Death row inmate in US executed using nitrogen gas after Supreme Court appeal fails

An inmate in Louisiana has been executed using nitrogen gas - becoming only the fifth person in the US to die through this method.

Jessie Hoffman Jr was the first convict to be put to death in Louisiana for 15 years - and the Supreme Court had rejected a last-ditch attempt to block the execution.

The 46-year-old had been found guilty of killing Mary "Molly" Elliott in New Orleans when he was 18.

Hoffman's lawyers tried to argue that this method was unconstitutional because it was cruel and unusual - but state officials insist it is painless.

Inmates executed using nitrogen gas in the past have appeared to shake or gasp to varying degrees - involuntary movements officials said were associated with oxygen deprivation.

Under Louisiana's protocol, inmates executed with the method are strapped to a gurney and have a full-face respirator mask fitted tightly.

Pure nitrogen gas is then pumped into the mask, forcing an inmate to breathe it in and depriving them of the oxygen needed to maintain bodily functions.

The gas is administered for at least 15 minutes or five minutes after a heart rate reaches a flatline indication on an electrocardiogram - whichever is longer.

The deadly gas had only been used in Death Row executions four times before Tuesday, all in Alabama. Last year, the method was used to execute Carey Dale Grayson for the killing of Vickie DeBlieux in February 1994.

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