A death row inmate convicted of murdering three co-workers over rumors about their sexuality is scheduled to be executed by nitrogen gas in Alabama on Thursday in what one witness described as “horrifying” executions. He is the second controversial death row inmate in the United States. ”
Alan Eugene Miller, 59, killed Terry Jarvis, Lee Holdbrooks and Christopher Yancey in two workplace shootings in the Birmingham suburb of Pelham on the morning of August 5, 1999. convicted of a crime.
If his execution goes as expected, he will be the fourth inmate to be executed in Alabama and the 18th in the United States in 2024. He was among five men executed in the United States in just six days. On Friday, Freddie Owens was executed in South Carolina, and on Tuesday, Marcellus Williams was executed in Missouri within an hour of Travis James Mullis in Texas.
Miller was scheduled to be executed by lethal injection in September 2022, but staff were unable to find a vein to connect to an IV line before the death warrant expired, so the inmate was placed on a stretcher. He was tied up vertically and stabbed with needles for over an hour.
Here’s what you need to know about Miller’s case, his victims, and other details about his execution.
Who is Alan Eugene Miller?
Miller was born on January 20, 1965, and grew up with a long family history of mental illness spanning at least four generations, according to federal appeals documents filed in January 2013.
According to court records, Miller experienced “extreme poverty” as her family moved frequently during her childhood. When his parents divorced, his mother and siblings spent years on welfare and food stamps, the document continued.
Miller’s mother, Barbara, remarried his father for financial reasons, but court records show that Miller has struggled to hold down a steady job and that people, including co-workers, have conspired against him. He said he often wondered if it was possible.
Barbara Miller described her family’s home as “full of trash, infested with rats, infested with cockroaches, just depressing.”
Before his murder conviction, Miller had a “nonviolent disposition” and a “good work history,” his lawyer said.
What was Alan Eugene Miller convicted of?
An Alabama jury found Miller guilty of shooting Holdbrooks six times, Jarvis five times, and Yancey three times. He initially shot and killed Holdbrooks and Yancey, co-workers at Ferguson Enterprises, before driving to Post Airgas, a welding supply store, and killing Jarvis.
Pelham police arrested Mr. Miller during a traffic stop the same day. After Miller was handcuffed, officers found a Glock lying in the driver’s seat and an empty ammunition magazine in the passenger seat, court documents said.
Although Mr. Miller was deemed “mentally ill” by a forensic psychiatrist during his sentencing hearing, the court ruled that Mr. Miller’s condition did not exceed the manic level necessary to establish an insanity defense under Alabama law. He found that he did not meet the standards and ordered the death penalty for that crime.
“Miller suffered from a delusional disorder that severely impaired his rational capacity,” according to court documents. “This delusional disorder, combined with Miller’s lonely history, led him to believe that the people he worked with were talking about him and spreading rumors about him.” believed Miller told other Post Airgas employees that he was a felon and “gay.” ”
Who are Terry Jarvis, Lee Holdbrooks, and Christopher Yancey?
Shelley Lowry told USA TODAY that her brother Terry Jarvis was the kindest and most generous person she knew.
“Hopefully they’ll take the shirt off your back,” said Laurie, who lives in Maylene, central Alabama. “He would do anything for anyone…Terry was my baby brother, but at one point in my life, he took care of me so much that I became his baby sister. It seemed like.”
After he was killed, she said: “It’s like a piece of your heart is missing and you can never get it back.”
The Rev. Chris Joyner, pastor of the Alabama church where Yancey and his family attended, said Yancey was a faith-driven father of two and “a big teddy bear type.”
“It was a strong family,” Joyner told USA TODAY. “They were very loving and looked out for each other.”
Yancey’s family suffered another tragedy following his murder in 2012 when his wife, Kim, died at age 38 in a car accident, according to the Shelby County Reporter.
USA TODAY was unable to reach Holdbrooks’ family, but his obituary says he was married and died without children.
When and where will Alan Eugene Miller be executed?
Miller will be executed Thursday around 6 p.m. CT in the death chamber at the William C. Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore, a small town about 210 miles south of Montgomery.
Details on how to run
Miller is scheduled to become the second death row inmate to be executed using nitrogen gas in the United States.
The first was in January at the execution of 58-year-old Kenneth Smith, who was “shaking violently and having convulsions for about four minutes” after the nitrogen gas started flowing, according to reporter Marty Roney, who attended the Montgomery execution. “It was like that.” Advertiser, part of the USA TODAY Network.
Mr. Ronnie will also be a witness to Mr. Miller’s execution and will report on his observations. Check back with USA TODAY to find out what he saw.
Reverend Jeff Hood, a spiritual advisor who has witnessed more than half a dozen executions, visited Smith’s home and called it “the most violent” he had ever seen.
“We’re talking about minutes of thrashing and spitting,” Hood told USA TODAY. “His head went up and down (and) back and forth. The (expletive) stretcher that was bolted to the floor started shaking.”
Miller weighed about 400 pounds, and Hood called him “an empty shell of a human being.”
“It’s like strapping a 400-pound man to a stretcher and suffocating him to death and expecting it to work,” the pastor said, adding that this type of execution puts society at greater risk. . “Moral Apocalypse.”
What will Alan Eugene Miller’s last meal be?
The Alabama Department of Corrections plans to release Miller’s last meal to the public on the day of his execution.
Who will witness Alan Eugene Miller’s execution?
The Alabama Department of Corrections plans to release a public witness list on the night of the execution, but Lowry said he will not attend.
“I’ve always said, ‘I wanted to go there,'” Lowery said. “After all these years, I’ve changed my mind about that. I feel sorry for his (Miller’s) parents.”
The following members of the media will participate in the execution:
When is the next execution in this country?
The next execution in the United States is scheduled for October 1st in Texas. Garcia Glenn White, a former college football player at Lubbock Christian University, is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection after being convicted in the 1989 murders of his 16-year-old identical twin girl in Houston.
Contributor: Marty Roney/Montgomery Advertiser