JUST IN: Eugene Allan Miller Executed | Crime, Last Meal + Final Words | Death Row US Alabama..

JUST IN: Eugene Allan Miller Executed | Crime, Last Meal + Final Words | Death Row US Alabama..

On September 26th, 2024, after spending 24 years on death row, Alan Eugene Miller was executed by nitrogen hypoxia at William C. Hullman Correctional Facility in Alabama. He was 59 years old. In this video, we will talk about what happened during those final 15 minutes of nitrogen gas, his last words, last meal, and the workplace massacre that left three men dead in just 13 minutes.

But to uncover the events of that fateful day and why Allan ended up being executed, we have to go back to August 5th, 1999 and a Thursday morning in Pelum, Alabama when a delivery truck driver walked into work with a loaded Glock pistol. August 5th, 1999, around 7 in the morning, Johnny Cobb, vice president of operations at Ferguson Enterprises, pulled into the company parking lot in Pelum, Alabama.

 It was a Thursday, just another workday at the heating and air conditioning firm. But something was wrong. Johnny recognized three vehicles in the lot. One belonged to Lee Holdbrooks, a co-orker. Another belonged to Scott Yansy, a sales manager. And the third belonged to Alan Miller, a delivery truck driver.

 Then Johnny heard it. Loud noises coming from inside the building. someone screaming. Johnny approached the front door. He opened it and there was Alan Miller walking straight toward him with a pistol in his hand. Miller looked at Cobb and said five words that would haunt the survivors forever. I’m tired of people starting rumors on me. Johnny tried to talk him down.

 Tried to get Miller to put the gun away, but Miller told him to get out of his way. Johnny ran out the front door around the side of the building. He pulled out his cell phone and dialed 911. Police were dispatched at 7:04 a.m. What officers found inside that building would shock the entire community. Pelum police arrived within minutes.

Johnny Cobb described what he had seen. A man with a gun screaming, shots fired. Officers entered the building carefully. The first body they found was Christopher Scott Yansy. He was slumped under a desk in the sales office, covered in blood, shot three times. The second body was in the hallway. Lee Michael Holdbrooks.

 He was lying face down at the end of a 20 25 ft bloody trail. He had been shot six times. The evidence showed he had tried to crawl away. He had fought for his life, but the killer had followed him and finished the job. Evidence technicians recovered 940 caliber shell casings from the scene. But Alan Miller was nowhere to be found.

His truck was gone. He had fled. And then police received another call. There had been a shooting at Post Air Gas, a gas company about 5 mi away. Another body, another execution. The same killer had struck twice in the span of minutes. The third victim was Terry Lee Jarvis, 39 years old.

 He had worked at Post Air Gas for 11 years. He was one of only seven employees at the small company. Terry’s coworker, Andy Adhold, had arrived for work that morning. He walked into the office and talked with Terry for a few minutes. Everything seemed normal. Then Alan Miller walked through the door. Miller called out to Jarvis. He said, “Hey, I hear you’ve been spreading rumors about me.

” Terry told him he hadn’t spread any rumors. Miller raised his pistol and shot him multiple times. Five bullets tore through Terry’s body. One struck his liver. Another struck his chest. Terry collapsed behind the sales counter. Miller turned to Adderhold and ordered him to leave. Adherald ran. He jumped a fence and called police from a neighboring business.

 By the time officers arrived, Terry Lee Jarvis was dead. Sprawled on the floor behind the counter, riddled with gunshot wounds. Three men were dead, killed in two locations, all within 13 minutes. And the killer was still on the run. Police put out an alert. They had a description of Miller’s truck, a description of his clothing.

 The information went out over the radio. Miller had fled south on Interstate 65. He was heading toward Chilton County. Driving away from the carnage he had left behind. Officers spotted his truck on the highway. They pulled him over. But Alan Miller did not go quietly. It took four officers and four sets of handcuffs to subdue him. He fought. He resisted.

