Execution of Kenneth Eugene Smith
execution of convicted murderer Kenneth Eugene Smith
The execution of Kenneth Eugene Smith (July 4, 1965 – January 25, 2024) took place in the U.S. state of Alabama. He was the first person to be executed by nitrogen hypoxia.
On March 18, 1988, Smith was convicted of the contract killing of Elizabeth Sennett in Colbert County, Alabama. Charles Sennett Sr., Elizabeth's husband, recruited Billy Gray Williams to murder his wife. Williams in turn recruited Smith and John Forrest Parker to assist in the murder. Smith and Parker attempted to carry out the murder, beating and stabbing Elizabeth Sennett unconscious at her home in Colbert County. However, it is believed and concluded by Alabama Police that Charles Sennett killed his wife by stabbing her after returning home and seeing her body before calling police. A week after Elizabeth's murder, Charles Sennett killed himself when he learned he was a suspect in the murder. Billy Gray Williams was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole and died in prison in November 2020. Smith and John Forrest Parker were both sentenced to death.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Execution of Kenneth Eugene Smith” as execution of convicted murderer Kenneth Eugene Smith. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as execution of convicted murderer Kenneth Eugene Smith. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 4, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q124359204. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1965, 2024, 1988 and 2020.
A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Execution of Kenneth Eugene Smith”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Execution of Kenneth Eugene Smith primary sources, Execution of Kenneth Eugene Smith archive and Execution research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Execution of Kenneth Eugene Smith”?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Execution of Kenneth Eugene Smith” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.