Indiana executes Jeffrey Weisheit for killing two children in 2010
Witnesses had a three-minute view through a small window before blinds closed, and the defense raised questions about the drugs used.
By Oliver Bennett ·
Jeffrey Weisheit was executed in Indiana on Thursday morning for the 2010 murders of two children.
The Department of Correction reported his death at 12:45 a.m. Central Standard Time. Witnesses saw him for only three minutes through a tinted window in the execution chamber. The blinds closed at 12:37 a.m., eight minutes before the reported time of death.
Weisheit was convicted of killing 8-year-old Alyssa Lynch and her 5-year-old brother, Caleb, in a house fire near Evansville. Their mother, Lisa Lynch, worked an overnight shift and left the children in Weisheit’s care. She told officials last month to carry out the death sentence during clemency proceedings. The children’s father, Steven Lynch, asked Gov. Mike Braun to spare Weisheit, arguing that another death would not bring the children back.
Braun denied the clemency request on Monday after the Indiana Parole Board recommended against it. The Indiana Supreme Court voted 3-2 on Wednesday to deny a final request for a stay. Defense attorneys asked for more time to examine the lethal injection drugs and the procedures planned by the state. Chief Justice Loretta Rush and Justice Christopher Goff dissented, saying they would have granted a 10-day stay for immediate submissions on the drugs’ storage and testing.
Witnesses arrived at the prison at 10:48 p.m. on Wednesday. They passed through security checkpoints, including body scanners and metal detectors. They waited in a visitation room from 11:06 p.m. until 12:22 a.m. The group entered the witness room at 12:33 a.m. The lights were dimmed, and the blinds remained closed for the first minute.
When the blinds opened, Weisheit lay on a gurney wearing a red jumpsuit. His left arm was extended and restrained, and a white sheet covered his lower body. Deacon Brian Nosbusch, his spiritual adviser, stood over him and prayed. Faint sounds reached the witness room, but no words were clear. The Indiana Capital Chronicle, the only media outlet present, said it could not determine if Weisheit was conscious or see where an IV line was inserted.
Weisheit’s father, Bert, said the witnesses were not allowed to see much. A Department of Correction employee accompanying the group replied that the process was simple and fast. Defense attorney Joe Perkovich said he could not explain what he witnessed because of the limited view. “I don’t know what I saw,” Perkovich said in the prison parking lot.
The Department of Correction said Weisheit had no final words. His last meal was barbecue ribs and Mountain Dew. The state paid $275,000 for the execution drugs, according to an inventory log released Monday. The log showed the receipt of six 50-milliliter vials of pentobarbital on Oct. 29.
Attorneys questioned the qualifications of the pharmacy supplying the drugs, Pharmaneek Inc. The pharmacy is on probation and faces a possible emergency suspension over alleged violations of compounding restrictions. The Indiana Board of Pharmacy had scheduled a hearing for Nov. 9, but the defense said it was postponed to Dec. 14. The board’s online agenda still listed the case as of Thursday morning.
This was the first of three executions scheduled nationwide for Thursday. Alabama was set to execute Michael Taylor, and Florida was scheduled to execute Jesse Guardado later in the day. Attorney General Todd Rokita defended the execution in a statement, saying the family might find some peace with the justice done.
The van carrying the witnesses left the prison property at 1:01 a.m. and returned them to their drop-off site at 1:09 a.m. The Diocese of Gary had held a prayer vigil outside the prison on Wednesday night. Opponents from the Indiana Abolition Coalition and Death Penalty Action remained in the parking lot through the execution.
Perkovich said the defense had not received testing results or temperature records for the newly acquired drugs. He noted that the pharmacy had contributed $5,000 to Attorney General Todd Rokita’s campaign in June while on probation. The court questioned the timing of the final challenge, which was submitted hours before the execution. The defense said key information about the supplier had only recently emerged.