 He did not want to be taken alive. When they finally got him in custody, they searched his truck. On the driver’s seat, they found his Glock pistol. One round was still in the chamber. 11 more rounds were loaded in the magazine. An empty magazine was on the passenger seat. Alan Eugene Miller had killed three men and still had ammunition left over.

 He was transported to the Pelum Police Department and charged with murder. The victims were beloved members of their community. Each one left behind a family that would never be whole again. Lee Michael Holdbrooks was 32 years old. He had graduated from Thompson High School in 1985. He was a member of First Baptist Church of Alabaster.

He had been married to his wife, Tara, for 4 years. They had just celebrated their anniversary. Lee’s mother, Sue Hullbrooks, would later say her son was just full of life. He had so much ahead of him, so much to live for. Christopher Scott Yansy was 28 years old. He was a sales manager at Ferguson Enterprises.

 He was a member of Elliotsville Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Alabaster. He had a wife named Kim. He had two children, Tristian and Lauren. Pastor Greg Joiner, who counseledled the family, said the shock of the violence was hard for them to absorb. They had a range of emotions, grief, anger, confusion. Their father and husband had gone to work on an ordinary Thursday morning and never came home.

Terry Lee Jarvis was 39 years old. He had worked at Post Air Gas for more than a decade. His sister Li described him as the most kind and generous person she knew. He would give you the shirt off his back. Terry was killed by a man he used to supervise. A man who believed Terry had spread rumors about him.

 A man whose delusions had festered into murderous rage. The three families met after the tragedy. They tried to make peace with what had happened. They tried to find some way forward, but no amount of talking could bring back their loved ones. The medical examiner who conducted the autopsies was Dr. Steven Pustilnik. The cause of death for all three victims was multiple gunshot wounds, but the manner of their deaths told a story of cruelty that went beyond simple murder.

Lee Holdbrooks was shot six times. Several of the wounds were non-fatal. He was still alive after the first shots, still conscious, still trying to survive. The evidence showed that Lee had been shot first in the chest and head, but the initial wounds did not kill him immediately. He was incapacitated, but alive, and he tried to escape.

 Lee crawled 20 to 25 ft down the hallway. He left a bloody trail on the floor, a crawl trail, evidence of a man desperately trying to get away from his killer. But Alan Miller did not let him go. Miller watched Lee crawl. He waited. And when Lee had crawled as far as he could, Miller walked up to him.

 Blood splatter analysis showed that Lee was turning his head. He was looking up at his killer and Miller shot him at close range, one final bullet to the head, immediately incapacitating. Fatal. Christopher Yansy was shot three times. The first bullet traveled through his groin and into his spine. It paralyzed him instantly.

He could not move. He could not defend himself. He could not run. Scott tried to hide under his desk. He had a cell phone just 1 to 2 in from his hand. So close. If he could just reach it, he could call for help, but the paralysis made it impossible. His body would not respond. Moments passed.

 Miller stooped under the desk. He made eye contact with Yansy. Scott was looking at the man who was about to kill him. And then Miller shot him twice more. Terry Jarvis was shot five times. The first shot struck his liver and chest. He was severely wounded but still alive. He collapsed behind the sales counter.

 Miller walked around the counter. He stood over his former supervisor and he executed him. The court would later find that each victim suffered an especially heinous, atrocious, and cruel death. Each man was suddenly shot multiple times. Each man realized his horrific fate and each man was mercilessly executed. But to understand how Alan Eugene Miller ended up in that parking lot with a loaded Glock, we have to look at the life that led him there.

 Miller was born on January 20th, 1965 in Chicago, Illinois. He grew up in poverty. He had six brothers and sisters. His childhood was marked by dysfunction and neglect. His father was verbally and physically abusive toward his mother. Adult males in the home frequently used drugs and alcohol in front of the children.

