September 30, 2005

Governor denies Alan Matheney’s
clemency appeal

By Mary Ann Wyand

Gov. Mitch Daniels denied Indiana Death Row inmate Alan Matheney’s request for clemency on Sept. 27 in a brief statement released by Jane Jankowski, his media relations assistant.

As The Criterion went to press on Sept. 27, the

54-year-old Matheney was scheduled to be executed by chemical injection early on Sept. 28 at the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City, Ind.

He would be the fifth Death Row inmate killed by the state this year.

His attorney, Carol Heise, had sought to have his capital sentence commuted to life in prison without parole based on his delusional behavior.

Matheney refused to be interviewed by Indiana Parole Board members during a Sept. 19 hearing at the state penitentiary.

On Sept. 23, the Indiana Supreme Court denied his request for a new trial.

Jankowski said the governor “has concluded his review of the case of Alan Matheney and has denied his petition for clemency.”

Matheney was sentenced to death for the March 4, 1989, murder of his ex-wife, Lisa Marie Bianco, after beating her with a shotgun at her home in Mishawaka, Ind.

The governor’s statement noted that, “At the time of the murder, Matheney was on an eight-hour furlough from prison, where he was serving time for a previous assault on Ms. Bianco.”

St. Susanna parishioner Karen Burkhart of Plain-field, the Indiana death penalty abolition coordinator for Amnesty International, prays outside the Governor’s Residence before executions.

“We need to stop the cycle of violence,” Burkhart said. “Execution is never the solution.” †

 

Local site Links: