Death row murderer left ‘convulsing’ after making eerie hand gesture during execution via controversial method

Yet another death row inmate has been executed by an incredibly controversial method, with reports emerging that he was left 'convulsing' on the gurney for minutes before being declared dead.

Gregory Hunt, 65, is just one of six people in the US who has been killed using nitrogen gas - a new method that many have branded as 'inhumane'.

Hunt was sentenced to death after brutally murdering a woman he had been dating in 1988.

He had been seeing Karen Lane, 32, for just four weeks when he became extremely jealous. After breaking into her apartment one evening, he sexually abused her before beating her to death, inflicting a total of 60 injuries on her body.

He became one of the longest-serving inmates on Alabama's death row, and ultimately chose to face his death via nitrogen gas as a means of execution.

The method was famously banned for euthanizing cats and dogs after finding evidence that the animals were 'frightened and scared', but it has been bought back by Louisiana and Alabama for death penalty use.

Gregory Hunt was one of the longest-serving inmates on Alabama's death row before his execution this week (Alabama Department of Corrections)

It involves strapping the individual to a chair with a nitrogen gas mask attached to it, covering the inmates entire face. They are then forced to breathe pure nitrogen gas, depriving them of the oxygen needed to stay alive.

Shortly before Hunt's execution yesterday (10 June), he eerily gave a thumbs-up sign and a peace sign directed at the prison authorities. Shortly before this, he gave a chilling six-word admission, stating: "I don't have no pity party."

Authorities have since stated that Hunt spent four minutes 'convulsing' before he was officially pronounced dead.

According to them, the 65-year-old shook, gasped, and raised his head off the chair. Following this, he let out a moan and raised his feet.

Shortly before dying, Hunt reportedly took gasping breaths with long pauses in between.

The execution method using nitrogen gas was formerly banned for use on animals (Louisiana State Court)

Alabama Corrections Commissioner John Hamm said, as per The Sun: "What I saw has been consistent with all the other nitrogen hypoxia executions. There is involuntary body movement."

While the crimes committed by Hunt were brutal and severe, some experts have argued that the nitrogen gas mask should not be used as a form of execution.

Louisiana veterinarian Lee Capone, who was part of the campaign behind the ban of its use on animals, said: "We are going backwards, it’s not humane."

But Karen's family believe that the execution of their daughter's perpetrator is the 'justice' that they had been longing for.

They noted: "This is also not about closure or victory. This night represents justice and the end of a nightmare that has coursed through our family for 37 years."

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• Death row inmate Gregory Hunt's sobering six-word admission right before his execution