Indiana Execution Set: Braun Denies Weisheit Clemency Amid Pharmacy Dispute

Governor Eric Braun rejected a final request to delay the execution of Jeffrey Weisheit, confirming the state will proceed with the lethal injection scheduled for November 5.

The decision came shortly after 4 p.m. on Monday, ending a legal effort by Weisheit’s defense team to pause the death penalty proceeding. The governor cited a unanimous recommendation from the Indiana Parole Board in his denial.

Weisheit faces execution for the 2010 murders of two children, 8-year-old Alyssa Lynch and 5-year-old Caleb Lynch, who died in a fire in Vanderburgh County. His scheduled time of death is before dawn Thursday.

The defense team filed their request on Monday, arguing that the drugs used for the execution should not come from Pharmaneek, a pharmacy currently on indefinite probation. The Indiana Board of Pharmacy placed Pharmaneek on probation on March 31 after the facility failed safety inspections and engaged in practices that led to drug contamination.

A hearing on November 9 will determine if the pharmacy’s license is permanently terminated. Weisheit’s attorneys contended that the state should not use drugs from a provider that the Attorney General’s Office is seeking to shut down. They called for an independent investigation into the quality and procurement of the pentobarbitol used in lethal injections.

Joe Perkovich, one of Weisheit’s attorneys, stated that it is alarming for the state to purchase drugs from a pharmacy with major storage and management issues. He argued the governor should pause executions to ensure the drugs meet basic legal standards.

The Indiana Department of Correction said it remains in compliance with state laws governing the confidential procurement of execution drugs. The department expressed confidence in its process and its ability to carry out the sentence humanely for the murders of the two children.