Court clears way for Alabama to execute man in 1988 murder

By KIM CHANDLER
Associated Press

ATMORE, Ala. (AP) — The U.S. Supreme Court has cleared the way for Alabama to execute an inmate convicted in the 1988 murder-for-hire killing of a pastor’s wife. Justices lifted a stay issued earlier in the evening by the 11th U.S Circuit Court of Appeals, clearing the way for the state to proceed with the execution of 57-year-old Kenneth Eugene Smith. The order came down about 90 minutes before the state’s midnight deadline to get the execution underway. Smith had raised concerns about problems with venous access at the state’s last two scheduled lethal injections as he sought a last-minute reprieve. Prosecutors said Smith was one of two men paid $1,000 each to kill Elizabeth Sennett on behalf of her husband.