Alabama used nitrogen gas Thursday to execute a man convicted of killing three people in consecutive workplace shootings, second time by method used sparked a debate on its humanitarian character was used in the country.
Alan Eugene Miller, 59, was pronounced dead at 6:38 p.m. local time at the William C. Holman Correctional Center in Atmore, Alabama, the state Department of Corrections said in a statement. He shook and shook on the gurney for about two minutes, his body occasionally pulling against the restraints. This was followed by about six minutes of heavy breathing.
The Department of Corrections said Miller had seven visitors on Wednesday and nine on Thursday. His last meal consisted of “hamburger steak, baked potatoes and fries,” the department said.
Miller was convicted of murdering three men – Lee Holdbrooks, Christopher Scott Yancy and Terry Jarvis – in 1999 and the state previously attempted to execute him by lethal injection in 2022.
The execution was the second to use the new method Alabama first hired in January, when Kenneth Smith was put to death. The method involves placing a breathing gas mask over the inmate’s face to replace breathable air with pure nitrogen, causing death from lack of oxygen.
Alabama officials and advocates have questioned whether Smith suffered an unconstitutional level of pain during his execution after shaking in seizure-like spasms for more than two minutes while tied to the stretcher, then panting for several minutes.
Alabama Corrections Commissioner John Hamm called the execution “manual” at the time, despite it being the first of its kind.
Hamm said Smith was holding his breath and that’s why he didn’t lose consciousness when the execution began. Critics, however, questioned whether Smith’s face mask may have been improperly fitted or dislodged, allowing small amounts of oxygen to enter and prolong the process.
Dave Martin/AP
Miller was one of five inmates scheduled to be executed within a week, an unusually high number that defies a years-long trend of declining use of the death penalty in the United States.
An execution in South Carolina Friday was the first in the state in more than 10 years. On Tuesday, a man was executed Texas and another, Marcellus Williams, was executed in Missouri. Williams’ execution made national headlines as it took place amid questions about the the fairness of his trial and over the objections of the county attorney and the victim’s family. Another execution was made in Oklahoma earlier Thursday.
A delivery truck driver, Miller was convicted of capital murder for the Aug. 5, 1999, shooting that took three lives and shocked the town of Pelham, a suburban town just south of Birmingham.
Police said that early that morning, Miller entered Ferguson Enterprises and shot two co-workers: Holdbrooks, 32, and Yancy, 28. He then drove 5 miles to Post Airgas, where he had previously worked, and shot 39-year-old Jarvis. Trial testimony indicated that Miller was paranoid and thought his co-workers were gossiping about him.
“You spread rumors about me,” a witness said before opening fire. All three men were shot multiple times.
Miller initially pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, but later withdrew his plea. A psychiatrist hired by the defense said Miller suffered from a mental illness, but that his condition was not serious enough to provide the basis for an insanity defense, according to court documents. The jurors convicted
Miller after 20 minutes of deliberation and recommended by a vote of 10 to 2 that he receive the death penalty.
In 2022, the state called off Miller’s previous execution attempt after being unable to connect an IV line to the 351-pound inmate. Miller initially challenged the nitrogen gas protocol but dropped his lawsuit after reaching an undisclosed settlement with the state.
