Kenneth Eugene Smith’s wife ‘cried out’ during his execution

The wife of killer Kenneth Eugene Smith reportedly cried out as he thrashed against his restraints during the 22 minutes it took for him to become the first person in the US put to death by nitrogen gas — which his victim’s son said marked his mom finally getting “justice” 36 years after her murder.

Eugene Smith — who previously survived a botched execution day — appeared to remain conscious for several minutes Thursday as he was made to inhale the toxic gas through a mask, depriving him his body of oxygen until he suffocated at the Holman Prison in Atmore, Ala.

As the killer pushed against his restraints, his wife, Deanna — wearing a “Never Alone” T-shirt — cried out for him from the witness box, according to reporters at the scene.

She was joined by other family members to witness the execution, which took about 22 minutes — far more than the family had been told it would take, according to the family’s spiritual adviser, Jeff Hood.

Hood called it the “worst thing” he’d ever seen — claiming even prison officials “were visibly surprised at how bad this thing went.”

“We didn’t see somebody go unconscious in 30 seconds,” Hood said while standing with Smith’s wife.

“What we saw was minutes of someone struggling for their life,” he said.

“We saw minutes of someone heaving back and forth. We saw spit. We saw all sorts of stuff from his mouth develop on the mask. We saw this mask tied to the gurney, and him ripping his head forward over and over and over again.”

He echoed the killer’s final statement that “Alabama caused humanity to take a step backward.”

“Kenny Smith was by no means a perfect person, but we have to make sure that this never, ever happens again,” Hood said.

Alabama’s prison system’s commissioner, John Hamm, maintained that the execution went as planned.

“It appeared that Smith was holding his breath as long as he could,” Hamm said. “He struggled against the restraints a little bit but it’s an involuntary movement and some agonal breathing. So that was all expected.”

Smith was one of two men convicted in the murder-for-hire of a preacher’s wife in 1988. Each man was paid $1,000 to kill Elizabeth Sennett on behalf of her husband, Charles Sennett, who wanted to cash out on insurance.

Sennet was found stabbed to death in her home. The preacher committed suicide a week after her death as detectives pursued him as a suspect.

Sennett’s son, Mike, called the execution a “bittersweet day.”

“We’re not going to be jumping around, hooting and hollering ‘hooray’ and all that. That’s not us,” Mike said at a news conference. “But we’re glad this day is over.”

He described Eugene Smith’s execution as a “weight off his shoulders” — while saying his family forgave all three men involved in his mother’s murder “years ago.”

“I forgive him,” he said of Smith. “I forgive him [for] what he done. I don’t like what he done, but they are forgiven from us.

“The Bible says evil deeds have consequences — and Kenneth Smith made some bad decisions 35 years ago — and his debt was paid tonight,” the son said.

“Elizabeth Dorlene Thorne Sennett got her justice tonight.”

With Post wires.