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  • Indiana Lawmaker Who Opposed Trump’s Redistricting Push Is Victim of a Swatting

    An Indiana lawmaker who resisted President Donald Trump’s push to have Republicans redraw the state’s congressional boundaries was the victim of a swatting call Sunday that brought sheriff’s deputies to his home.

    The call, in which someone reported a fake emergency at the Terre Haute home of state Sen. Greg Goode, came hours after Trump criticized the lawmaker and another state senator for their opposition to his plan. Trump has been trying to persuade Republican-led states across the country to aggressively redraw their congressional maps to help the GOP hold the U.S. House in next year’s midterm elections.

    Deputies were sent to Goode’s home after receiving an email “advising harm had been done to persons inside a home,” according to a statement from the Vigo County Sheriff’s Office.

    “All persons were secure, safe, and unharmed. Investigation showed that this was a prank or false email (also known as ‘swatting’),” the statement said. The incident is under investigation.

    Goode, a Republican, wrote on social media that the responding deputies were “under the impression of a domestic violence emergency.” He thanked the deputies for acting professionally.

    “While this entire incident is unfortunate and reflective of the volatile nature of our current political environment, I give thanks to God that my family and I are ok,” Goode wrote.

    Earlier Sunday, Trump criticized Goode and Indiana Senate President Pro Tem Rodric Bray for opposing a redistricting plan for Indiana. Republicans already hold a 7-2 advantage in the state’s congressional delegation.

    “Because of these two politically correct type ‘gentlemen,’ and a few others, they could be depriving Republicans of a Majority in the House, a VERY BIG DEAL!” Trump wrote on his social media platform.

    The White House didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

    The goal of swatting is to get authorities, particularly a SWAT team, to respond to an address by making bogus claims of violence happening inside.

    The Republican leader of Indiana’s Senate announced Friday that his chamber will no longer meet to vote on redistricting, citing a lack of support from his members even after pressure from the White House. Vice President JD Vance has visited multiple times to make the case.

    Democrats need to gain just three seats to win control of the House next year, leading to Trump’s strong-arming of GOP-controlled states. Legislatures or commissions in Texas, Missouri, North Carolina and Ohio have adopted new maps to boost Republicans’ odds, while California and Virginia are poised to counter Trump’s push and redraw their own maps to benefit Democrats.

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  • US Marine Arrested and Accused of Kidnapping Girl With Intent to Sexually Assault Her, FBI Says

    An active-duty U.S. Marine has been arrested on accusations of kidnapping a 12-year-old girl from Indiana with the intent of sexually assaulting her, the FBI said Thursday.

    William Richard Roy, 24, who was stationed at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, flew to Chicago last week, met the girl in a park and then took her to a hotel overnight before boarding a bus to Durham, North Carolina, the FBI said in a statement.

    The girl’s grandmother first reported her missing on Friday, according to the statement.

    The FBI arrested Roy when he arrived in Durham on Sunday and the girl was “safely recovered,” the agency said.

    Roy faces three charges, which entail enticing and transporting a minor across state lines for an illicit sexual act.

    Public records listed one working number that appeared to be associated with Roy, but the person who picked up declined to comment.

    The U.S. Marine Corps did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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  • Fired Indiana University Student Newspaper Adviser Claims Free Speech Violation in Federal Lawsuit

    A faculty adviser for Indiana University’s student newspaper filed a federal lawsuit Thursday arguing his free speech and due process rights were violated when he was fired for refusing to ensure no news stories appeared in the homecoming print edition earlier this month.

    A lawyer for the adviser, Jim Rodenbush, said it’s a case seeking “to have a court state that the First Amendment still matters.”

    Rodenbush, in a complaint filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, seeks reinstatement to his job and monetary damages. He was dismissed Oct. 14 for his “lack of leadership and ability to work in alignment with the university’s direction for the Student Media Plan,” according to David Tolchinsky, dean of the university’s media school, who also ended the newspaper’s print product.