 There was no stability, no safety, no protection. As a child, Miller fell and hit his head multiple times. The injuries caused chronic headaches that would plague him for the rest of his life. From an early age, Miller was a loner. He did not connect with others easily. He kept to himself. He was suspicious of people’s motives.

 He believed others were talking about him behind his back. These tendencies would only get worse with time. Miller eventually moved to Alabama. He found work as a delivery truck driver. He got a job at Post Air Gas, a small gas company. His supervisor was Terry Lee Jarvis. But Miller did not like taking orders from Terry.

 The two men clashed constantly. There were frequent screaming matches. Tension built over the years. In January 1999, after 5 years at the company, Miller was fired. The termination sent him spiraling. He believed his co-workers had conspired against him. He believed they had spread rumors.

 Specifically, he believed Terry Jarvis had told other employees that Miller was gay. There was no evidence this had actually happened. But in Miller’s mind, it was real. It was a betrayal, and it demanded revenge. After being fired from Post Air Gas, Miller got a new job. He was hired as a delivery truck driver at Ferguson Enterprises, a heating and air conditioning firm in Pelum.

 His new co-workers included Lee Holdbrooks and Christopher Scott Yansy. At first, things seemed fine, but soon Miller’s paranoia followed him to his new workplace. He became convinced that Lee Holdbrooks was receiving better treatment than him. He believed Lee got better and longer trucking routes. He believed the favoritism was deliberate.

He believed people were conspiring against him. In the weeks before the shootings, Miller became more and more agitated. He talked about the perceived harassment. He stewed over the rumors he believed were being spread. The pressure built inside him like water behind a dam. On the morning of August 5th, 1999, the dam broke.

 Miller woke up with what he later described as an increased feeling of pressure. He grabbed his 40 caliber Glock pistol. He loaded it with ammunition and he drove to Ferguson Enterprises. He was not thinking about shooting Lee Holdbrooks and Christopher Yansy when he walked through the door. At least that’s what the psychiatric evaluation would later suggest.

Something snapped inside him when he arrived. Some trigger was pulled that had nothing to do with the gun. And within minutes, two men were dead. But Miller was not finished. He got back in his truck and drove 5 miles to Post Air Gas. He walked in and found Terry Jarvis, his former supervisor, the man he blamed for everything, the man he believed had destroyed his reputation.

Miller confronted him about the rumors. Terry denied it and Miller shot him dead. Three men, 13 minutes, two crime scenes, one killer driven by delusions that existed only in his mind. Alan Eugene Miller’s trial began on June 12th, 2000. It lasted 5 days. He was charged with capital murder for committing murders by one act or pursuant to one scheme or course of conduct.

Initially, Miller pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. His defense team hoped to prove that his delusions rendered him incapable of understanding right from wrong. A psychiatrist named Dr. Scott evaluated Miller. The findings were significant but not decisive. Dr. Scott determined that Miller suffered from a delusional disorder.

The condition substantially impaired his rational ability. His history as a loner combined with the delusional disorder resulted in Miller genuinely believing that people at work talked about him and spread rumors. He believed Terry Jarvis had told other employees at Post Air Gas that Miller was gay.

 This belief was central to his rage. It was the spark that ignited the massacre. But the psychiatrist also determined that Miller’s condition did not rise to the level of mania necessary to establish an insanity defense under Alabama law. He was mentally ill, but he was not legally insane. Miller withdrew his insanity plea.

 A 30inut mental assessment followed by a 3-day evaluation deemed Miller competent to stand trial. He understood the charges against him. He could participate in his own defense. He knew what he had done and the evidence against him was overwhelming. The prosecution presented a methodical case. They had ballistics. They had eyewitnesses. They had a confession.

Ballistics testing matched all 14 shell casings to Miller’s 40 caliber Glock pistol. Nine casings were recovered from Ferguson Enterprises. Five casings were recovered from Post Air gas. Every single one came from the same gun. Johnny Cobb testified about what he saw that morning. Miller walking toward him with a pistol.

 Miller saying he was tired of people starting rumors on him. Miller telling him to get out of the way. Andy Adderhold testified about the postair gas shooting. Miller walking in. Miller confronting Terry Jarvis about the rumors. Miller shooting Terry multiple times and ordering Adhold to leave. The medical examiner testified about the wounds, the crawl trail left by Lee Holdbrooks, the paralysis suffered by Scott Yansy, the execution style killing of Terry Jarvis, and Miller himself had confessed.

 After carrying out the murders, he told investigators he felt relief. The pressure that had been building inside him had finally been released. He had done what he set out to do. On June 17th, 2000, the jury returned its verdict, guilty of capital murder. The sentencing hearing was held on July 31st, 2000. The jury had to decide whether Alan Eugene Miller would live or die.

The defense presented evidence of Miller’s troubled background, his poverty-stricken childhood, the abuse he witnessed, the head injuries that caused chronic headaches, the mental illness that distorted his perception of reality. They argued that Miller was sick, that his delusions had driven him to violence, that he needed treatment, not execution.

 The prosecution argued that Miller had planned the killings, that he had loaded his gun, that he had driven to two locations, that he had executed three men in cold blood, that the victims had suffered horribly before they died. They argued that mental illness was not an excuse, that millions of people suffer from mental illness and do not kill anyone, that Miller had made choices, deliberate choices, deadly choices.

The jury deliberated. They voted 10 to2 in favor of the death penalty. The judge agreed. Alan Eugene Miller was sentenced to death by electrocution. He was transported to death row at Holman Correctional Facility. He would spend the next 24 years waiting to die. In 2018, Alabama authorized a new method of execution.

Nitrogen hypoxia. The state joined Oklahoma and Mississippi in offering this alternative to lethal injection or electrocution. The concept was simple. Force the condemned to breathe pure nitrogen through a mask. Deprive the body of oxygen. Death would follow within minutes. Proponents claimed it was humane.

 Nitrogen is colorless and odorless. The condemned would simply fall asleep and never wake up. No needles, no drugs, no electric chair. Death row inmates were given a 30-day window to choose their execution method. They could select lethal injection, electrocution, or the new nitrogen hypoxia option. Alan Miller made his choice.

 He did not want needles. He had always had trouble with blood draws. Medical workers consistently struggled to find his veins. The thought of being strapped to a gurnie while someone stabbed him repeatedly with needles was unbearable. Miller thought nitrogen hypoxia sounded like nitrous oxide, the laughing gas used at dentist offices. He wanted that.

He wanted to drift off peacefully. He submitted his paperwork selecting nitrogen hypoxia. At least that’s what Miller claimed. He said he put the documents in the slot in his cell door for a prison worker to collect. He did what he was supposed to do. But the Alabama Department of Corrections said they had no record of Miller’s election form.

 They claimed he never returned the paperwork. They said his execution method was lethal injection by default. Miller insisted the state had lost his paperwork. The dispute would become central to one of the most botched execution attempts in American history. September 22nd, 2022, Miller’s first execution date. By this point, Miller weighed 351 lb.

 He had testified multiple times that medical workers always had difficulty accessing his veins. That’s why he had chosen nitrogen hypoxia. That’s why he did not want lethal injection. But the state said he never made that choice and the execution was scheduled to proceed with lethal injection. Miller’s attorneys filed a lawsuit.

 They argued the state had lost his paperwork. They demanded he be executed by nitrogen hypoxia as he had requested. On September 19th, 2022, US District Judge R. Austin Huffer Jr. issued a preliminary injunction. He barred Alabama from executing Miller by any method other than nitrogen hypoxia. The judge found it substantially likely that Miller had submitted his election form on time.

