Mom of kids killed by death row inmate asks Parole Board to deny clemency

Parole board weighs convicted child killer’s execution

INDIANAPOLIS — The mother of two children killed by an inmate asked for his execution, as the Indiana Parole Board held its final clemency hearing Monday for death row inmate Jeffrey Weisheit.

Weisheit is scheduled to die by lethal injection Nov. 5 for the deaths of 5-year-old Caleb Lynch and 8-year-old Alyssa Lynch. The state Department of Correction has already paid $275,000 for execution drugs, according to records obtained by Indiana’s I-Team.

Those drugs could expire, and Weisheit could spend his life in prison without parole if Republican Gov. Mike Braun decides to grant clemency.

The Parole Board will make a nonbinding recommendation before Braun makes his decision. Board members questioned Weisheit on Friday in Indianapolis and listened to more than a dozen additional speakers Monday to help guide their recommendation.

(Tim Spears, WISH/WRTV)

One of the strongest voices they will consider is Lisa Lynch, the children’s mother.

“I am here today to ensure my children’s voices are heard,” Lynch said through tears during a virtual appearance at Monday’s clemency hearing. “As their mother, it is my duty to protect and stand up for them, and I am here today to honor their lives.”

Lisa and Weisheit were dating and living together when he killed her children in 2010. While the children’s father has asked for mercy, Lisa believes justice for those children means carrying out Weisheit’s death sentence.

“Nothing about an abuser’s twisted narrative changes the horror of what was done,” Lynch said.

Monday’s hearing began in the morning with speakers favoring clemency.

Weisheit’s attorneys spoke about his severe mental illness and potential brain trauma, arguing it was largely to blame for his crimes.

(Tim Spears, WISH/WRTV)

Family members talked about a gentler side of Weisheit that they knew, as well as struggles he had as a young man with depression and suicide attempts. Weisheit’s father, a veteran police officer, said he was horrified by his son’s crimes and called the death sentence “just.”

But he and Weisheit’s mother, Susan, said they could not bear the thought of his execution.

When the state presented its argument, Tyler Banks of the Indiana Attorney General’s Office said Weisheit’s crimes were heinous and premeditated, making him undeserving of clemency.

Banks described threats Weisheit made before the murders and walked the board through the brutal details of the children’s deaths.

Weisheit hogtied Caleb with duct tape, stuffed a rag down his throat, and ignited road flares in the boy’s clothes. The ensuing fire incinerated their Vanderburgh County home, killing the children.

“He burned the children alive,” Banks said.

The state called first responders who found the children dead, a doctor who examined Caleb’s body, and the original investigators on the case. Almost all speakers opposing clemency wept at different points, stopping for deep breaths or fighting back tears.

Lt. Doug Daza of the Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Office said Weisheit traumatized first responders who witnessed the horrors he caused.

The Parole Board is expected to make its recommendation to Braun soon.

Weisheit’s attorneys asked for a 14-day delay in his execution to conduct brain scans to provide Braun information to determine if Weisheit’s mental illness caused his actions. The state says that question was already litigated.

Convicted child killer Jeffrey Weisheit. (WISH/WRTV Photo)

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