Alan Eugene Miller

Case record: Alan Eugene Miller

Alan Eugene Miller was sentenced to death on July 31, 2000.

The offence

Miller shot two co-workers to death at their office, then killed a third person at a company where he used to work.

At Ferguson Enterprises, Miller entered the unlocked Ferguson building with his gun drawn on the morning of August 5, 1999. The first person he encountered was Lee Holdbrooks. As a result of whatever was said, shots were fired. Holdbrooks, 32, was killed by numerous shots to the chest and then one final shot to the head. Miller then went down a hall and shot Christopher Yancy, 28, to death.

After another employee entered, Miller ran out of the building. The employee saw the gun and bravely yelled, "Don't shoot me. I haven't done anything."

At Post Airgas Inc., Miller drove five miles south on U.S. 31 to a gas firm where he had worked until January. He shot the assistant manager, Terry Jarvis, who was 39. Miller was apprehended after a high-speed chase on a nearby highway, shortly after police arrived at the shooting scenes after 7 a.m. Police found a handgun on the seat of his car.

Miller pleaded innocent by reason of mental disease or defect in the shooting deaths of co-workers Lee Holdbrooks, 32, and Scott Yancy, 28, at Ferguson Enterprises, and the shooting death of Terry Jarvis, 39, at Post Airgas.

Investigation

Officers arrived only minutes after being summoned at 7:04 a.m., but Miller had already moved on. While officers secured the crime scene at Ferguson Enterprises, the towns 911 dispatcher got a second emergency call concerning a shooting at Post Airgas Inc., a gas firm five miles from Ferguson Enterprises. A third victim was found there.

Arrest

"They ... were able to take the suspect into custody after a brief scuffle," a spokesman for the police said.

Trial

A Shelby County jury deliberated for 20 minutes before finding Alan Eugene Miller guilty of capital murder in the rampage that left three men dead. The jury later recommended the death penalty.

On June 17, 2000, Shelby County Circuit Judge Al Crowson said he would scedule final sentencing later. He could either accept or reject jurors' suggestion. Miller, 35, showed no reaction as the verdict was read.

During the trial, his lawyers had all but conceded his guilt in the Aug. 5, 1999, shootings. Miller was charged with gunning down Lee Holdbrooks and Scott Yancy at Ferguson Enterprises, the company where he worked. Then prosecutors said he drove to Post Airgas, a company that had fired him, and shoot Terry Jarvis.

During closing arguments, prosecutor Gordon Ladner told jurors the victims had at least one thing in common: Miller wanted them all dead.

State forensics expert Angelo Della Manna testified that Holdbrooks crawled more than 20 feet down a hall despite being shot three times in the chest, once in the face and once in the right shoulder. He testified that the fatal shot was fired from less than 2 inches away.

Defense attorney Mickey Johnson conceded the evidence was convincing, but described Miller as a "tortured soul" who suffers from a personality disorder. A psychological evaluation found Miller believed he had been slighted by "perceived events," he said. Johnson criticized prosecutors for showing dozens of gruesome crime scene an autopsy photos, calling the display "excessive."

Johnson said:

"(Miller) believed in the death penalty. He just believed he could impose it,"

During closing arguments, Johnson criticized the prosecutors' handling of crime scene and autopsy photos.

Miller rested his case Friday without calling any witnesses to counter a mountain of prosecution evidence. The evidence included an eyewitness to one slaying and testimony linking Miller's handgun to shell casings and slugs found at the crime scenes.

Miller showed little reaction during the two days of testimony. He did not speak to his mother or other relatives seated a few feet behind him. He craned his head once for a better look at one of the crime scene photos.

Sentencing

The jury recommended the death penalty. Shelby County Circuit Judge Al Crowson said he would scedule final sentencing later and could either accept or reject jurors' suggestion. Miller was sentenced to death on July 31, 2000.

Appeals

No appeals information was included in the provided material.

Outcome

Miller was convicted of capital murder in the rampage that left three men dead. The jury recommended death, and Miller was sentenced to death on July 31, 2000.

Aftermath

Mark O. Barton was mentioned in the material: on July 29, Mark O. Barton, a frustrated investor, killed nine people and wounded 13 others at two Atlanta brokerage firms before taking his own life. The two attacks involving Miller were described as taking place one week after one of the worst office massacres in U.S. history.

Background

Miller reportedly had a history of fighting with fellow employees and once was fired for fighting on the job.

A friend of Holdbrooks said Miller was angry because he felt Holdbrooks, another driver, was receiving longer and better routes than he was. Miller reportedly had repeated shouting matches with one of the three men he is charged with killing on Aug. 5.

According to his mum, "Alan didn't bother anybody." Another quoted description of Miller before the shootings came from his mother, Barbara Miller. She said:

"went off to work just as he always does this morning. He left here like he always does, with a 7-Up and a couple of things of biscuits and sausage."

When Miller left for work in Alabama, no knew predicted what was about to happen.

The material described a sequence beginning with Miller striking first deviated from his normal daily routine at Ferguson Enterprises.

Miller was a truck driver for Ferguson and worked at Post Airgas until January. Miller was laid off from Post Airgas in January.

The material stated that Miller lived with his mother, Barbara Miller, in Billingsley. It also stated that he was unmarried.

A psychological account in the material included family history and childhood details. Miller was born in Chicago, the middle child of seven, two of whom have died. The material stated that he had a couple of head injuries from falls as a child and suffered continual headaches, which he treated with Goody's powders.

When he was 7, Miller's family moved from Chicago to the Birmingham area. He attended elementary schools in Birmingham's West End, attended Midfield High School and graduated from Trinity High School in Euless, Texas.

Mrs. Miller said:

"He never brought a girl home and never talked about any girls."

She also said:

"I heard him tell his brother one time that all women are interested in is money and cars."

After high school, Miller considered joining the military. His mother said:

"but they wanted him to lose weight, and he didn't want to lose weight."

The former owner of Enterprise Grocery, Patricia Cooedy, said Miller would only answer direct questions and never initiated conversations. The material also stated that Miller's father, Ivan Miller, often came in quoting the Bible and predicting doom for sinners.

Other details

A witness to the murders said that Miller yelled at Jarvis, "I'm tired of your rumours about me." The police would still haven't told anyone what these 'rumours' may be, or if it was just paranoia on Millers behalf.

The material described reported motives based on jealousy and disputes over routes and orders. Chad Ingram, identified as the workmate, said Miller thought Holdbrooks was getting the preferred longer driving assignments at Ferguson. Ingram told The Birmingham News he knew that Miller was angry with Holdbrooks over the routes before the shooting happened, and said:

"I guess (Miller) felt Scott and Lee were in cahoots about getting a better route,''

The material also described that Christopher Yancy was a dispatcher at Ferguson and that Miller and Jarvis had repeated shouting matches in the five years Miller worked there.

A former colleague said:

"Alan would refuse to deliver it,"

The same former colleague said:

"Alan didn't like to take orders from Terry."

A local paper quote about a fight at work described Miller as finishing fights. His old boss commented:

"He didn't start it, but he sure finished it,"

The material then quoted:

"He took care of both of them."

After Miller was arrested, his mother reported that he was only concerned about missing his favourite television shows.

A neighbor of the Millers, Sherrie Williams, said she was surprised at his arrest and that the suspect had always been "real nice." She said:

"We leave for work about the same time. He always speaks,"

and:

"He doesn't strike you as a fellow who would do something like they say he has done."

During closing arguments, the prosecution relied on the testimony about the beliefs and death penalty remarks attributed to Miller through the defense attorney’s presentation and the psychological evaluation.