The state appealed. The 11th Circuit upheld the lower court’s order. The state appealed again, this time to the US Supreme Court. At 9:15 p.m. on September 22nd, the Supreme Court ruled 5 to 4 to vacate the injunction. Alabama could proceed with a lethal injection. After all, justices Soda Mayor, Kagan, Barrett, and Jackson voted to leave the stay in place.

 They lost. Alabama had approximately 2 and 1/2 hours to carry out the execution before the death warrant expired at midnight. The clock was ticking. At 10 Pers p.m., Miller was led into the execution chamber. About 1 hour had passed since the Supreme Court ruling. At 10:15 p.m., he was strapped to the gurnie.

 Two men in scrubs began searching for a vein. They used needles to probe Miller’s arms. They used a phone flashlight to help them see. They stabbed and probed and searched. Miller could feel what was happening. He could feel that they were not accessing his veins. They were stabbing around his veins. Missing again and again. A third man joined the effort.

 He began slapping Miller’s neck, trying to find a vein. Slapping and probing. Needles going in, coming out, going in again. Miller later described it as being stuck over and over like a freaking sewing machine, going in the same hole repeatedly. The probing lasted at least 90 minutes. Miller cried out for help.

 He begged them to stop, but no one helped him. He was absolutely alone in a room full of people. Approximately 18 needle marks were left on Miller’s arms and legs. 18 separate puncture wounds from the failed attempts. Then came a loud knock on the death chamber window. Someone in the state’s observation room had signaled to stop.

The prison officer raised the gurnie to a vertical position. Miller looked at the wall clock. It read 11:40 p.m. He estimated he hung vertically for about 20 minutes. Strapped to a gurnie, needle marks covering his body, waiting to find out if he would live or die. At 11:30 p.m.

, Commissioner John Ham ordered the execution halted. Miller was let down from the gurnie. He was told the execution was cancelled. He was returned to his cell. The state had failed to execute him. Alan Eugene Miller had survived. Miller’s attorneys called him the only living execution survivor in the United States.

 The description was not entirely accurate, but it captured the horror of what had happened. A federal judge ordered the state to preserve all evidence and communications related to the attempt. The judge allowed a medical doctor retained by Miller’s council to evaluate his condition. The aftermath was damning. Alabama had a pattern of botched executions.

Just 2 months earlier in July 2022, the state had executed Joe Nathan James. That execution took more than 3 hours to get underway. Officials had difficulty establishing an IV line. An independent autopsy later showed patches of discolored skin, deep, jagged incisions, and puncture wounds. In 2018, the state had tried to execute Doyle Lee Ham.

 That execution was called off after 2 and 1/2 hours. Officials were unable to set an IV line. Ham had terminal cancer, hepatitis C, and a history of drug use that had damaged his veins. Two months after Miller’s failed execution in November 2022, the state tried to execute Kenneth Eugene Smith. That execution was also called off. After 4 hours, officials could not establish an IV line.

 Smith had been strapped to a gurnie the entire time. Needles had been inserted into his muscles. Alabama’s execution protocol was in crisis. The state could not seem to kill anyone without causing immense suffering. On November 29th, 2022, Miller reached a settlement with the state. Alabama agreed not to attempt lethal injection again.

 If they were going to execute Alan Eugene Miller, they would have to use nitrogen hypoxia. Miller had won that battle, but the war was far from over. January 25th, 2024. Kenneth Eugene Smith became the first person in history to be executed by nitrogen hypoxia. Smith had survived the botched lethal injection attempt in November 2022.

Now he was the guinea pig for a brand new execution method. No one knew exactly what would happen. Smith was 58 years old. He had been convicted in 1988 for a contract killing a pastor’s wife named Elizabeth Senate. The jury had voted 11 to1 for a life sentence, but the judge overrode the jury’s recommendation and sentenced Smith to death.

