Convicted murderer becomes Louisiana’s first nitrogen gas execution after appeal denied

A Louisiana death row inmate on Tuesday was executed with nitrogen gas, a method that has never been used before in the state. 

“Louisiana has officially executed Jessie Hoffman, carrying out the state’s first nitrogen gas execution, his attorneys confirm for us,” Andrea Gallo, a reporter for Nola News, shared in a post on X.

Hoffman, 46, was convicted in 1996 of the kidnapping, rape, and murder of 28-year-old advertising executive, Mary “Molly” Elliott.

Elliott was abducted by Hoffman, who was 18 at the time, from her home the day before Thanksgiving and shot execution-style in rural St. Tammany Parish.

Hoffman declined to give a final statement before the gas began flowing, and he was subsequently pronounced dead at 6:50 p.m. at the Louisiana State Penitentiary, the Associated Press reported. 

Authorities said the nitrogen gas flowed for 19 minutes during what one official called a “flawless” execution, although one witness claimed to see Hoffman convulsing during the process.

Shortly before Hoffman was scheduled to be put to death, the U.S. Supreme Court voted 5-4 to deny a last-ditch request to block the execution.

Hoffman’s attorney, Cecelia Kappel, previously and unsuccessfully argued in a state appeal that executing the convicted murderer by way of nitrogen gas was unconstitutional and would violate his religious freedom.

“It’s conscious suffocation,” Kappel told WVUE. “It’s having a pillow over your face. It’s like drowning.” 

The appeal stated that since Hoffman is a Buddhist, his breathing and meditation practices would be disrupted by the execution process.

“He has proposed, ‘Kill me with a firing squad,’” Kappel said. “‘At least then, I’ll be able to breathe air at the time of my death.’ And the state has said no.”

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Louisiana officials say that the method, which deprives a person of oxygen, is painless, declaring that it is past time for the state to deliver justice promised to victims’ families after a decade-and-a-half hiatus — a pause brought about partly by an inability to secure lethal injection drugs, the Associated Press reported. 

Hoffman was granted a temporary reprieve by a federal judge, but it was overturned Friday by the Fifth Circuit courts and additional attempts to stop the state’s execution were also rejected Tuesday morning.

The interior of an execution chamber.  (AP/Chuck Robinson)

Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill said the court’s decision will help bring justice for Elliott.

“BREAKING: Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals overturns injunction in Hoffman case. Convicted killer and rapist will be brought to justice on Tuesday,” Murrill wrote in a post on X.

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“This is justice for Mary “Molly” Elliott, her friends, her family, and for Louisiana.”

Murrill added that she expects at least four people on Louisiana’s death row to be executed this year.

Hoffman is set to become the seventh person executed in the U.S. in 2025, and the first in Louisiana since 2010. He was the fifth person in the U.S. ever to be executed by nitrogen gas, with the previous four occurring in Alabama.

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A Louisiana state flag flies at the entrance to the Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola, La., on Tuesday, where convicted killer Jessie Hoffman Jr., was put to death. (Chris Granger/The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate via AP)

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Death by nitrogen gas is currently allowed in only four states, including Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi and Oklahoma. However, the method has only been used in Alabama.  

Over recent decades, the number of executions nationally has declined sharply amid legal battles, according to the AP, which has led a majority of states to either abolish or pause carrying out the death penalty.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.