Diocese of Gary

MICHIGAN CITY –  “We're better than this – or, we should be better than this,” remarked a disappointed, and yet hopeful, Father Rick Holy while standing in the parking lot across from the Indiana State Prison. His words came nearly three hours before death row inmate Jeffrey Allen Weisheit, was put to death inside the prison walls.
           
Father Holy, of the Diocese of Gary’s Office of Pro-Life Activities, along with Bishop Robert J. McClory, led nearly 75 people in a prayer vigil just hours before the execution.
           
As the bishop welcomed the crowd, he stressed the need to pray for the end to the death penalty. He also urged everyone to pray for the victims and those impacted by the heinous act, including Weisheit.
           
Weisheit was convicted in the 2010 murders of his girlfriend’s children, 8-year-old Alyssa Lynch and 5-year-old Caleb Lynch, in the home they all shared in Vanderburgh County. He set fire to the home with the children inside.
    
Weisheit was put to death by lethal injection. He did not make a final statement before his execution. Weisheit ate a last meal of barbecued ribs and Mountain Dew from Texas Corral.
           
“We remember those who mourn the passing of Alyssa and Caleb and we too join with them in mourning their passing,” Bishop McClory said. “We also come here today knowing that death is not an answer.”             
As the bishop acknowledged the seriousness of the crime committed by Weisheit, he said “We gather as people of faith who will always give witness to the truth that every human life is valuable and worthy of protection…from womb to tomb.”
           
In a video statement released days prior to the execution, the bishop urged the people to “pray for and to support and to recognize the harm, the pain, the life-altering crimes that have been committed.”
           
The bishop’s message, one he describes as “literally of life and death within our diocese,” calls for the end of the death penalty.
           
“We don't need to resort to the death penalty as a means of protection of our society,” he said. “We have the means to protect our citizenry by life in prison. We have the means to promote the inviolable dignity of every human person without executing Jeffrey here tonight.” 
           
Bishop McClory continued, “The more that we look to death as an answer to problems, the more we feed into a culture of death. Let's break that cycle of the culture of death.”
           
Weisheit’s execution was the fourth since Indiana resumed executions in December 2024. Of the 2,200 inmates at the Indiana State Prison, four men await execution on death row.
           
The group prayed the rosary, reflecting on each of the Sorrowful Mysteries, followed by singing “Jesus, Remember Me.”
           
Father Holy shared how he spent time reflecting on the popular saying from recent years- WWJD (What would Jesus do?).
           
“What would Jesus do? Justice does not demand a life for a life,” he said. “Jesus was very clear on that. One more life taken is not going to make any of these grieving family situations better. Those scars will still be there.” 
           
According to Father Holy, Alyssa and Caleb’s father forgave Jeffrey for his very heinous crimes.
           
“That's a grieving father's heart, but yet he can find forgiveness,” Father Holy said.
           
The bishop and Father Holy noted that Weisheit was accepted into the Church last year.
           
“Jeffrey was a beneficiary of the Catholic ministry here and had been received into the Church within the last year, for which we are grateful that he was given this experience of mercy and grace,” Bishop McClory said.
           
Father Holy commended the deacons and laity who serve those inside prison walls extending God’s love and mercy. “I think the ministry this diocese has been doing through the deacon program has just been really directed by God's hand. It's really the work of God. That determination and dedication.”
           
“I hate this. I hate that this is something that happens in the state of Indiana. It's just sad that we still have this practice here,” was the immediate reaction to the pending execution by Vicky Hathaway, coordinator for youth and young adults for the diocese.
           
Hathaway traveled from Lowell to Michigan City to join others to pray outside the prison.
           
“I'm glad that we can stand here at the foot of the cross to be here with people in this time of sorrow, in this time of hardship,” she said.I've seen the loving care that people here in the prison ministry have given to those inside the prisons. The deacons and everyone who volunteers with them, the bishop, the priests. I've seen the loving mercy that they have extended to the folks on the other side.”            
Hathaway has seen firsthand how sharing the Gospel transforms lives inside the prison.
           
“It's our call to support the dignity of all human life and it's hard to do so, especially when it's people who have done terrible things, but we're still called to see them as beloved children of God,” she said. “I've seen from my experiences what happens when someone is shown that love of Christ, that's the hope. That his witness will be a witness to others- on both sides of the prison walls.”             

Once a death penalty supporter, Abraham Bonowitz now leads the charge to end the death penalty. He is the executive director of Death Penalty Action, a group who travels the nation to be present at executions.
           
He shared, “In this case, you have the father of the victims who doesn't want the execution and wants to be merciful and ask the governor not to execute this guy. This is a public policy that fails us on every level, socially, morally, economically. No amount of killing is going to bring our loved ones back.”
    
A group from the University of Notre Dame’s campus ministry traveled to the state prison to pray.
           
Anna Nowalk was one who felt called to be present with her classmates.
           
“I hate the death penalty. And I hate that we're executing people,” she said.“I realized that it's not just Jeffrey who's being executed on November 5th, but someone in Alabama and Florida too.” 
           
Three executions in one day is a rare occurrence in the modern era of the death penalty. Before this year, the last triple execution in the U.S. was 16 years ago.
    
Nowalk continued, “The catechism is pretty clear about the stance on capital punishment. And honestly, for me, the death penalty is one of the issues where there is the most opportunity to testify to the fact that life is sacred. No matter what. Innocent life is sacred, but guilty life is sacred too.”
    
She described that she reflected on how scared Alyssa and Caleb must have been, but also what Weisheit must have experienced leading up to his execution. “It's fear and death all around. We don't need to keep on perpetuating it. That word is hope. Baby steps or sometimes bigger steps, but keep moving forward to that day where we won't have to have these anymore,”
           
Weisheit’s attorney, Joe Perkovich, offered a few comments prior to going in for the execution.
           
He said, “There are two things going on at the same time in my role, which is being present for my client, who I have developed a very profound relationship with over the seven years serving him in scores and scores of hours, visiting with him here at the prison, and second, being alert to issues and to potential need to attempt to intervene, even though the corrections set up for this is engineered to prohibit that, even if it's necessary.
           
Perkovich has spent decades in late stage litigation that involves advocating with the governor, the executive branch, and lastly in the courts, which can take its toll on him.
           
“You try to be self-aware about the effects that it has and you in this area of work are fortunate to have others you can commiserate with, who can relate to a very peculiar type of trauma and dismay and disgust,” he said.
           
Perkovich shared how important the bond created between his client and the diocese deacon community has been.
           
“I'll speak for Jeff and since he can't speak for himself at this moment,” he said. “I think a central relationship for him during the past dozen years here at the state prison has been with his spiritual advisor, Deacon Brian (Nosbusch). The bond that they've built is profound. I've been able to witness that, and I think that's been integral to Jeff preparing for this moment. And I find myself very concerned for Brian because of the weight he has been carrying in that way. And I look forward to seeing him after this is over.”
           
Weisheit was pronounced dead at 12:45 a.m.
 

Caption: People form a circle as Bishop Robert J. McClory of Gary, Ind., leads a prayer vigil outside Indiana State Prison in Michigan City Nov. 4, 2026, on the eve of the scheduled execution of convicted child killer Jeffrey Weisheit. Weisheit, 50, died by a lethal injection of pentobarbital, with the process starting shortly after midnight Nov. 5. (OSV News Photo/Bob Wellinski, courtesy Diocese of Gary)