Alabama Crime Theater Presents: Fun & Games with Nitrogen

In 32 days, Alabama will be the center of attention for much of the world. The State will attempt to execute Kenneth Smith, a sometime Florence resident, by depriving him of oxygen. How many care? At some level we should all care, but Smith is hardly a likable person. By January 25, 2025, most residents of the state won't even remember his name.

Perhaps we could make the most of Smith's execution by throwing a "Kenneth Smith Murder Mystery Dinner Theater & Potluck for Friends Only." Invite your friends to come in character:

Kenneth Eugene Smith - He was just a 22 year-old Royal Avenue boy who swears he only went along to commit a robbery. Totally innocent, right?

Jeff Hood - Known as "Rev," he's hoping this current gig helps him move up to an off-brand Baptist church...or maybe a Wild Willie beard grooming commercial.

Terry Raybon - The warden who will flip the switch to start the nitrogen flow. Famous for insisting female reporters visiting his prison wear a skirt and a half-slip.

Average Alabama Taxpayer - Sits idly by while State wastes money on inane laws and projects that even Rube Goldberg wouldn't touch.

*****

Happy Christmas Eve!

Why Does Liz Sennett's Killer Want to Live?

 

Kenneth Eugene Smith is scheduled to die tonight at 6:00. The state will have six hours in which to execute the convicted killer of Elizabeth Sennett of Colbert County. 

The jury that convicted Smith of the brutal murder recommended a life sentence. We do not support capital punishment in most cases; however, we have to ask why Smith is fighting for his life after 34 years behind bars. Wouldn't death be preferable at this point?

The State of Alabama will not reveal who initiates the IV and administers the drug cocktail used to end the lives of the condemned. In most cases, inserting a needle into a vein should not be difficult, yet it is. For those who don't know, neither physicians nor nurses are permitted to knowingly bring death to anyone. That seems to be the problem with these executions; those who assist appear to be using a copy of IV Lines for Dummies. Is this the best the State can do?

Will we personally mourn Smith? Hardly. We hope his execution (if it does happen) will bring some type of peace to Mrs. Sennett's family. She deserved much better than she received in life.

No Reason to Smile

Kenneth Eugene Smith & Jimmy Sandlin

He made a mistake; he's sorry. He has apologized to the public and asked for the forgiveness of anyone he has hurt.

That being said, he wants a second chance. He will never repeat his misguided actions--he will do only good in the future. He will be the asset to the community he has always believed himself to be.

Should he have that second chance? Yes or No? Only one answer please...

Oh, are we discussing Kenneth Eugene Smith or Jimmy Sandlin? Does it matter? All the facts presented above apply to both men. So, yes or no?

Surely you wouldn't say no to Kenneth Eugene Smith who murdered Elizabeth Dorlene Sennett, but say yes to Jimmy Sandlin who used taxpayer funding to create a job for his friend. After all, that would be hypocritical, wouldn't it?

*****

News from Cherokee by C. R.

Several people in Cherokee Wednesday morning saw Cherokee City Clerk Melinda Malone at a JV cheer leading meeting around 8:50 a.m. till 10:00 a.m. Malone must not be worried since her husband is on the City Council and new City Councilwomen Mason thinks it is OK for Malone to leave anytime she wants, as long she puts up a note on the city hall door. Someone needs to put a note on Mason that states "if only I had a brain."

Councilwoman Patricia Mason's husband has been running his mouth around town and might get his wife in trouble. The husband John Mason has told several people that Patricia Mason and the other council members Glover, Malone, Franks and city clerk are getting along so well. They get together all the time to discuss city business. The meetings have been going on for over two weeks at a house in Cherokee. That would explain the comments that Glover and Mason made during the council meeting, Councilman Steve Glover stated we already have made a decision and Councilwomen Mason stated we have already called the Alabama League of Municipalities.

John Mason did not stop there. He stated the four are actively trying to run off Mayor Lansdell and Councilwomen Lambert. The replacements, Mignon Willis would take Lambert's council seat and Councilman Steve Glover would take over as Mayor.

*****

Shoals Blogs: Our blog directory is officially open for those who would like a preview of the Shoals area blogs we link to our sites. If you're aware of any we have missed, please send us the link.


Shoalanda

Charles Sennett: Husband, Father, Preacher, Sociopath

Art by John Forrest Parker, executed yesterday for the murder of Elizabeth Sennett

Charles Sennett was many things to many people. When he met the future mother of his children, he portrayed himself as a grieving widower. To the Sheffield congregation where he served as pulpit minister, he appeared to be a man who loved the word of God. To congregant Doris Tidwell, he presented a man unhappy in his marriage to a profligate wife. To those who knew him away from Colbert County, he was a sometime high roller who spent money he didn't have. If he had lived long enough to be professionally evaluated for his crimes, he would have in all probability been diagnosed as a sociopath, a man who loved only himself and would stop at nothing to get what he thought he deserved in life.

Elizabeth Dorlene Sennett thought the man she married had tragically lost his first wife at a young age. After the brutal murder of the woman friends called Liz, many who knew the minister well announced their fears that the death of the first Mrs. Sennett was suspicious; however, with no living suspect, there was little or no investigation into the previous death.

Charles Sennett lived on a modest income from preaching, investments, and other endeavors, but he never had much money--at least for long. After the death of his heavily insured second wife, many speculated the good minister had a gambling problem, but as with suspicions concerning his first wife, these claims were never fully investigated.

Doris Tidwell knew her minister as someone who took both an emotional and physical interest in her, someone who seemed to need money through no fault of his own. When Sennett asked his lover for $3,000.00 to repay a bank loan, she gladly gave it to him. Instead the preacher contacted Billy Gray Williams, a black man who rented property from him. Williams later contended he didn't realize his landlord was seeking a hit man, but a Colbert County jury dismissed Williams' claims, convicting him of felony murder for his role in the slaying of Liz Sennett.

Williams, a Florence resident, then approached John Forrest Parker and Kenneth Eugene Smith, contracting with them to commit the crime for $1,000.00 each. The three defendants in the case were tried separately, but because of Williams' race, Parker had once contended that blacks were unfairly dismissed from the jury pool during his trial. This and other appeals were denied, and he died by lethal injection at 6:41 p.m. yesterday. Smith has not yet had an execution date scheduled, and Williams is serving a sentence of Life without the Possibility of Parole for his part in facilitating the murder.

What of Charles Sennett? Colbert County investigators informed the minister on the first day of the murder investigation that he was a suspect in his wife's death. One week later, Sennett was found dead at a relative's home, shot in the chest and ostensibly a suicide. Why ostensibly?

We have received communications that there were questions about his alleged suicide note and many believe a relative of Liz Sennett killed her husband in retribution. Do we believe it? Nothing can be ascertained at this late date, nor do we believe Charles Sennett's death should be further investigated; however, we have always found it odd that a true sociopath would take his own life. Now the pieces of the puzzle seem complete.

*****

Westside Church of Christ where Charles Sennett served

We favor the death penalty only in the rare circumstance when the murderer would live a better life in prison than he would have in the free world. Obviously, this would be in only a handful of cases. We do understand how most families of victims desire retribution--they would not be human if they didn't.

It's not often that the families of the accused are even considered, but they suffer also. We have been in contact with the family of John Forrest Parker, a young man who lost his way and paid with his life. Our blog today is showcasing a work of art drawn by Parker within the past few weeks. It shows his state of mind at the end of his life on this plane. It also shows that with training he could have become an accomplished artist, could have contributed to society. Now all that is lost.

Our sincerest sympathies to both the Sennett and Parker families.


Shoalanda