Posted on 09/28/2005 2:25:18 AM PDT by Jet Jaguar
MICHIGAN CITY, Ind. (AP) - A man who beat his ex-wife to death with an unloaded shotgun during an eight-hour furlough from prison was executed early Wednesday, hours after the governor denied his request for clemency.
Alan Matheney, 54, was pronounced dead at 12:27 a.m. EST after receiving a lethal injection at the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City. Matheney said his attorney would give his final statement.
Matheney was sentenced to death in 1990 for murdering 29-year-old Lisa Bianco. Prosecutors said he drove to the South Bend suburb of Mishawaka, broke into Bianco's home, chased her outside and beat her to death.
When granted the prison furlough, he had been serving an eight-year sentence for a 1987 assault on Bianco and confining their two children.
The murder came just months after images of Willie Horton, a murderer who committed a rape while on prison furlough in Massachusetts, helped derail Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis' 1988 bid for the White House.
In Indiana, then-Gov. Evan Bayh suspended the state's prison furlough program after Bianco's murder. The program has since been reinstated, but with tighter restrictions.
The state also agreed to pay $900,000 to Bianco's estate and the couple's children, who were home at the time of the attack.
Bianco had divorced Matheney in 1985. She continued to fear her husband even after his incarceration and had gotten assurances from prison officials that she would be notified if he was ever released.
She was not notified of the furlough, however, and Matheney violated the terms of his pass and an earlier court order when he left central Indiana for her home.
On Tuesday, Gov. Mitch Daniels denied defense lawyers' request to consider blocking the execution on grounds he was mentally ill.
Millie Bianco, the victim's mother, said although she believed Matheney deserved to be executed, she had mixed feelings about Daniels' decision.
"This is a man who washed dishes in my kitchen and who could be charming, who loved his dog," she told The Associated Press by telephone from her home in Lake Alfred, Fla. "At times your mind skips back to those parts. So it is hard."
Matheney spent his final day Tuesday meeting his two grandchildren for the first time, said Java Ahmed, an Indiana Department of Correction spokeswoman. His 22-year-old daughter brought her 7-month-old daughter and 2-year-old son to visit.
About 20 death penalty opponents marched in front of the prison banging drums Tuesday evening to protest the execution.
It was the state's fifth execution in 2005, the most in a single year in Indiana since the death penalty was reinstituted in 1977.
AP-ES-09-28-05 0201EDT
Whence did he get the shotgun used as a club? Perhaps it was in her house.
It's no wonder that it costs more to execute someone than to give them life in prison. If he was executed the day after he was put on death row, a few dollars could have been saved.
How much do you want to bet this was recorded somewhere as a "gun violence death"?
Lethal injection???
Why wasn't he beaten to death with an unloaded shotgun by a woman??
Heck, we have hundreds of US citizens "meeting their maker" after giving themselves "lethal injections". What kind of punishment is that?
I always thought Ted Bundy got off too easily with his execution, too. He should have been beaten to death with logs from a woodpile just like he killed the two sorority sisters in Tallahassee. And for those who are against capital punishment, he could have just been beaten every day with those same logs. Would have worked for me, either way. We were living in Tallahassee at the time, and I remember the feelings of terror until the bastard was arrested.
I do some volunteer work in a prison and it would be interesting to know why they considered the man qualified for furlough. The fact that he was only serving eight years means no one saw him as an obvious threat. What kind of treatment if any did he receive? Was he treated for drug or alcohol abuse? I ask not because I think he wasn't trated properly but in case he did receive treatment but was a socio-path who hid his true intentions. This is the kind of thing that bothers me about prisoners. I never trust them fully because a socio-path is an expert con. It is easy to sympathise and come to love the prisoners and forget to be cautious. It's possible that this case would make a very good book.
It's very hard to beat someone to death that has a loaded Glock in their hand!
My thoughts, exactly!
Thanks for that info-- we'll have to file it away for future reference during the '08 campaign.
Let's not forget what Willie Horton did for Dukakis in '88.
http://www.forerunner.com/forerunner/X0158_Dukakis__Willie_Hort.html
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.