    “The question is if a university doesn’t like the content of the student newspaper, can it simply pull the plug on the student newspaper,” Rodenbush’s attorney, Jonathan Little, said.

    Phone and email messages were left for university spokespersons. The school issued a statement earlier saying it was shifting publication from print to digital platforms for educational and financial purposes, while the chancellor said in a statement that “free expression and editorial independence” were unfettered.

    Subsidized by $250,000 a year because of dwindling ad revenue, The Daily Student, regularly honored as among the nation’s best collegiate news organizations, had its weekly print editions reduced to seven special sections a year. Rodenbush said this fall, administrators questioned why the special sections still had hard news content.

    Rodenbush told Tolchinsky editorial decisions belonged to the student staff alone before Tolchinsky fired him and terminated future print editions.

    The dismissal came days before the scheduled publication of the paper’s homecoming edition, which would have greeted tens of thousands of alumni returning to Bloomington to celebrate the undefeated Hoosiers football team, currently ranked No. 2 nationally.

    “In a direct assault on the rights guaranteed by the First Amendment, IU fired James Rodenbush when he refused the directive to censor student work in the campus newspaper and print only fluff pieces about the upcoming homecoming festivities,” the complaint reads.

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  • Obesity, Diabetes Treatments Fuel Eli Lilly Growth and Spark Bidding War

    The market for obesity and diabetes treatments remains scorching hot, funneling billions in sales to Eli Lilly and fueling a bidding war over another drugmaker.

    Lilly said Thursday that its top-selling drugs, Mounjaro and Zepbound, brought in more than $10 billion combined during the recently completed third quarter. That made up over half of the drugmaker’s $17.6 billion in total sales.

    Separately, Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk announced plans to buy Metsera Inc. in a deal that could be worth up to $9 billion.

    Popular treatments labeled GLP-1 receptor agonists are fueling the soaring sales and deal interest. They work by mimicking hormones in the gut and the brain to regulate appetite and feelings of fullness. But they don’t work for everyone and can produce side effects that include nausea and stomach pain.

    Supplies of the drugs have improved this year, and some insurance coverage is growing. That helps improve access to drugs that can cost around $500 a month without coverage. That can put them out of reach for many patients.

    U.S. sales of Lilly’s weight-loss treatment Zepbound nearly tripled to $3.57 billion in the third quarter. Meanwhile, revenue from the diabetes drug Mounjaro, which has been on the market longer, doubled to $6.52 billion thanks to growth outside the U.S.

    Combined, the drugs have brought in nearly $25 billion in sales so far this year for Indianapolis-based Lilly. That surpasses the entire company’s revenue total from 2020.

    The drugs helped Eli Lilly and Co. record a $5.58 billion profit in the third quarter and deliver a better performance than Wall Street expected.

    Novo Nordisk said it will pay $56.50 in cash for each Metsera share and could pay an extra $21.25 if the company meets some drug development milestones. The drugmaker already has the obesity and diabetes treatments Wegovy and Ozempic on the market.

    That combined total of $77.75 more than doubles the closing price of Metsera shares on Sept. 19, the last trading day before Pfizer made its offer.

    Pfizer Inc. is known for the COVID-19 vaccine Comirnaty and the treatment Paxlovid, among other drugs. But the New York drugmaker decided to take another stab at obesity treatments months after ending development of its own drug.

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  • US Army Corps of Engineers Approves Enbridge Plan to Encase Aging Great Lakes Oil Pipeline

    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on Wednesday approved energy company Enbridge’s plans to encase a segment of an aging oil pipeline that runs beneath a Great Lakes channel, pushing past its own findings that construction could ruin the environmentally sensitive area.

    The corps initially planned to issue a permitting decision early next year. The agency fast-tracked the project in April after President Donald Trump ordered federal agencies to identify energy projects for expedited emergency permitting.

    “The approval of the Enbridge Line 5 reroute application is a great success and will advance the President’s energy dominance agenda for America,” Adam Telle, assistant secretary of the Army for civil works, said in a statement.

