A 46-year-old death row inmate is due to be executed later today in a way that experts have deemed inhumane. Sentenced to death for the 1996 r—pe and m—rder of 28-year-old Mary ‘Molly’ Elliott, Jessie Hoffman committed the gruesome crime after kidnapping Elliott, an advertising executive, at gunpoint in downtown New Orleans.
The convicted murderer and s—x offender is set to die by nitrogen gas at the Louisiana State Penitentiary, commonly known as Angola. It also marks the state’s first execution in 15 years, as per Tyla. The last person who was executed in Louisiana was Gerald James Borledon, who was killed by lethal injection for the first-degree m—rder of 12-year-old Courtney LeBlanc.
Louisiana plans to execute #JessieHoffman on March 18 using nitrogen gas, a method so inhumane it’s banned for euthanizing animals in most states. If it’s too cruel for animals, it’s too cruel for people. Tag/call @LAGovJeffLandry (225) 342-0991 to protest.#EndTheDeathPenalty pic.twitter.com/qb5KsgKJHA
— Karine Omry (@KarineOmry) March 17, 2025
Jessie Hoffman’s execution, however, is being slammed by legal experts, as nitrogen gas is said to cause severe distress to living beings before it effectively ends their lives. Even cats and dogs are forbidden from being euthanized using this method.
If Louisiana executes the death row inmate by administering nitrogen gas, it will become the second state to do so. Alabama was the first state to use nitrogen gas to put inmates to death last year. Commenting on the state of Louisiana‘s decision to execute him by nitrogen gas, Hoffman’s attorney Cecelia Kappel said, “(The) new execution method is likely to cause Jessie to suffer psychological terror and a torturous death.”
TODAY: Louisiana is scheduled to carry out the execution of Jessie Dean Hoffman Jr. for the abduction, rape and murder of Mary Eliott on 1996 at St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana. pic.twitter.com/8nCsvVom7D
— Friday-Justice-Obsessions (@death_row0506) March 18, 2025
Jessie Hoffman’s attorneys claimed that the mode of execution chosen for him was a violation of the Constitution and called it an unusual and cruel punishment. Medical experts weighed in as well, testifying that they believed that the method would be torturous. One expert, in particular, opined that the method caused the same terror and sensation as drowning.
The death row inmate’s attorneys also argued that he is a Buddhist and that the mode of execution violates his right to practice religion, claiming that “a core component of his Buddhist practice is breathing meditation and techniques.”
“Mr. Hoffman sincerely believes that he must practice his Buddhist breathing exercises at the critical transition between life and death. He believes that if he has traumatic final moments, they … can lead to a negative rebirth,” the 46-year-old death row inmate’s attorneys said.
Arguing against the court filings that the mode of execution doesn’t pose “a substantial risk of severe pain,” Attorney General Liz Murrill cited a court case that found that “very method of execution involves a period during which the inmate experiences psychological pain because he realizes death is imminent.”
“That does not automatically render his execution unconstitutional,” Murrill remarked.
Murrill has vowed to appeal to the Alabama Supreme Court should Louisiana Judge Richard Moore, who is holding a hearing over whether the state’s proposed mode of execution violates Hoffman’s right to practice religion, rule in the death row inmate’s favor.