 That practice of judicial override has since been outlawed nationwide. United Nations experts had called the nitrogen hypoxia method torture. They said it constituted cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment. Justice Stoayor wrote a disscent. She said Alabama had selected Smith as its guinea pig after failing to kill him on the first attemp

1. At 8:25 p.m., the execution began. Witnesses reported that Smith shook and writhed for at least 4 minutes. He breathed heavily for several more minutes. He appeared to remain conscious far longer than officials had predicted. They had promised unconsciousness in seconds. Instead, it took 22 minutes for Smith to die.

 One witness described it as the most violent reaction to an execution she had ever seen. An autopsy later revealed negative pressure pulmonary edema. Dark maroon blood and fluid had filled Smith’s lungs. Frothy fluid was found in his trachea. There was marked congestion throughout his respiratory system. Medical experts reviewed the findings.

 They said Smith likely panicked. His body had an automatic response to the inability to breathe oxygen. Even if the nitrogen made him unconscious, his body was fighting to survive. The first nitrogen hypoxia execution was not the peaceful death officials had promised. It was violent. It was prolonged. It was disturbing to witness.

And now Alabama was going to do it again. this time to Alan Eugene Miller. September 26th, 2024. Miller’s second execution date. This time there would be no lethal injection. No needles probing for veins. Miller had chosen nitrogen hypoxia. And after years of legal battles, that’s what he would get.

 In August 2024, Miller dropped his federal lawsuit challenging the nitrogen method. He had fought for the right to be executed by nitrogen. Now he was accepting that choice. Governor K. Ivy set the execution window. It would begin at midnight on September 26th and end at 6 Boran. On September 27th, 30 hours for the state to carry out the sentence.

 The governor issued a statement before the execution. Despite the circumstances that led to the cancellation of this execution, she said, referring to the 2022 debacle, nothing will change the fact that a jury heard the evidence of this case and made a decision. Mr. Miller never disputed his crimes, the governor continued.

 Three families still grieve. Michael Holdbrooks, Terry Lee Jarvis, and Christopher Scott Yansy did not choose to die by bullets to the chest. Miller was allowed visitors in his final days. Seven people came to see him on Wednesday. Nine came on Thursday. He was asked what he wanted for his last meal. He ordered a hamburger steak, a baked potato, and French fries.

 A simple meal, nothing fancy. Miller declined to make a lengthy statement. When asked if he had anything to say, he gave a one-word answer. Nope. That would not be his final word. The execution chamber at Holman Correctional Facility was prepared for the second nitrogen hypoxia execution in American history. Miller was brought in and strapped to the gurnie.

 A blue rimmed gas mask was fitted over his face. It covered him from his forehead to his chin. Once the nitrogen started flowing, there would be no oxygen, only pure nitrogen. His body would be starved of the oxygen it needed to survive. The warden asked if Miller had any last words. Through the mask, muffled but audible, Miller spoke, “I didn’t do anything to be in here.

” After 24 years on death row, after confessing to the murders, after being convicted by a jury of his peers, after surviving one botched execution attempt, Alan Eugene Miller’s last words were a declaration of innocence. He did not apologize. He did not express remorse. He did not acknowledge the three men he had killed or the families he had destroyed.

 He said he didn’t do anything to be there. The execution began. Nitrogen gas flowed through the mask for approximately 15 minutes. Witnesses watched through the observation window. What they saw was not peaceful. It was not the gentle drift into unconsciousness that officials had promised. Miller shook and trembled on the gurnie for about 2 minutes.

 His body pulled against the restraints. He was strapped down, but his muscles were fighting. involuntary movements. The body’s desperate response to oxygen deprivation. Then came six minutes of periodic gasping, gulping breaths. His body trying to find oxygen that was not there. The sounds were audible through the glass.

 Gasping, gulping, struggling to breathe. Then he became still. At 6:38 p.m., CDT Alan Eugene Miller was pronounced dead. He was 59 years old. He had spent 24 years on death row. He was the second person ever executed by nitrogen hypoxia. He was the 1,600th person executed in the United States since the resumption of capital punishment in 1976.

