Alabama is readying its second execution using nitrogen gas. Alan Eugene Miller, sentenced to death in 2000 for the murders of three people in a pair of workplace shootings, is set to be put to death during a 30-hour window beginning Thursday morning, per CNN. The Montgomery Advertiser expects a 6pm execution at the William C. Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore. Miller, 59, sued to block the execution, arguing nitrogen hypoxia would amount to cruel and unusual punishment, but the lawsuit was settled last month.
State Attorney General Steve Marshall said the settlement "confirms that Alabama's nitrogen hypoxia system is reliable and humane." The execution method has been used only once in the US, in the January execution of Kenneth Eugene Smith, also in Alabama. Smith "appeared to writhe and convulse on the gurney for at least four minutes," per the Advertiser. Some experts have said inhaling 100% nitrogen gas could lead to excessive pain or torture. Experts at the United Nations condemned Smith's execution as "nothing short of State-sanctioned torture," noting nitrogen gas inhalation was "shown to cause suffering in animals," per CNN.
Miller narrowly escaped execution two years ago. He was to die by lethal injection, but state officials were unable to access his veins before the execution warrant expired. He shot and killed Lee Holdbrooks and Scott Yancy at the office of his employer, Ferguson Enterprises, in Pelham, Alabama, on Aug. 5, 1999. He then traveled to his previous employer, Post Airgas, and shot and killed Terry Lee Jarvis. He claimed all three men were spreading rumors about him. A psychiatrist determined he was mentally ill and suffering a delusional disorder but found his condition did not meet the standards for an insanity defense, CNN reports. (More Alabama stories.)
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