Governor speaks with death penalty opponents before execution

By Mary Ann Wyand

It was the right thing to do.

That’s why St. Susanna parishioner Karen Burkhart of Plainfield, the Indiana death penalty abolition coordinator for Amnesty International, and other opponents of capital punishment held pro-life signs in front of the governor’s residence on March 9 during the final hours leading up to the execution of Indiana Death Row inmate Donald Ray Wallace Jr. of Evansville.

About a half hour before the execution, Gov. Mitch Daniels talked with Burkhart and other pro-life supporters outside the residence about his decision to allow the execution to proceed as scheduled.

Burkhart said on March 10 that she appreciated the governor’s willingness to talk with opponents of the death penalty.

Wallace was executed by chemical injection at about 1 a.m. on March 10 at the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City, Ind., for the January 1980 murders of St. Theresa parishioners Patrick and Theresa Gilligan of Evansville and their children, 5-year-old Lisa and 4-year-old Gregory, after they interrupted a burglary in their home.

In the days leading up to the execution, Wallace decided not to ask the governor to commute his capital sentence to life in prison without parole. Wallace said he had used drugs at the time of the murders.

Jane Jankowski, who handles media relations for Daniels, told The Criterion on March 14 that “the governor has said on a couple of occasions that it is clear the people of Indiana believe that in the most heinous crimes, the death penalty is appropriate.”

Jankowski said Daniels also said “he wouldn’t be honest if he didn’t acknowledge that he had reservations or conflicted sentiments” about capital punishment.

She said the governor decided to “visit with” the pro-life supporters on the evening of the Wallace execution.

“There were several people of conscience who were outside for most of the evening,” Daniels said in a press release. “I went outside and said hello to them. I told them I respected their point of view and their coming out in the cold to voice it. It was, I think, a cordial visit.”

Daniels also said the execution weighed heavily on his mind.

“It’s not a position you imagine yourself in,” he said in the statement.

Burkhart said it was about 28 degrees after midnight on March 10 and she was surprised when the governor walked out to the sidewalk to talk with them.

“The governor said a few words to us and told us about how much he was praying about his decision to allow the execution to proceed,” she said. “None of the other governors had ever come out and said anything to us.

“I think that it means he’s really going to think about the death penalty,” Burkhart said, “and it gives us even more reason to continue to try to meet with him and talk to him about our problems with the death penalty. I think that the fact that he is prayerfully reflecting on it means that he’s open to considering the problems with the death penalty. I think that’s a positive thing, a good sign.”

Burkhart teaches science classes at St. Matthew School in Indianapolis and said she discusses the Church’s pro-life teachings about the death penalty with her students.

“I’ve participated in execution vigils here [outside the governor’s residence] for the past nine years,” she said, “because it’s not OK to take a life to show that killing people is wrong. I try to explain to the students how important it is to do the right thing always. … It’s important for us to continue to live our faith, to do the right thing, all the time. It’s what Jesus would do.” †