Louisiana in the last 15 years. Additionally, this is the first time an inmate has been executed using nitrogen gas in this state.
In February, Hoffman had filed a lawsuit to delay the execution. The defense argued in a hearing held in early March that the use of nitrogen was a "cruel" method according to the U.S. Constitution.
On March 12, the district court judge Shelli Dick issued a preliminary ruling to ban the execution by nitrogen gas. However, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned this ruling.
The death penalty remains legal at the federal level and in most states in the United States, although its application varies widely.
As of 2024, the death penalty is legal in 24 states. 23 states have officially abolished it. The remaining states are under moratorium.
The most common method of execution is injection. However, some states also use methods such as the electric chair, shooting, gas chamber, and hanging.
