Louisiana has executed a convicted murderer using nitrogen gas, a first in the state’s history, despite claims by the man’s attorney that the method violated his freedom to practice his Buddhist faith because it impeded his breathing.
Jessie Hoffman Jr., 46, died at the Louisiana State Penitentiary on Tuesday, March 18, after being administered nitrogen gas, which deprived him of oxygen as it went through his body for 19 minutes, the Associated Press reported.
Hoffman was on death row for the murder of 28-year-old advertising executive Mary “Molly” Elliott in New Orleans nearly three decades ago, per the AP.
Hoffman was 18 at the time of the crime.
The nitrogen gas-based execution protocol in Louisiana required pure nitrogen gas to be administered to Hoffman through a tightly fitted full-face respirator mask after he was strapped to a gurney, the AP reported.
Per the protocol, he was forced to breathe in the gas, which would then deprive him of oxygen; the gas would need to flow for at least 15 minutes or for five minutes after his heart rate hits the flatline, whichever is longer, per the AP.
His lawyers claimed that the procedure violates the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment, the AP reported.
They further said the method would impede Hoffman’s ability to breathe — and by extension his ability to meditate — in the moments leading up to his death, infringing his ability to practice his Buddhist faith.
Hoffman was accompanied by his spiritual adviser in the chamber where, witnesses later said, they could hear Buddhist chanting before and after the procedure.
He declined a final meal and also declined to make a statement.
