Columnist Will Sutton looks at the execution of Jessie Hoffman Jr., with an eye on two journalists who saw something most of us don't want to see. WDSU anchor Gina Swanson and John Simerman of The Advocate | The Times-Picayune | NOLA.

Louisiana was scheduled to murder Jessie Hoffman by first immobilizing him by tying down his arms, hands, legs and torso on a crucifix-like platform. Then, once he was helpless to resist, they would cover his face with an industrial-grade respirator and pump his lungs full of poison high-grade nitrogen gas.

Hoffman's execution marks Louisiana's first in 15 years as well as the Bayou State's first time using nitrogen hypoxia for capital punishment. Alabama was the first state to use the method, as it put Kenneth Eugene Smith to death last year.