The Alabama Supreme Court has granted the state’s request to execute Kenneth Eugene Smith by nitrogen hypoxia, according to Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall.

Smith was twice convicted by juries for the murder-for-hire of Elizabeth Dorlene Sennett in her home in Colbert County in 1988. Sennett was a pastor’s wife who was beaten and stabbed. Smith confessed to his role in the crime. Smith has been on death row since 1996.

Smith would be the first inmate executed by nitrogen hypoxia, a method the Legislature approved in 2018 but that no state has ever used.

“Elizabeth Sennett’s family has waited an unconscionable 35 years to see justice served,” Marshall wrote on X, the platform previously called Twitter.

“Though the wait has been far too long, I am grateful that our talented capital litigators have nearly gotten this case to the finish line,” Marshall wrote.

The justices voted 6-2 to grant the state’s request, with one justice recusing. The order, issued Wednesday, does not set a date, but says that Gov. Kay Ivey is to schedule a timeframe in not less than 30 days.

Alabama tried to execute Smith by lethal injection in November 2022 but stopped the procedure because workers were unable to start an intravenous connection before the execution warrant expired at midnight.

In a federal lawsuit, Smith had sought to block a second attempt to execute him by lethal injection, alleging it would subject him to cruel and unusual punishment. Smith claimed he was strapped to a gurney and poked with needles for several hours during the unsuccessful attempt to tap his veins.

Smith’s attorneys have also gone to court to try to block his execution by nitrogen hypoxia.

Read more: Former sheriff recalls woman’s ‘horrific’ murder-for-hire by pastor as Alabama prepares execution

This story will be updated.