Indiana governor rejects brain scans for death row inmate ahead of execution

Gov. Mike Braun’s administration will not allow death row inmate Jeffrey Weisheit to undergo additional brain scans before his scheduled execution next week.

The decision follows weeks of legal efforts by his attorneys to obtain additional medical evidence for his clemency case.

Braun’s general counsel, Stephanie Flittner, met with Weisheit’s legal team Wednesday to discuss the testing and his pending clemency request.

The governor previously said he would consider the medical evidence if it became available.

The Indiana Supreme Court refused last week to postpone Weisheit’s Nov. 5 execution or order his transportation for testing. But the justices said the executive branch could authorize the scans without court approval.

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In a letter to Braun, attorney Joseph Perkovich requested transportation to Franciscan Health in Michigan City for MRI and PET scans. The testing would allow University of Pennsylvania neuropsychologist Ruben Gur to assess whether brain injuries preceded Weisheit’s 2010 murders of 8-year-old Alyssa Lynch and her 5-year-old brother, Caleb.

Indianapolis psychiatrist R. Andrew Chambers separately supported the request, saying modern imaging could help distinguish earlier injuries from one Weisheit suffered during his arrest.

Perkovich also disputed the parole board’s conclusion that jurors had sufficient evidence to impose the death penalty.

The Indiana Parole Board unanimously recommendation Wednesday that Braun deny Weisheit’s request to commute his death sentence to life in prison.

“The jury then decided his fate without reliable scientific information to illuminate the extent of those injuries and their consequences for his behavior,” Perkovich said in a statement.

Braun has not announced his final clemency decision.

Questions additionally remain about the state’s execution drug supply. The Indiana Department of Correction released a $275,000 invoice for execution drugs earlier this month, but has not provided an updated inventory log confirming their receipt.

Previous records showed no pentobarbital remaining after Indiana’s October 2025 execution.

An informal request for a temporary reprieve is also pending before Braun over concerns about Indiana’s lethal injection procedures. Additional information about the state’s execution protocol is expected to be submitted in the coming days.

A reprieve would temporarily delay the execution but would not overturn Weisheit’s death sentence.

Weisheit, 50, was sentenced to death in 2013 for killing the children in a house fire near Evansville. His execution remains scheduled for before sunrise Nov. 5 at Indiana State Prison in Michigan City.