The US state of Alabama has executed Alan Eugene Miller – the second American ever put to death by inhaling nitrogen gas.
The 59-year-old was sentenced to death over the back-to-back workplace murders of Lee Holdbrooks, Christopher Scott Yancy and Terry Lee Jarvis in 1999.
His execution marks the fifth in the US within a one-week span – its greatest use of capital punishment in more than two decades.
Also on Thursday, Emmanuel Littlejohn received a lethal injection in Oklahoma after the state’s governor denied a last-minute clemency request.
Miller’s execution marks the 18th so far this year – and seven more are scheduled over the remaining three months of 2024.
It also marks the 1,600th execution in the US since the nation’s highest court reinstated the death penalty in 1976, according to the Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC) non-profit.
Freddie Owens was put to death last Friday in South Carolina, while Tuesday saw the executions of Marcellus Williams in Missouri and Travis Mullis in Texas.
DPIC data also indicates that July 2003 was the last time so many inmates have received their death sentences within seven days.
Experts have told US media that the timing is a mere coincidence, resulting from changes in execution scheduling as a result of previously botched executions and legal challenges.
For years, executions were on the decline across the country. Thirty-five states have either abolished or not used the death penalty for at least the past decade, according to DPIC.
But the number of executions has risen over the past three years, with Texas, Missouri, Alabama and Florida leading the way.
Last year saw 24 people put to death, up from 18 in 2022 and 11 in 2021.
