Alabama executes Alan Eugene Miller with nitrogen gas

Alan Eugene Miller became the second man in the nation executed by nitrogen gas Thursday when the state of Alabama put him to death for 1999 Shelby County triple homicide, after failing to do so by lethal injection in 2022.

Miller gasped, shook and struggled against his restraints for two minutes after the gas apparently began to flow. He continued to gasp and move for several more minutes after apparently losing consciousness, movements that Alabama Department of Corrections Commissioner John Hamm described as expected and "involuntary."

Miller, 59, was convicted of killing three people during a pair of 1999 workplace shootings in suburban Birmingham. He was living in Autauga County at the time. The state confirmed his time of death as 6:39 p.m.

He had been on death row since 2000 and was set to be executed by lethal injection in September 2022, but staff could not gain access to his veins for the IV lines before his death warrant expired. Miller said that during the aborted 2022 lethal injection attempt , prison staff poked him with needles for over an hour as they tried to find a vein and at one point left him hanging vertically as he lay strapped to a gurney.

Miller and his defense team reached a deal with the state that lethal injection would not be used in a second execution attempt, choosing nitrogen gas hypoxia instead, court documents reveal.

What happened during the execution

There was a clock in the death chamber at William C. Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore, Alabama, but media witnesses are not allowed watches. The following times are estimates.

6:12 p.m.

The drapes opened to the death chamber. Miller was laying cruciform in a gurney and had a full facemask, but his features were visible. He had a strap across his chest and abdomen. His left arm was strapped, and he appeared to have an IV tube in his left arm. He was lying under a tightly tucked-in white sheet and was wearing khaki prison garb.

His eyes were closed when the drapes opened, but then his eyes opened and fluttered several times. He appeared to be fully conscious. He had six witnesses in the observation room including attorneys and relatives. There were no witnesses from the victim’s family.

6:13 p.m.

Warden Terry Raybon approached and read both the death warrant and the governor’s warrant. Miller was given the opportunity to make a last statement.

“I didn’t do anything to be here,” Miller said. His next words were inaudible, but he appeared to ask his family to take care of someone. “I didn’t do anything to be on death row. Thank you.”

6:16 p.m.

A corrections officer approached and closed the valve on Miller’s mask, then checked the seal around his face. The officer nodded to Miller’s spiritual advisor.

6:17 p.m.

The spiritual advisor approached the gurney. Miller closed his eyes, and they appeared to pray. The spiritual touched Miller’s left leg.

6:18 p.m.

The gas apparently began to flow. Miller took several large gasps and began writhing and flinching. His left hand shook and clenched into a fist several times. He lifted his head from the gurney several times. The gurney shook on two occasions.

6:19 p.m.

Miller appeared to lose consciousness but his movements continued sporadically.

• 6:20 p.m. Miller’s head moved on the gurney and he gasped for breath.
• 6:21 p.m. Miller took a large gulp for air.
• 6:22 p.m. Miller took a smaller gasp.
• 6:23 p.m. Miller took a small gasp, and then 24 seconds later he gasped and his head rose from the gurney.
• 6:24 p.m. Miller gasped and his head rose slightly from the gurney.
• 6:25 p.m. He gasped for breath, and gasped again 17 seconds later.
• 6:26 p.m. Miller appeared to take his last breath.

6:32 p.m.

The drapes were drawn and witnesses were led out.

Commissioner: 'Agonal breathing' was expected

In a news conference immediately after the execution, Hamm described Miller’s reaction as “involuntary body movements.” He said the movements and the “agonal breathing” were expected and that the nitrogen gas flowed for about 15 minutes. Hamm described the execution as going according to department protocol.

“Just as Alan Miller cowardly fled after he maliciously committed three calculated murders in 1999, he has attempted to escape justice for two decades," Gov. Kay Ivey said. "Tonight, justice was finally served for these three victims through the execution method elected by the inmate. His acts were not that of insanity, but pure evil. Three families were forever changed by his heinous crimes, and I pray that they can find comfort all these years later.”

Nitrogen hypoxia had only been used as an execution method in the United States once, when Alabama executed Kenneth Eugene Smith in January. State and prison systems officials had said before that execution that Smith should lose consciousness “within seconds,” and be dead within minutes once the gas started flowing into the full-face mask Smith wore. Instead, Smith appeared to writhe and convulse on the gurney for at least four minutes during the execution.

The method has drawn national and international scorn and media attention, including a protest from the Vatican, due to its untested history and perceived physical effects on the condemned.

More: Alabama death row inmate's murders leaves voids in victims' families: 'I'll never forget'

The crime

Miller, a delivery truck driver, was convicted in the fatal workplace shootings of Lee Holdbrooks, Scott Yancy and Terry Jarvis. Prosecutors said Miller killed Holdbrooks and Yancy at one business and then drove to another location to shoot Jarvis. Each man was shot multiple times.

Testimony indicated Miller was delusional and believed the men were spreading rumors about him. Jurors convicted Miller after 20 minutes of deliberation and then recommended a death sentence, which a judge imposed.

Alabama has plans to conduct at least two more executions this year. Derrick Ryan Dearman is scheduled to die by lethal injection Oct. 17, and Carey Dale Grayson is scheduled to die by nitrogen hypoxia Nov. 21.

Contact Montgomery Advertiser reporter Marty Roney at mroney@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Alabama executes Alan Eugene Miller with nitrogen gas