A man convicted of killing his coworkers over rumors about his sexuality is about to become the second man in Alabama to be executed with nitrogen gas , a method that one witness described as “horrific.”
Alan Eugene Miller, 59, is set to be executed Thursday in the Aug. 5, 1999, murder of his current and former coworkers in two back-to-back attacks: Terry Jarvis, Lee Holdbrooks and Christopher Yancy.
The attacks happened at Post Airgas, a welding supply store, and Ferguson Enterprises, both in the suburban Birmingham city of Pelham. Miller killed the men because he believed Jarvis told Holdbrooks and Yancy that Miller was gay, according to court documents obtained by USA TODAY.
Despite a forensic psychiatrist testifying that Miller was “mentally ill at the time of the offenses,” the court sentenced him to death..
If Miller’s gassing moves forward he’ll be the fourth inmate executed in Alabama in 2024 and the 18th in the nation . His execution comes on the same day as Oklahoma plans to execute Emmanuel Littlejohn despite a clemency board’s recommendation that his life be spared over questions of his guilt.