Jeffrey Weisheit was sentenced to death by the State of Indiana for the murders of two young children
According to court documents Jeffrey Weisheit was mad at his girlfriend. He would bound her two young children in duct taped and proceeded to set the house on fire
Jeffrey Weisheit would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death
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Jeffrey Weisheit is incarcerated at the Indiana State Prison
Jeffrey Weisheit Case
Early in the morning of April 10, 2010, the German Township Fire Department arrived at Weisheit’s Evansville, Indiana home, which was engulfed in flames. After the fire was extinguished, investigators found the bodies of eight-year-old Alyssa Lynch and five-year-old Caleb Lynch. The children and their pregnant mother Lisa Lynch, Weisheit’s girlfriend, had been living with Weisheit since 2008. On the night of the fire, Weisheit was home with the children while Lisa worked.
Alyssa was found in a closet, where she had either been trapped inside or attempted to flee the fire. Over ninety percent of her body was charred black, and a pathologist thought it possible that she burned while she was still alive or as she asphyxiated to death from soot and smoke inhalation. She likely experienced a sensation similar to drowning in her final moments.
Also charred beyond recognition, Caleb was found on his mattress, hog-tied with duct tape and with a twelve-inch-by-twelve-inch washcloth stuffed in his mouth and secured by duct tape. A railroad flare had been placed in his underwear, and another railroad flare was found under his body. The flare in his underwear burnt his left thigh while he was still alive and conscious. He died in agony of suffocation from soot and smoke inhalation.
The previous day, Weisheit quit his job and withdrew all of the money in his bank account. Earlier in 2010, he stopped paying for the engagement ring that he had placed on layaway and communicated to two co-workers plans to harm Lisa, reportedly because he may have doubted that the unborn child was his. He talked of going out “[i]n a blaze of glory.” (Tr. at 1596.)
When the fire department arrived at his house at 3:45 a.m. the morning of the fire, Weisheit was not home. He failed to respond to numerous calls to his cell phone. OnStar placed him in Boone County, Kentucky. When an OnStar operator placed a call from Lisa to his car, Weisheit refused to speak with Lisa.
Boone County sheriff deputies located Weisheit in traffic, but he fled at speeds exceeding 140 miles per hour. Eventually, spike strips brought Weisheit’s car to a stop. Confronted by officers, he pulled out a knife and aggressively jumped around while screaming “come on, f* * *ing kill me … I want to die.” (Tr. at 1357–58.) Weisheit then threw the knife at the officers, narrowly missing one. Refusing to submit, Weisheit was tased and fell to the ground, hitting his head. At the time of his capture, he was carrying $4,800 in cash and two rolls of duct tape, and he had clothing and toiletries in his car.
Taken to the hospital, Weisheit was diagnosed with a mild brain contusion or concussion. While at the hospital, Vanderburgh County detectives read Weisheit his Miranda rights before conducting a nineteen-minute interview. During the interview, Weisheit answered some questions but, when asked about the fire or the children, pretended to fall asleep.
Based on the totality of the circumstances, State Fire Marshal Clayton Kinder determined that the fire had been intentionally set.
https://case-law.vlex.com/vid/weisheit-v-state-no-893069138
