A TRIPLE murderer has been executed using the controversial nitrogen gas method.
Alan Eugene Miller, 59, took eight minutes to die after a previous attempt to execute him by lethal injection failed in 2022.
AFPAlan Eugene Miller has been executed using nitrogen[/caption]
APMiller being escorted away from the Pelham City Jail in Alabama, Aug. 5, 1999[/caption]
It is the second time the method that has generated debate about its humaneness has been used in the US.
Miller was pronounced dead at 6:38 p.m. local time at a south Alabama prison.
His final words, muffled by the blue-rimmed gas mask that covered his face from forehead to chin, were: “I didn’t do anything to be in here.”
Miller shook and trembled on the gurney for about two minutes with his body at times pulling against the restraints.
That was followed by about six minutes of periodic gulping breaths before he became still.
Miller was convicted of killing three men Lee Holdbrooks, Christopher Scott Yancy and Terry Jarvis in 1999.
Despite his plea of innocence before he died, witnesses at Miller’s trial had expressed no doubt about his guilt.
Delivery truck driver Miller was convicted of capital murder after three men were shot dead in the city of Peleham, Alabama, on August 5, 1999.
Police said early that morning, Miller entered Ferguson Enterprises and fatally shot coworkers Holdbrooks, 32, and Yancy, 28.
He then drove five miles away to Post Airgas, where he had previously worked, and shot Jarvis, 39.
Trial testimony indicated that Miller was paranoid and believed his co-workers had been gossiping about him.
A witness described Miller as saying “you’ve been spreading rumors about me” before he opened fire.
All three men were shot multiple times.
Miller had initially pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity but later withdrew the plea.
A psychiatrist hired by the defense said that Miller was mentally ill but his condition wasn’t severe enough to use as a basis for an insanity defense, according to court documents.
Jurors convicted Miller after 20 minutes of deliberation and recommended by a vote of 10-2 that he receive the death penalty.
In 2022, the state called off the previous attempt to execute Miller after being unable to connect an IV line to the 351-pound (inmate.
Miller had initially challenged the nitrogen gas protocol but dropped his lawsuit after reaching an undisclosed settlement with the state.
The execution was the second to use the new method Alabama first employed in January, when Kenneth Smith was put to death.
The method involves placing a respirator gas mask over the inmates face to replace breathable air with pure nitrogen gas, causing death by lack of oxygen.
Alabama officials and advocates have argued over whether Smith suffered an unconstitutional level of pain during his execution after he shook in seizure-like spasms for several minutes, at times rocking the gurney.
Smith then gasped for breath for several minutes.
The shaking exhibited by Miller was similar to what was seen at the first nitrogen gas execution but did not seem as long or as violent.