Louisiana: Jessie Hoffman executed – first execution since 2010 and first time with nitrogen

On Tuesday evening, 46-year-old Jessie Hoffman was executed in the US state of Louisiana. It was the first execution of a death sentence in Louisiana for 15 years and the first execution by nitrogen in the state.

Hoffman was sentenced to death because as an 18-year-old in November 1996 he had taken control of a 28-year-old woman, forcing her to withdraw 200 dollars from an ATM before raping and shooting her.

According to his lawyer, her client, now a devout and practicing Buddhist, sincerely regretted his actions.

The execution was preceded by a legal tug-of-war: initially, a judge had issued a stay of execution a week earlier, which was lifted three days later by the competent federal appeals court. On the day of the execution itself, there was another postponement and its revocation, until finally the Supreme Court of the United States cleared the way for the execution in a narrow 5:4 decision.

The subject of the legal controversy was the question of the method of execution, to what extent it constituted a cruel punishment prohibited by the Constitution and contradicted Hoffman’s religious practices. The method of execution by nitrogen had previously only been practiced in Alabama.

According to eyewitnesses, Hoffman, strapped to a cot with a mask over his head, breathed in pure nitrogen for 19 minutes until he died from lack of oxygen. The witnesses confirmed that Hoffman showed “convulsive activity” and that he was moving, twitching and shaking, his hands clenched into fists.

The victim’s husband described the execution as “bittersweet news”: “It is a relief that this long nightmare is finally over, but at the same time renewed sadness for my wife, as well as sadness for Mr. Hoffman’s family, whose nightmare began at the same time as mine and who have also endured nearly 30 years of this torturous process through no fault of their own,” he said.

Kate Murphy, a sister-in-law of the victim, had spoken out publicly against the death penalty: “The execution of Jessie Hoffman is not justice in my name, it is the exact opposite.” Murphy said that killing Hoffman would only cause her more grief and trauma and that she wanted the state to spare his life and give him a life sentence instead. Moreover, she had wished for her own healing process to be able to meet Jessie Hoffman, but prison and the parole board had prevented it.

Hoffman also wanted to meet the victim’s family and express his remorse. However, according to media reports, not even his apology in his petition for clemency ever reached the victims’ families.

Sources:
https://www.nola.com/news/courts/jessie-hoffman-nitrogen-gas-louisiana-execution-death-penalty/article_be325356-03bb-11f0-8525-a3855f3523b9.html
https://www.nola.com/news/courts/louisiana-death-penalty-jessie-hoffman-molly-elliott/article_b399b468-03ff-11f0-b144-1fbc9bdee0b7.html