Alabama is looking to use the nitrogen hypoxia execution method for the second time after the new method was used last month on death row inmate Kenneth Eugene Smith.
Smith, who was convicted of stabbing a woman to death in 1988 in a murder-for-hire scheme, was strapped to a gurney and exposed to nitrogen gas through a tube and into a mask. Smith’s spiritual adviser, the Rev. Jeff Hood, witnessed his death and said he convulsed and “popped up” on the gurney during the 22-minute execution.
On Wednesday, Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall asked the Supreme Court to grant the state permission to use the method on death row inmate Alan Eugene Miller, 59. Miller has been in prison since 2000 after being convicted of murdering three coworkers near Birmingham in 1999.
“The State of Alabama is prepared to carry out the execution of Miller’s sentence by means of nitrogen hypoxia,” Marshall wrote.
The attorney general has been a vocal supporter of the latest method, siding with experts and other state officials who claimed that death by nitrogen hypoxia is more humane than other popular methods such as lethal injection or electrocution. Marshall even offered to help other states implement the new method.
However, Hood took issue with the manner of execution.
“When the execution started and he began to writhe, it was noticeable that staff members began to shift around,” Hood told the New York Post.
Alabama Corrections Commissioner John Hamm said that “nothing was out of the ordinary” in response to the execution, the outlet reported. However, Hood disagreed.
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“I think he’s a liar,” Hood told the outlet. “Marshall said the same thing. They’re liars. They said all along that this was going to be nearly instantaneous. That he would be gone, unconscious, in seconds. What we saw last night was minutes, minutes, and minutes of a horror show.”
The controversial method has gained traction in Oklahoma and Mississippi, which also authorized nitrogen gas executions. Ohio lawmakers proposed legislation last month to adopt the method but remain divided on resuming executions in the state.
