Indiana executes Jeffrey Weisheit as two more executions loom

Indiana executed Jeffrey Weisheit early Thursday for killing his girlfriend’s two children in a 2010 house fire, the first of three lethal injections scheduled across the United States that day.

Weisheit, 50, died at the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City. The injection began just after midnight, and officials pronounced him dead at 12:45 a.m. He had no final words, and his final meal was barbecue ribs, according to Noelle Russell, a spokesperson for the Indiana Department of Correction.

Weisheit admitted setting fire to his girlfriend’s house in the Evansville area, killing Alyssa Lynch, 8, and her brother Caleb, 5. NBC News reported that the children’s mother, Lisa Lynch, was at work at the time. A Vanderburgh County jury convicted Weisheit of their murders.

His lawyers sought to stop the execution over concerns about Indiana’s lethal injection drugs. Late Wednesday, the Indiana Supreme Court voted 3-2 to allow it to proceed. NBC News reported that the dissenting justices would have paused the execution for 10 days to examine questions about the drugs.

The lawyers also asked Republican Gov. Mike Braun to commute Weisheit’s sentence to life in prison and to allow brain scans to support their argument that he had a history of head injuries and mental health problems. Braun declined both requests.

Weisheit’s final challenge focused on the state’s drug supply. NBC News reported that his lawyers linked an execution-drug invoice to Pharmaneek, an Indianapolis pharmacy whose license and controlled-substance registration are on probation. The pharmacy faces a hearing before the Indiana Board of Pharmacy over allegations that it violated probation after inspections found problems including expired drugs and inconsistent temperature records. An FDA inspection report described conditions that could contaminate drug products but said its findings were not a final determination of compliance.

Indiana law keeps execution-drug suppliers’ identities confidential. The Indiana Department of Correction said it was confident in its ability to carry out the execution humanely. Braun said state and federal courts had repeatedly reviewed Weisheit’s case without overturning his sentence. Attorney General Todd Rokita called the execution “long-awaited justice” for Alyssa and Caleb.

The drug concerns came after a failed execution in Tennessee on Sept. 30. Christa Pike survived two lethal doses of pentobarbital and later said she had been in pain since waking in a hospital. Weisheit’s lawyers argued that Indiana’s procedures were vulnerable to a similar failure.

Florida and Alabama also planned executions Thursday. If both go ahead, it would be the second day this year with three U.S. executions; Alabama, Tennessee and Oklahoma executed prisoners on Aug. 13.

In Florida, Jesse Guardado, 64, was scheduled to die for fatally stabbing a 75-year-old woman in her Walton County home in 2004 and stealing valuables. He confessed and pleaded guilty. His execution would be Florida’s 19th this year, matching its 2025 record, according to CBS News.

Alabama planned to execute Michael Taylor, 54, for fatally beating an older couple with a metal bar during a robbery 35 years ago. Gov. Kay Ivey declined a request to reduce his sentence to life in prison. The state planned to use lethal injection after a judge ruled its nitrogen gas method unconstitutional; a judge rejected Taylor’s objection to the change.