    The corps released an environmental analysis in May that concluded tunnel construction would protect the pipeline but the work could destroy wetlands and archeological sites, harm bat habitats, disturb aquatic life, mar lake vistas and potentially trigger an underwater explosion.

    The corps still issued Enbridge a permit, saying Wednesday that the application complied with all applicable federal laws and regulations.

    Calgary, Alberta-based Enbridge did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.

    Enbridge now needs only a permit from the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy to begin the $500 million-plus project. Environmentalists have been pressuring the state to deny the application.

    Enbridge has been using the Line 5 pipeline to transport crude oil and natural gas liquids between Superior, Wisconsin, and Sarnia, Ontario, since 1953. Roughly 4 miles (6 kilometers) of the pipeline runs along the bottom of the Straits of Mackinac, a channel linking Lake Michigan and Lake Huron.

    Concerns about the segment rupturing and causing a catastrophic spill have been growing since 2017, when Enbridge officials revealed that engineers had known about gaps in the segment’s coating for three years. A boat anchor damaged the line in 2018, further stoking fears.

    Enbridge officials maintain the segment is structurally sound. Still, they reached a deal with then-Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder’s administration in 2018 calling for the company to build a protective tunnel around the segment.

    Conservationists and a number of Native American tribes have balked at the proposal, calling it too risky and demanding Enbridge simply shut down the pipeline. The project has become entangled in multiple lawsuits.

    Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, a Democrat, sued in 2019 seeking to void the easement that allows Enbridge to operate the pipeline in the straits. The U.S. Supreme Court is currently weighing whether the case belongs in federal or state court.

    Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, ordered her regulators in 2020 to revoke the easement allowing the segment to operate in the straits. Enbridge filed a federal lawsuit that same year seeking to invalidate the order. Trump has inserted himself into that dispute, too. His administration filed briefs in September arguing Whitmer interfered with U.S. foreign policy when she revoked the easements.

    The Michigan Public Service Commission issued permits in 2023, prompting another lawsuit from environmental groups and tribes. A Michigan appeals court upheld the permits this past February.

    AP reporter Steve Karnowski contributed to this story.

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  • Indiana Gov. Mike Braun Calls a Special Session to Redraw the State’s Congressional Boundaries

    Indiana Republican Gov. Mike Braun called Monday for state lawmakers to return to Indianapolis for a special session to redraw the state’s congressional boundaries, escalating a national fight over midcycle redistricting.

    President Donald Trump has ramped up pressure on Republican governors to draw up new maps in an attempt to give the party an easier path to maintain control of the House in the midterms. While Republicans in Texas and Missouri have moved quickly to enact a new set of districts and California Democrats are seeking to counter with their own redistricting plan, Indiana lawmakers have been far more hesitant to the idea and held weeks of discussion on the topic.

    Braun is calling for the General Assembly to convene Nov. 3.

    It’s unclear whether enough of the GOP majority Senate will back new maps.

    The White House held multiple meetings with Indiana lawmakers who were holding out for months. The legislative leaders kept their cards close as speculation swirled over whether the state known for its more measured approach to Republican politics would answer the redistricting call.

    Vance returned to Indianapolis on Oct. 10 to meet with the governor, as well as the Republican state House and Senate members.

    But a spokesperson for Bray said on Wednesday that the Indiana Senate lacked the votes to pass a new congressional map, casting doubt on the success of the special session.

    Braun is a staunch ally of Trump in a state the president won by 19 percentage points in 2024. But Indiana lawmakers have avoided the national spotlight in recent years — especially after a 2022 special session that yielded a strict abortion ban. Braun had previously said he did not want to call a special session until he was sure lawmakers would be behind a new map.

    While some have voiced support, other state Republican lawmakers have expressed opposition to midcycle redistricting since August, saying it is costly and could backfire politically.

    Indiana’s Republican legislative leaders praised existing boundaries after adopting them four years ago.

    “I believe these maps reflect feedback from the public and will serve Hoosiers well for the next decade,” Bray said at the time.

