Scott Dozier

Scott Raymond Dozier (November 20, 1970 – January 5, 2019) was an American murderer on death row in Nevada for the 2002 murder of 22-year-old Jeremiah Miller, who was one of Dozier's drug associates.

He would have been the first inmate executed by the state of Nevada in more than a decade, but died in prison before this could take place.

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Background

Scott Raymond Dozier was born on November 20, 1970, in Boulder City, Nevada. His father worked for federal water projects throughout the American West.

In his adulthood, Dozier briefly served in the military, was married to a woman he had begun dating in high school, and had a son from said marriage. By his mid-20s, he was making much of his income from the production and sale of methamphetamine, during the course of which he would bounce between Nevada and Arizona, the two states in which he was convicted of murder. Dozier has commented on his enjoyment of "living outside the law" in the months leading up to his scheduled execution.

Murders

On April 18, 2002, Jeremiah Miller met Dozier at La Concha, a motel on the Las Vegas Strip. Dozier had promised to help Miller buy ephedrine, a key ingredient in the production of methamphetamine. Miller had brought $12,000 in cash for that express purpose. Upon Miller's arrival at La Concha, Dozier killed him (likely by shooting), sawed Miller's body into multiple pieces, stuffed most of them into a suitcase, and disposed of it near an apartment complex in western Las Vegas. The suitcase was discovered by a worker the following week. Miller's head and arms were never found. Dozier was arrested on June 25, 2002, in Phoenix, Arizona, after which he was also connected to the July 27, 2001, murder of Jasen "Griffin" Green, whose remains were found in a plastic container in the desert north of Phoenix.

Dozier received a 22-year sentence in 2005 for killing Green. After being extradited to Nevada, he stood trial for Miller's murder. He was convicted of the murder in September 2007, and received a death sentence on October 3, 2007, which was upheld by the Nevada Supreme Court on January 23, 2012.

Attempts to expedite execution

On October 31, 2016, Dozier voluntarily waived his appeals and wrote a letter to District Judge Jennifer Togliatti asking her to expedite his execution. Ten days later, on November 10, the Nevada Department of Corrections publicly announced the completion of the new lethal injection chamber at Ely State Prison, following the May 18, 2012, closure of the Nevada State Prison in Carson City, which had housed the state's former gas chamber which had been converted to be compatible with lethal injections. Dozier was transferred from Carson City to Ely in September 2011. In a hearing on July 27, 2017, Judge Togliatti signed Dozier's death warrant, permitting his execution to take place "in the week of October 16, 2017".

Following a hearing on August 17, 2017, Dozier's execution was pushed back to the week of November 13, 2017, with the Department of Corrections scheduling the execution for 8pm on November 14. On November 9, 2017, Judge Togliatti stayed Dozier's execution at the request of his lawyers so the state's proposed lethal injection plan could be appealed. This was the first execution to be scheduled in seven years in Nevada since Tamir Hamilton was scheduled for execution on August 16, 2010. Hamilton's execution was stayed to allow him to pursue further appeals.

On June 19, 2018, Judge Togliatti signed a new death warrant for Dozier, permitting his execution to take place in the week beginning Monday, July 9, 2018. The following day, Nevada Department of Corrections spokeswoman Brooke Santina confirmed that the state had the necessary drugs with which to execute Dozier, and also that the execution had been tentatively scheduled for Wednesday, July 11, 2018, at 8 p.m. Clark County District Court Judge Elizabeth Gonzalez halted the execution on Wednesday morning, hours before it was scheduled to proceed, in response to a challenge by New Jersey-based drugmaker Alvogen, which says that it does not want its product, Midazolam, used in "botched" executions; Pfizer and Sandoz also objected to the use of their drugs (fentanyl and cisatracurium besilate, respectively) but did not join Alvogen's lawsuit.

The next court hearing regarding the case is scheduled for September 10, 2018, in which Alvogen, a pharmaceuticals manufacturer whose drugs were purchased for the execution, is seeking to prevent the use of Midazolam in any lethal injection execution. Alvogen asserts that the Nevada Department of Corrections fraudulently obtained one of its sedatives to be used in the execution, and also filed a temporary restraining order to prevent its product from being used in executions. Lawyers for Alvogen claim the manufacturer will "suffer irreparable harm to its reputation as a company that produces life-enhancing and life-saving drugs if Defendants are allowed to misuse its product midazolam." Sandoz has since joined Alvogen in seeking the prevention of any of their drugs to be used in an execution. State prison officials responded to Alvogen's successful stay of the execution and filed a motion requesting to vacate the order on August 7, 2018. A response to this motion request is due August 16, 2018.

Death

Dozier died on Saturday, January 5, 2019, in Ely, Nevada, apparently from hanging.