Death row inmate's attorneys move to halt Indiana execution over state’s lethal drug supplier

The attorneys for a death row inmate in Indiana on Wednesday rushed to halt his execution hours before the sentence was to be carried out, after new details emerged about the state’s process of obtaining lethal injection drugs.

Attorneys for 50-year-old Jeffrey Weisheit asked Indiana Gov. Mike Braun to halt the lethal injection and order an independent review of the state’s procedures over allegations the state obtained the drugs from a pharmacy currently on probation and which could face the suspension of its license, according to NBC News.

Weisheit, who was convicted of the 2010 murders of two young children in a house fire, did not contest his guilt but asked Braun to commute his sentence to life in prison without parole. 

“Laid bare, the apparent conduct here is patently unworthy of the public’s confidence in the solemn exercise of state power in taking a human being’s life in the name of the people,” Joe Perkovich, an attorney for Weisheit, said in a statement.

Weisheit is currently scheduled to be executed early Thursday morning before sunrise.

The inmate's attorneys cited the recent botched execution of Christa Pike in Tennessee, who survived two doses of the lethal injection drug pentobarbital. The attorneys argued that Indiana's protocols are even more susceptible to "catastrophic failures such as the one that placed Ms. Pike in a coma."

The attorneys in a court filing also highlighted that the pharmacy listed on a state Department of Correction invoice has a history of “rampant mishandling of drugs.”

Indiana law shields the identities of participants, pharmacies and suppliers involved in carrying out executions. However, the attorneys argued the pharmacy that could be responsible for the drug is Pharmaneek, which is scheduled to appear before the Indiana Board of Pharmacy next week over allegations it violated its probation by failing to pass inspections.

The Indiana Attorney General's office declined to confirm that Pharmaneek is the supplier of the pentobarbital and told NBC that it is "confident in the ability to safely and lawfully carry out the scheduled execution.”

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.