The State Said Miller's Death Was Humane. I Watched It

The state of Alabama executed Alan Miller using nitrogen gas on Sept. 26. Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said in a statement afterward that the execution "progressed as planned," with Miller making "slight movements associated with the dying process. ... the State proved once again that nitrogen hypoxia is both humane and effective." Except, as Lauren Gill writes for the Intercept, Marshall did not witness the execution. Gill did. She writes of what she saw after being ushered into the witness room: a respirator mask ran the full length of Miller's face and was connected to a hose and valve. "The setup looked cheap and improvised, like a scene from a low-budget horror movie." But the horror-like scene was what came next:.

"I saw Miller's stomach rise and fall like he was breathing normally," writes Gill. "For a second, it seemed as if he might die peacefully after all." Then the jerking and shaking began. "He gasped for air and his eyes were open, staring at the ceiling and darting back and forth." His movement largely ceased two minutes later, though over the course of the next six minutes, Miller at times gasped for breath. "Some of the gasps were so large that his head lifted off the gurney." Gill described the scene to an anesthesiology professor who said it synced with what scientists have observed in animal studies. "When you do this to a mammal, they're going to suffocate, they're going to know it's happening. They're going to try to escape it." Had he not been strapped down, "He'd probably be clawing at the doors and pounding at the windows," she said. (Read the full story for much more.)