Alabama used nitrogen gas to execute a convicted man on Thursday, the second time the technique has been used in the United States, drawing criticism from human rights groups.
Alan Eugene Miller, a former delivery driver convicted of a workplace shooting in 2000, was executed at the state prison in Atmore, the governor’s office said.
Prison officials put Miller, 59, to death with nitrogen hypoxia, which involves breathing only nitrogen through a mask device that cuts off oxygen. It was also the second time Alabama has moved to execute him, after the death row squad struggled to execute him by lethal injection two years ago.
The death chamber curtains were opened at 6:12 p.m., and Miller said in his final statement, “I did nothing to be here,” and “I did nothing to be on death row,” AL said. com reported. . Media witnesses said gas appeared to have entered the mask at 6:16 p.m.
AL.com reported that his fingers moved slightly when the spiritual advisor came to his side. Miller then trembled against his restraints for about two minutes and gasped for breath periodically for about six minutes, the Associated Press reported.
According to the state, he was pronounced dead at 6:38 p.m.
His death caps a particularly busy period, with five executions carried out across the country in the past seven days. Among them were an execution in Oklahoma on Thursday morning, the first execution in 13 years in South Carolina last week, and a Missouri man who maintained his innocence in a case that drew national attention on Tuesday. He was executed.
“Just as Alan Miller viciously committed three premeditated murders in 1999 and then cowardly went on the run, he remained in prison for 20 years,” Alabama Governor Kay Ivey said in a statement. He was trying to escape from justice.” “Tonight, the method of execution chosen by the inmate finally brought justice to these three victims. His actions were not acts of madness, but pure evil.”
In January, Alabama became the first state to use nitrogen to execute prisoners. Witnesses reported that inmate Kenneth Smith, 58, was conscious for several minutes and was violently thrashing and bouncing while strapped to a stretcher.
State Attorney General Steve Marshall argued in a court filing that the method is “quick, painless, and humane.”
In a statement after Miller’s execution, Marshall accused political activists, out-of-state lawyers and the media of a “misinformation campaign” and said the process had gone “as expected and without incident.” Ta.
Miller initially tried to object to the use of nitrogen. He filed a federal lawsuit in March seeking to halt the execution, citing the state’s past execution failures and concerns that the method of nitrogen hypoxia would be more painful and prolong death.
But Miller decided to use nitrogen, an alternative to lethal injection that the state approved in 2018, after an execution was halted in September 2022 after officials were unable to access a vein for more than an hour. Miller explained the process in the state of Alabama. It’s unbearable,” he said, and the two men stabbed him several times in the arms and legs. Miller said in her lawsuit that her 350-pound weight made it “difficult” to get an IV line.
The state agreed not to attempt to execute Miller a second time by lethal injection.
In July, Alabama authorities posted unredacted documents related to Miller’s case to the federal court’s electronic filing system, shedding new light on the case before some were sealed.
Records reviewed by NBC News included a deposition in which Miller expressed concern that it would be difficult for the execution team to place a mask over his face to inhale nitrogen gas.
“Are these guys going to fit (the masks)? What kind of training do they have?” Miller said.
“My mind is getting old,” he added. “Nothing else fits my head.”
Miller had claimed that the Alabama Department of Corrections refused to confirm whether the mask would fit him before the execution, but in a deposition he said he would undergo a fit test on the mask before the procedure. He said he declined the offer.
“I think this is just psychological horror,” Miller said in his deposition.
But the attorney general’s office announced last month that Miller had agreed to settle the lawsuit. Terms will be kept confidential.
“The resolution of this case confirms that Alabama’s nitrogen hypoxia system is reliable and humane,” Marshall said in an earlier statement.
Miller’s attorney did not respond to a request for comment.
His execution took place as scheduled, as there were apparently no legal barriers or plans for a last-minute appeal by his defense team.
Mr. Miller does not dispute that he was responsible for the 1999 mass shooting in south Birmingham. Prosecutors said the suspect shot and killed two co-workers, Lee Holdbrooks and Christopher Scott Yancey, then went to his former workplace, where he confronted former co-worker Terry Lee Jarvis. He is said to have killed him.
Miller testified at trial that he was angry that “people were starting rumors about me,” according to court documents. When he tried to appeal his conviction, Miller said he lacked the necessary intent to commit murder because he was mentally unstable.
The use of nitrogen has raised concerns from human rights groups as states seek viable alternatives to lethal injection, a method that has become increasingly difficult to use due to shortages of the necessary drugs.
If nitrogen, a naturally occurring colorless and odorless gas, is not mixed with enough oxygen, it can cause physical side effects such as breathing problems, vomiting, and death.
Medical experts say that during an execution, when a prisoner breathes nitrogen, a small amount of oxygen gets into the prisoner’s mask, slowing suffocation and potentially prolonging death.
The state denied that Mr. Smith’s hyperthermia was caused by oxygen leaking into his mask, arguing that Mr. Smith was unable to lose consciousness earlier because he was holding his breath.
Maya Foer, US director of the London-based human rights nonprofit Ripley Live, said the use of gas was akin to “human experimentation” and research showed support for the death penalty was waning among Americans. He said that it is shown in
“The myth of ‘humane execution,’ whether by injection or nitrogen asphyxiation,” is a lie that fewer and fewer people believe,” Foer said in a statement.