He was also the last of five inmates executed in one week across the country, the most executions in a single week since July 2003. After the execution, Commissioner John Ham addressed the media. He confirmed that Miller had shaken for approximately 2 minutes. Just like in Smith, Ham said, referring to the first nitrogen execution, we talked about there being involuntary body movements as the body is depleted of oxygen.

 So that was nothing we did not expect. Everything went according to plan and according to our protocol, the commissioner said. A witness named Lauren Gil gave a different account. Miller visibly struggled for roughly 2 minutes, Gil reported, shaking and pulling at his restraints. He then spent the next 5 to 6 minutes intermittently gasping for air.

 The state said everything went according to plan. Witnesses said Miller struggled and gasped for nearly 8 minutes before he died. The truth of what Alan Eugene Miller experienced in those final minutes may never be fully known. He was the only one who could have told us and he is dead. Governor K. Ivy released a statement after the execution.

Justice was finally served for these three victims through the execution method elected by the inmate. She said his acts were not that of insanity but pure evil. The governor continued. Three families were forever changed by his heinous crimes and I pray that they can find comfort all these years later. Attorney General Steve Marshall also released a statement.

Justice has been served. Marshall said after two decades, Alan Miller was finally put to death for a depraved murder spree that cruy took the lives of three innocent men, Lee Holdbrooks, Christopher Yansy, and Terry Jarvis. Marshall called the nitrogen method humane and effective. He noted that many death row inmates had elected the method since Alabama made it available in 2018.

But the families of the victims had a more complicated response. Terry Jarvis’s sister, Lai, had spent 25 years waiting for this day. She had watched the appeals, the delays, the botched first attempt, the legal battles over execution methods. Before the execution, Lolly said she didn’t know how to feel. I don’t know if it’ll give me closure or what, she said.

 I know it needs to happen. And on one hand, I want it to happen, but I just don’t know what to feel about it. She had always said she wanted to be there to watch the man who killed her brother die. But over the years, she had changed her mind. Regardless of my emotions, come Thursday, she said, I will be glad for it to be over. Li did not attend the execution.

 Lee Holddullbrooks’s mother, Sue, had carried her grief for a quarter century. Her son had been 32 years old when he died. Just full of life, she said. So much potential, so much love to give. Lee had been married to his wife, Tara, for 4 years. They had just celebrated their anniversary. And then he went to work on a Thursday morning and never came home.

The families of the three victims had met after the tragedy. They tried to support each other. They tried to make sense of the senseless. They tried to find some measure of peace. But no execution could bring their loved ones back. No amount of justice could undo what Alan Eugene Miller had done on August 5th, 1999.

The case of Alan Eugene Miller raises difficult questions. Questions about mental illness. questions about the criminal justice system, questions about whether execution brings closure or just adds more violence to an already violent story. Miller suffered from a delusional disorder.

 He genuinely believed that his co-workers were spreading rumors about him. He believed Terry Jarvis had told people he was gay. He believed Lee Holdbrooks was receiving preferential treatment. None of this was true. It existed only in Miller’s mind, but to him it was as real as the gun in his hand. His defense team argued that his mental illness should have spared him from execution, that he was sick, not evil, that he needed treatment, not death.

But the prosecution argued that mental illness was not an excuse for murder, that Miller had planned his attack, that he had loaded his gun, that he had driven to two locations, that he had executed three men who were helpless to defend themselves. The jury agreed with the prosecution.

 The judge agreed with the jury, and on September 26th, 2024, the state of Alabama agreed with everyone. Alan Eugene Miller deserved to die. But the execution itself raised its own troubling questions. Nitrogen hypoxia was supposed to be humane. A peaceful death. Unconsciousness in seconds. No pain, no suffering. Kenneth Eugene Smith, the first person executed by this method, shook and writhed for 4 minutes.

