Alabama to execute Jeffrey Lee after Supreme Court intervention
Alabama is scheduled to execute Jeffrey Lee, 49, on Thursday, after the Supreme Court disallowed the use of nitrogen gas in his execution in June.
Sept. 17 (UPI) -- Alabama is scheduled to execute Jeffrey Lee, 49, on Thursday, after the Supreme Court disallowed the use of nitrogen gas in his execution in June.
The state plans to use lethal injection, a method he did not choose, and Alabama initially agreed not to use it. But in June, the Supreme Court denied Alabama's attempt to execute Lee with nitrogen gas after two lower courts denied the method, calling it cruel and unusual.
Lee's lawyers have said he isn't trying to halt his execution but wants the state to use the method he chose in a way that doesn't violate the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment, NBC News reported. Lee has also asked to die by firing squad, though Alabama doesn't allow it.
Lee was convicted of a 1998 double murder in a pawnshop robbery in Orrville, Ala. Lee killed the store owner, Jimmy Ellis, an acclaimed Elvis Presley impersonator, and his ex-wife Elaine Thompson, who also worked there. Ellis' life and death were documented in the 2015 documentary, Orion: The Man Who Would Be King.
Helen King, who survived the shooting, described in the documentary how she pretended to be dead on the floor as Lee fumbled with the register.
"I don't know why somebody would do that to somebody so nice as Jimmy," she said. "He made you feel like you're family."
Seven inmates in Alabama have died of asphyxiation by nitrogen gas since Alabama began using it in 2024. But those who have watched the executions have said it takes longer than advertised and leaves the inmate writhing and gasping for air.
The American Thoracic Society also filed a brief saying "nitrogen hypoxia executions cause intense, inhumane suffering."
U.S. District Judge Emily Marks said after the Supreme Court ruling that Alabama could execute Lee by lethal injection because the federal injunction involves only its nitrogen protocol.
Gov. Kay Ivey then set the new execution date.
"After losing twice in federal court, Alabama now revives the very lethal injection method it promised to abandon," Lee's lawyers said in a statement. "Alabama isn't complying with the Constitution. It's trying to outrun it."
When Lee was sentenced, his jury voted 7 to 5 to recommend a life sentence without the possibility of parole. But Lee's trial judge imposed a death sentence. Alabama did away with judicial override in 2017.