    Typically, states redraw boundaries of congressional districts every 10 years after the census has concluded. Any new maps made by Indiana lawmakers now will likely be challenged in court by opponents.

    State lawmakers have the sole power to draw maps in Indiana. Republicans hold a supermajority in both chambers, meaning Democrats could not stop a special session by refusing to attend, like their peers in Texas briefly did.

    Republicans outnumber Democrats in Indiana’s congressional delegation 7-2, limiting possibilities of squeezing out another seat. But many in the party see it as a chance for the GOP to represent all nine seats.

    The GOP would likely target Indiana’s 1st Congressional District, a longtime Democratic stronghold that encompasses Gary and other cities near Chicago in the state’s northwest corner. The seat held by third-term Democratic U.S. Rep. Frank Mrvan has been seen by Republicans as a possible pickup in recent elections.

    Lawmakers in Indiana redrew the borders of the district to be slightly more favorable toward Republicans in the 2022 election, but did not entirely split it up. The new maps were not challenged in court after they were approved in 2021, not even by Democrats and allies who had opposed the changes boosting GOP standing in the suburbs north of Indianapolis.

    Republicans could also zero in on Indiana’s 7th Congressional District, composed entirely of Marion County and the Democratic stronghold of Indianapolis. But that option would be more controversial, potentially slicing up the state’s largest city and diluting Black voters’ influence.

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  • Trump’s Redistricting Push Hits Roadblocks in Indiana and Kansas as Republican Lawmakers Resist

    For most of President Donald Trump’s second term, Republicans have bent to his will. But in two Midwestern states, Trump’s plan to maintain control of the U.S. House in next year’s election by having Republicans redraw congressional districts has hit a roadblock.

    Despite weeks of campaigning by the White House, Republicans in Indiana and Kansas say their party doesn’t have enough votes to pass new, more GOP-friendly maps. It’s made the two states outliers in the rush to redistrict — places where Republican-majority legislatures are unwilling or unable to heed Trump’s call and help preserve the party’s control on Capitol Hill.

    Lawmakers in the two states still may be persuaded, and the White House push, which has included an Oval Office meeting for Indiana lawmakers and two trips to Indianapolis by Vice President JD Vance, is expected to continue. But for now, it’s a rare setback for the president and his efforts to maintain a compliant GOP-held Congress after the 2026 midterms.

    Typically, states redraw the boundaries of their congressional districts every 10 years, based on census data. But because midterm elections typically tend to favor the party not in power, Trump is pressuring Republicans to devise new maps that favor the GOP.

    Democrats only need to gain three seats to flip House control, and the fight has become a bruising back-and-forth.

    With new maps of their own, multiple Democratic states are moving to counter any gains made by Republicans. The latest, Virginia, is expected to take up the issue in a special session starting Monday.

    Indiana, whose House delegation has seven Republicans and two Democrats, was one of the first states on which the Trump administration focused its redistricting efforts this summer.

    But a spokesperson for state Senate Leader Rodric Bray’s office said Thursday that the chamber lacks the votes to redistrict. With only 10 Democrats in the 50-member Senate, that means more than a dozen of the 40 Republicans oppose the idea.

    Bray’s office did not respond to multiple requests for an interview.

    The holdouts may come from a few schools of thought. New political lines, if poorly executed, could make solidly Republican districts more competitive. Others believe it is simply wrong to stack the deck.

    “We are being asked to create a new culture in which it would be normal for a political party to select new voters, not once a decade — but any time it fears the consequences of an approaching election,” state Sen. Spencer Deery, a Republican, said in a statement in August.

    Deery’s office did not respond to a request for an interview and said the statement stands.

    A common argument in favor of new maps is that Democratic-run states such as Massachusetts have no Republican representatives while Illinois has used redistricting for partisan advantage — a process known as gerrymandering.

    “For decades, Democrat states have gerrymandered in the dark of the night,” Republican state Sen. Chris Garten said on social media. “We can no longer sit idly by as our country is stolen from us.”

    Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith, who would vote to break a tie in the state Senate if needed, recently called on lawmakers to forge ahead with redistricting and criticized then for not being sufficiently conservative.

    “For years, it has been said accurately that the Indiana Senate is where conservative ideas from the House go to die,” Beckwith said in a social media post.

    Indiana is staunchly conservative, but its Republicans tend to foster a deliberate temperance.

    “Hoosiers, it’s very tough to to predict us, other than to say we’re very cautious,” former GOP state lawmaker Mike Murphy said. “We’re not into trends.”

    The squeamishness reflects a certain independent streak held by voters in both states and a willingness by some to push back.

    Writing in The Washington Post last week, former Gov. Mitch Daniels, a Republican, urged Indiana lawmakers to resist the push to redistrict. “Someone has to lead in climbing out of the mudhole,” he said.

    “Hoosiers, like most Americans, place a high value on fairness and react badly to its naked violation,” he wrote.


    In Kansas, Republicans also struggle to find votes

    In Kansas, Republican legislative leaders are trying to bypass the Democratic governor and force a special session for only the second time in the state’s 164-year history. Gov. Laura Kelly opposes mid-decade redistricting and has suggested it could be unconstitutional.

    The Kansas Constitution allows GOP lawmakers to force a special session with a petition signed by two-thirds of both chambers — also the supermajorities needed to override Kelly’s expected veto of a new map. Republicans hold four more seats than the two-thirds majority in both the state Senate and House. In either, a defection of five Republicans would sink the effort.

    Weeks after state Senate President Ty Masterson announced the push for a special session, GOP leaders were struggling to get the last few signatures needed.

    Among the holdouts is Rep. Mark Schreiber, who represents a district southwest of Topeka,. He told The Associated Press that “did not sign a petition to call a special session, and I have no plans to sign one.” Schreiber said he believes redistricting should be used only to reflect shifts in population after the once-every-10-year census.

    “Redistricting by either party in midcycle should not be done,” he said.

    Republicans would likely target U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids, the Democrat representing the mostly Kansas City area 3rd Congressional District, which includes Johnson County, the state’s most populous. The suburban county accounts for more than 85% of the vote and has trended to the left since 2016.

    Kansas has a sizable number of moderate Republicans, and 29% of the state’s 2 million voters are registered as politically unaffiliated. Both groups are prominent in Johnson County.

    Republican legislators previously tried to hurt Davids’ chances of reelection when redrawing the district, but she won in 2022 and 2024 by more than 10 percentage points.

    “They tried it once and couldn’t get it done,” said Jack Shearer, an 82-year-old registered Republican from suburban Kansas City.

    But a mid-decade redistricting has support among some Republicans in the county. State Sen. Doug Shane, whose district includes part of the county, said he believes his constituents would be amenable to splitting it.

    “Splitting counties is not unprecedented and occurs in a number of congressional districts around the country,” he said in an email.

    Volmert reported from Lansing, Mich., and Hanna from Topeka, Kan. Associated Press writer Heather Hollingsworth in Lenexa, Kan., contributed to this report.

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  • Man Convicted of Killing a 15-Year-Old Girl in Her Home in 2001 Is Executed by Injection in Indiana

    CHICAGO (AP) — An Indiana man convicted in the 2001 rape and murder of a teenage girl was executed by injection early Friday in the state’s third execution since resuming capital punishment last year.

    Roy Lee Ward, 53, was put to death at the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City. Indiana Department of Correction said in a statement that the process started shortly after midnight and Ward was pronounced dead at 12:33 a.m.

    Ward’s last meal was from Texas Corral and included a hamburger. His last words reported by Indiana Department of Correction were “Brian is going to read them,” but it was unclear when exactly he made the statement.

    He was convicted in the rape and murder of 15-year-old Stacy Payne. Authorities said Ward attacked the girl with a knife and dumbbell in her family’s home near Dale, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) east of Evansville. The crime rocked the small community of roughly 1,500 people.

