Three states prepare rare same-day executions as Indiana puts killer to death

Three executions scheduled Thursday

Lethal injections were scheduled in Indiana, Florida and Alabama on Thursday. Weisheit was due to be executed first, followed by Jesse Guardado in Florida and Michael Taylor in Alabama.

If all three were carried out, it would be the second occasion this year when three people were put to death on the same day. Florida’s execution would be its 19th this year, matching the record it set in 2025 under Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Indiana case and appeal

Weisheit, 50, was convicted of setting a fire in 2010 that killed his girlfriend’s children, ages 8 and 5, at a home near Evansville. The killings were apparently connected to the couple’s deteriorating relationship.

His lawyers sought a life sentence and asked Republican Gov. Mike Braun to let him undergo brain scans. They said the scans could support their claims that Weisheit had a history of head injuries and mental health problems. Braun denied the request and also refused to reduce the sentence to life in prison.

Florida and Alabama cases

In Florida, Jesse Guardado confessed to fatally stabbing a 75-year-old woman in her Walton County home in 2004 and pleaded guilty soon afterward. He took her jewelry box, $80 and other valuables to support his drug habit. The woman had helped him find work and housing.

Alabama prisoner Michael Taylor, 54, was convicted of killing an older couple during a robbery in their Gadsden home 35 years ago. He beat them with a metal bar. Police arrested him in Birmingham, an hour away, with the couple’s Cadillac.

Alabama governor and method dispute

Taylor’s attorneys challenged a last-minute switch to lethal injection. He had chosen nitrogen gas as his execution method several years earlier, but a judge ruled against him.