Alabama Inmate Took Nearly 10 Minutes To Die During Nitrogen Gas Execution

An Alabama inmate who was the second person in the nation to be executed using nitrogen gas appeared to suffer for nearly 10 minutes before he died, according to multiple reports.

Alan Eugene Miller, 59, was executed Thursday evening after he was convicted of killing three men in 1999.

Miller, who was strapped to a gurney with a gas mask covering his face, pulled at his restraints and trembled for about two minutes, at times rocking the gurney, according to reporters who witnessed the execution. For six more minutes, Miller gasped for air before finally becoming still.

It’s the second execution in the U.S. to use nitrogen gas; the first also took place in Alabama.

The state previously attempted to execute Miller in September 2022 using lethal injection. The execution was called off after prison staff poked him with needles for over an hour trying to find a vein and was left hanging vertically on a gurney for some time.

Lawmakers in the state introduced nitrogen gas as a more humane alternative to lethal injection, but Miller’s apparent suffering calls that into question.

In January, inmate Kenneth Eugene Smith was the first person in the nation to be executed using nitrogen gas and was seen having similar seizure-like spasms for several minutes and rocking the gurney as he died.

State Rep. Neil Rafferty (D) introduced legislation in February that would ban the use of nitrogen gas in executions following Smith’s death.

“There is a difference between execution and torture, and an experimental method that is not even used in veterinary medicine could certainly be interpreted that way,” Rafferty told the Alabama Reflector.

Alabama Corrections Commissioner John Q. Hamm told The Associated Press that the shaking movements Miller experienced Thursday were expected.

“Just like in Smith we talked about there is going to be involuntarily body movements as the body is depleted of oxygen,” Hamm said. “So that was nothing we did not expect.”

In August, the Alabama Supreme Court authorized a third person to be executed by nitrogen gas. Carey Dale Grayson, 49, is expected to be executed Nov. 21 or 22 using the new method.

“Everything went according to plan and according to our protocol,” Hamm added of Miller’s execution.