 He appeared conscious for far longer than officials predicted. His autopsy showed fluid in his lungs. Alan Eugene Miller shook and trembled for 2 minutes. He gasped for breath for six more minutes. His body pulled against the restraints as it desperately searched for oxygen that was not there. Is this humane? Is this peaceful? Is this the best we can do? Veterinarians refuse to use nitrogen hypoxia on animals.

 They say it causes distressing effects. If it’s too cruel for dogs and cats, why is it acceptable for human beings? The United Nations called the method torture. Legal experts called it experimental. Medical professionals called it concerning, but Alabama called it humane and effective. And they’ve used it four times now. Kenneth Eugene Smith in January 2024, Alan Eugene Miller in September 2024, Carrie Dale Grayson in November 2024, Demetrius Terren Frasier in February 2025.

Four men, four nitrogen executions, and we still don’t fully understand what they experienced in their final moments. What is certain is that three men lost their lives on August 5th, 1999. Three men who did nothing wrong except go to work on a Thursday morning. Lee Michael Holdbrooks was 32 years old. He was a member of First Baptist Church of Alabaster.

 He had a wife named Tara who loved him. He had a mother who said he was full of life. He tried to crawl away from his killer. He tried to survive. He died looking up at the man who shot him. Christopher Scott Yansy was 28 years old. He was a sales manager and a husband and a father. He had two children, Tristian and Lauren, who grew up without their dad.

 He was paralyzed by the first bullet. He could not move. He could not reach his phone. He could not call for help. He died under his desk, looking into the eyes of his killer. Terry Lee Jarvis was 39 years old. He had worked at Post Air Gas for 11 years. He was kind and generous. He would give you the shirt off his back. He was killed by a man he used to supervise.

 A man who blamed him for rumors that never existed. He died behind the sales counter, shot five times. These were real people. They had families. They had friends. They had futures. Alan Eugene Miller took all of that away in 13 minutes. On September 26th, 2024, Alan Eugene Miller paid for his crimes with his life, but his final words echoed with defiance and denial.

 I didn’t do anything to be in here after confessing to the murders. After being found guilty by a jury, after spending 24 years on death row, he still claimed innocence. Perhaps his delusional disorder extended even to his own crimes. Perhaps he had convinced himself that what he did was justified, that the men he killed deserved it, that spreading rumors about him was a crime worthy of death.

 Or perhaps in his final moments, he simply could not face the truth. The truth that he had walked into two workplaces and executed three innocent men. The truth that he had destroyed three families. The truth that he was a murderer. We will never know what was going through Alan Eugene Miller’s mind as the nitrogen filled his lungs.

 We will never know if he felt regret, if he felt fear, if he felt anything at all. All we know is that he gasped and trembled and fought against his restraints. And then he was still. Today, Lee Holdbrooks, Christopher Yansy, and Terry Jarvis are remembered by their families. 25 years have passed since that terrible Thursday morning.

 The children who lost their fathers have grown up. The wives who lost their husbands have had to rebuild their lives. The parents who buried their sons have carried that grief every day. August 5th, 1999 changed Pelum, Alabama forever. A quiet suburban community just south of Birmingham. A place where people went to work and came home safe.

 until they didn’t. Alan Eugene Miller shattered that sense of safety in 13 minutes. And while the law has now had its final say, the wounds he inflicted will never fully heal. The case of Alan Eugene Miller is now closed. A workplace massacre that began with paranoid delusions. Three men dead in 13 minutes. 24 years on death row.

 one botched execution attempt. And finally, on a Thursday evening in September 2024, 15 minutes of nitrogen gas, justice was served, according to the state of Alabama. But for the families of Lee Hullbrooks, Christopher Yansy, and Terry Jarvis, justice will never bring back what they lost. Rest in peace, Lee Michael Holdbrooks.

 Rest in peace, Christopher Scott Yansy. Rest in peace, Terry Lee Jarvis. You are not forgotten.