The Indiana Parole Board is scheduled to hear arguments Monday, Oct. 19, at the Indiana Government Center in Indianapolis on whether the state should spare Jeffrey Weisheit, who is set to be executed on Nov. 5.
Weisheit's attorney, Joseph Perkovich, argues that severe mental illness and brain damage should lead the board to recommend that Gov. Mike Braun commute the death sentence. The public hearing includes speakers both for and against clemency. The board will make a recommendation, and Braun will make the final decision. Perkovich has also asked the Indiana Supreme Court to delay the execution so brain scans can be completed; that request was still pending as of Sunday, and Braun has said he would consider the scans if they are done.
Weisheit was sentenced to death for the 2010 arson killings of Alyssa Lynch, 8, and Caleb Lynch, 5, the children of his then-fiancée, in Vanderburgh County. At an earlier clemency interview, Weisheit expressed regret but struggled to explain what led to the killings.
The children's father, Steven Lynch, has signed an affidavit supporting clemency and life imprisonment without parole. Their mother, Lisa Lynch, has not submitted a similar letter. Perkovich has separately asked Braun to pause lethal injections until the Department of Correction reviews its execution procedures. If it proceeds, Weisheit's would be Indiana's fourth execution since the state resumed executions in December 2024 after a 15-year pause.
