Alan Lehman Matheney (November 6, 1950 – September 28, 2005) was an American convicted of beating to death his ex-wife, Lisa Bianco, with a

.410 bore The .410 bore is one of the smallest caliber of shotgun shell commonly available (along with the 9mm Flobert rimfire cartridge, and the less common .22 rimfire shot shell). A .410 bore shotgun loaded with shot shells is well suited for small g ...

shotgun A shotgun (also known as a scattergun, or historically as a fowling piece) is a long-barreled firearm designed to shoot a straight-walled cartridge known as a shotshell, which usually discharges numerous small pellet-like spherical sub- p ...

while on an eight-hour release from prison on March 4, 1989. At the time he was serving a sentence at

Pendleton Correctional Facility The Pendleton Correctional Facility, formerly known as the Indiana Reformatory, is a state prison located in Fall Creek Township, Madison County, near Pendleton and about northeast of Indianapolis. Established in 1923, it was built to replace ...

for

battery Battery most often refers to: * Electric battery, a device that provides electrical power * Battery (crime), a crime involving unlawful physical contact Battery may also refer to: Energy source *Automotive battery, a device to provide power t ...

and

confinement Confinement may refer to * With respect to humans: ** An old-fashioned or archaic synonym for childbirth ** Postpartum confinement (or postnatal confinement), a system of recovery after childbirth, involving rest and special foods ** Civil confin ...

of Bianco. He was convicted of burglary and murder. He was executed by

lethal injection Lethal injection is the practice of injecting one or more drugs into a person (typically a barbiturate, paralytic, and potassium solution) for the express purpose of causing rapid death. The main application for this procedure is capital puni ...

on September 28, 2005, at

Indiana State Prison The Indiana State Prison is a maximum security Indiana Department of Correction prison for adult males; however, minimum security housing also exists on the confines. It is located in Michigan City, Indiana, about east of Chicago. The average ...

at Michigan City. Time of death was announced as 12:27 a.m. The eight-hour release pass authorized Matheney to travel to Indianapolis; instead he travelled to St. Joseph County. He changed clothes and took an unloaded shotgun from a friend's house. He then traveled to

Mishawaka Mishawaka is a city on the St. Joseph River, in Penn Township, St. Joseph County, in the U.S. state of Indiana. The population was 51,063 as of the 2020 census. Its nickname is "the Princess City". Mishawaka is a principal city of the South Be ...

and parked his car two houses down from Bianco's home. He broke into her house through the back door and then chased her down the street. He caught and beat her to death with the shotgun while his two daughters and numerous neighbors looked on. Even so, this case was held up on appeals for 16 years. The case caused a law change in the state of Indiana, which required victims to be informed if an inmate was released. The State also agreed to pay the estate of Bianco $900,000 in compensation. At his trial he argued that he was legally insane. One mental health professional diagnosed him as having

schizophreniform disorder Schizophreniform disorder is a mental disorder diagnosed when symptoms of schizophrenia are present for a significant portion of time (at least a month), but signs of disturbance are not present for the full six months required for the diagnosis ...

and another said he had

paranoid personality disorder Paranoid personality disorder (PPD) is a mental illness characterized by paranoid delusions, and a pervasive, long-standing suspiciousness and generalized mistrust of others. People with this personality disorder may be hypersensitive, easily ...

with

psychotic Psychosis is a condition of the mind that results in difficulties determining what is real and what is not real. Symptoms may include delusions and hallucinations, among other features. Additional symptoms are incoherent speech and behavior ...

delusion A delusion is a false fixed belief that is not amenable to change in light of conflicting evidence. As a pathology, it is distinct from a belief based on false or incomplete information, confabulation, dogma, illusion, hallucination, or some o ...

s. None said he was legally insane at the time of the crime. Matheney stated that he believed Bianco was in a

conspiracy A conspiracy, also known as a plot, is a secret plan or agreement between persons (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder or treason, especially with political motivation, while keeping their agr ...

against him. He refused to appear before a hearing of the Indiana Parole Board on September 19. Then on September 24, 2005, the

Indiana Supreme Court The Indiana Supreme Court, established by Article 7 of the Indiana Constitution, is the highest judicial authority in the state of Indiana. Located in Indianapolis, the Court's chambers are in the north wing of the Indiana Statehouse. In Dece ...

ruled 5-0 to reject a request for a new trial. Finally,

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Mitch Daniels Mitchell Elias Daniels Jr. (born April 7, 1949) is an American academic administrator, businessman, author, and retired politician. A Republican, Daniels served as the 49th governor of Indiana from 2005 to 2013. Since 2013, Daniels has been p ...

denied clemency on September 27. His lawyer released a final statement that read:

I love my family and my children. I'm sorry for the pain I've caused them. I thank my friends who stood by me … I'm sure my grandchildren will grow up happy and healthy in the care of their wonderful parents.

This was the fifth execution in the state in 2005. This is the most executions in a calendar year in

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th ...

since executions were resumed in 1977.

References

General references

News Report of Death
* * *
Amnesty International report Offender Data
from Indiana Department of Corrections {{DEFAULTSORT:Matheney, Alan 20th-century criminals 21st-century executions by Indiana American people convicted of burglary American people executed for murder 1989 murders in the United States People convicted of murder by Indiana People executed by Indiana by lethal injection 21st-century executions of American people People with paranoid personality disorder People from Butler County, Ohio 1950 births 2005 deaths

See also

References

General references