Tennessee execution death penalty Oscar Smith.

Tennessee has executed Oscar Smith for the 1989 murder of his estranged wife, Judith Smith, and her sons, Jason and Chad Burnett. Smith was executed by lethal injection on Thursday morning three years after the 75-year-old was spared by a last-minute reprieve in 2022. It turned out that the lethal drugs had not been properly tested. An investigation found that testing was just one of numerous problems plaguing Tennessee’s executions. The state unveiled a new execution protocol in December. Smith was one of several inmates who sued over the new protocol. A trial in that case is set for next January.

Oscar Smith came within minutes of being executed before Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee issued a surprise reprieve just over three years ago. It turned out there were problems with the lethal injection drugs that had been ongoing. The state now has a new execution process and is prepared to try again Thursday. Smith says his personal minister will be in the execution chamber praying for him. He’s grateful for that but also worried about her because “she doesn’t need any bad experiences.” The 75-year-old Smith was convicted of fatally stabbing and shooting his estranged wife, Judith Smith, and her sons, Jason and Chad, 13 and 16, at their Nashville, Tennessee, home in 1989.