Alabama has executed Alan Eugene Miller, the second inmate known to die by nitrogen gas

Alan Eugene Miller was executed Thursday evening in Alabama, state officials said, making him the second inmate known to die by nitrogen hypoxia, a controversial method critics say is tantamount to torture.

Alan Eugene Miller was executed Thursday evening in Alabama, state officials said, making him the second inmate known to die by nitrogen hypoxia, a controversial method critics say is tantamount to torture. Miller, 59, who was sentenced to death in 2000 for the 1999 killings of three men, was pronounced dead at 6:38 p.m. at a prison in Atmore, Alabama Department of Corrections Commissioner John Hamm said at a news conference. Miller shook and trembled on a gurney for about two minutes, with his body at times pulling against restraints, according to The Associated Press, which had a reporter witness the procedure. The shaking and trembling was followed by about six minutes of periodic gulping breaths before he became still, the AP reported. “I didn’t do anything to be in here,” Miller said in his final words, which at times were muffled by a mask that covered his face from forehead to chin, according to the AP. Miller was fitted with the mask during the procedure, during which nitrogen gas flowed for about 15 minutes, Hamm said. In response to a reporter’s question, Hamm confirmed the two minutes of shaking, which he said was to be expected. “There’s going to be involuntary body movements as the body is depleted of oxygen. That is nothing we did not expect,” Hamm said at the news conference.