    Ward had exhausted his legal options after more than two decades. His attorney, Joanna Green, said days before the execution that Ward was “very remorseful” about the crime.”

    Ward’s execution came amid questions about Indiana’s handling of the powerful sedative pentobarbital. Last year state officials ended a 15-year pause on executions, saying they’d been able to obtain drugs used in lethal injections that had been unavailable for years.

    The Indiana Department of Correction said it had obtained “enough pentobarbital to follow the required protocol” for Ward’s execution. Ward’s attorneys had raised concerns about the use of the drug and how the state stored it, including temperature issues.

    Among 27 states with death penalty laws, Indiana is one of two that bar media witnesses to executions. Ward’s witness list included attorneys and spiritual advisers.

    His case trailed through the courts for more than 20 years.

    Ward was convicted of the crimes in 2002 and sentenced to death. But after the Indiana Supreme Court overturned the conviction and ordered a new trial, he pleaded guilty in 2007. A decade later, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the case. In 2019, he sued Indiana seeking to stop all pending executions.

    Last month, the Indiana Supreme Court declined to stay the execution and Gov. Mike Braun rejected Ward’s clemency bid.

    The victim’s family members said they were ready for justice to be carried out, remembering Payne as an honor student and cheerleader with an influence beyond her short life.

    “Now our family gatherings are no longer whole, holidays still empty. Birthdays are sad reminders of what we lost,” her mother Julie Wininger told the parole board last month. “Our family has endured emotional devastation.”

    Ward skipped the parole board interview for his clemency bid, saying he didn’t want to force the victim’s family to travel to the prison and that he couldn’t always say what he meant. Attorneys say Ward was recently diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, which affected his ability to communicate.

    One of his spiritual advisers, Deacon Brian Nosbusch, said ahead of the execution that Ward thought deeply about his actions.

    “He knows he did it,” Nosbusch said. “He knows it was horrendous.”

    Golden reported from Seattle.

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  • Indiana Man Convicted in 2001 Rape and Murder of Teenager to Be Executed by Lethal Injection

    CHICAGO (AP) — An Indiana man convicted in the 2001 rape and murder of a teenage girl was set to die by lethal injection early Friday in the state’s third execution since resuming capital punishment last year.

    Roy Lee Ward, 53, was scheduled to be put to death before sunrise at the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City.

    He was convicted in the rape and murder of 15-year-old Stacy Payne and sentenced to death. The brutal crime, which happened in the family’s home in Dale, rocked the small community of roughly 1,500 people.

    Attorneys said Ward has exhausted his legal options after many court battles.

    “He’s very remorseful about this horrible crime,” said his attorney Joanna Green.

    Ward’s execution comes amid questions about Indiana’s handling of pentobarbital. Last year state officials ended a 15-year pause on executions, saying they’d been able to obtain drugs used in lethal injections but which had been unavailable for years.

    The Indiana Department of Correction said it had obtained “enough pentobarbital to follow the required protocol” for Ward’s execution. Ward’s attorneys though have raised concerns about the use of the drug and how the state stored it, including temperature issues.

    Ward’s expected execution in Indiana on Friday is the first of eight that are set to be carried out in October in seven different U.S. states, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.

    Among 27 states with death penalty laws, Indiana is one of two that bar media witnesses. Ward’s witness list includes attorneys and spiritual advisors.

    His case has trailed through the courts for more than 20 years.

    Ward was found guilty of the crimes in 2002 and sentenced to death. But after the Indiana Supreme Court overturned the conviction and ordered a new trial, he pleaded guilty in 2007. A decade later, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the case. In 2019, he sued Indiana seeking to stop all pending executions.

    Last month, the Indiana Supreme Court declined to stay the execution and Gov. Mike Braun rejected Ward’s clemency bid.

    The victim’s family members said they were ready for justice to be carried out, remembering Payne as an honor student and cheerleader with an influence beyond her short life.

    “Now our family gatherings are no longer whole, holidays still empty. Birthdays are sad reminders of what we lost,” her mother Julie Wininger told the parole board last month. “Our family has endured emotional devastation.”

    Ward, who declined interview requests through his attorneys, has said little publicly. He skipped a parole board interview for his clemency bid, saying he didn’t want to force the victim’s family travel to the prison and he can’t always say what he means.

    Attorneys say Ward was recently diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, which affects his ability to communicate.

    One of his spiritual advisers, Deacon Brian Nosbusch, said Ward has thought deeply about his actions.

    “He knows he did it,” Nosbusch said. “He knows it was horrendous.”

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  • Indiana Set to Execute Man Convicted of 2001 Rape and Murder of Small-Town Teenage Girl

    CHICAGO (AP) — Indiana will put to death a man who was convicted in the 2001 rape and murder of a teenage girl, the state’s third execution since resuming capital punishment last year.

    The execution of Roy Lee Ward is scheduled before sunrise Friday at the state prison in Michigan City, Indiana. The 52-year-old has exhausted his legal options to challenge the sentence.

    Ward’s execution by lethal injection comes amid questions about Indiana’s handling of pentobarbital, the drug it has used in recent executions.

    Here’s a closer look at the case:


    A brutal death shocks an Indiana town

    Authorities say Ward entered the home of 15-year-old Stacy Payne on July 11, 2001, raped her and struck and stabbed the girl repeatedly with a dumbbell and a knife. She was airlifted from her town of Dale to a hospital and died hours later.

    Matt Keller, former town marshal, discovered Stacy and arrested Ward who was still at the home.

    “I cannot imagine the immense pain, suffering, and sheer terror that Stacy experienced during the last moments of her young life,” Keller said at Ward’s clemency hearing in Indianapolis last month.

    Payne’s death rocked the southern Indiana community, which is home to about 1,500 people. Her father still lives at the house, her Raggedy Ann doll collection untouched.

    A nearby church has planned a prayer vigil to honor the girl hours before the execution “with the sharing of cherished memories.”

    Ward’s case has wound through the courts for decades. He was found guilty of murder and rape in 2002 and sentenced to death. But the Indiana Supreme Court overturned the conviction and ordered a new trial.

    Ward then pleaded guilty in 2007. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the case in 2017.

    Two years later, he sued Indiana seeking to halt all executions. He argued that Indiana’s manner of carrying out “capital punishment is arbitrary” and “offensive to evolving standards of decency.”

    The Indiana Supreme Court declined to stay the execution last month. That’s also when Gov. Mike Braun rejected Ward’s clemency after board members noted the killing’s “brutal nature.”

    Arguing against clemency, the state’s attorneys mentioned Ward’s criminal history, including indecent exposure charges and a robbery conviction.

    “He is a murderer and a rapist,” Deputy Attorney General Tyler Banks told the parole board. “He’s also predatory and manipulative.”

    Ward has exhausted his legal avenues, attorneys said.

    “He is pretty resigned to the fact that it’s happening and has been for awhile,” said Joanna Green, one of Ward’s attorneys. “He said, ‘If I could take every bit of the pain I caused with me, I would.’”


    Questions about execution drugs

    Indiana resumed executions in 2024 after a 15-year hiatus. State officials said they’d been able to obtain drugs used in lethal injections that had been unavailable for years.

    But those drugs came at a high cost, more than $1 million for four doses. In June, Braun said the state wouldn’t immediately buy more, raising questions about if Indiana would consider a new execution method. The first-term Republican cited the high cost and short shelf life.

    Ward’s attorneys challenged the use of the drug in court, saying it can cause flash pulmonary edema, in which fluid rushes through quickly disintegrating membranes into lungs and airways, causing pain similar to being suffocated. They noted that witnesses to the May execution of Ben Ritchie said the man lurched forward before he died.

    “There are still a lot of unanswered questions about what happened during Ben’s execution,” Green said.

    Among 27 states with death penalty laws, Indiana is one of two that bar media witnesses.

    Indiana Department of Correction officials confirmed Wednesday that the agency “has enough pentobarbital to follow the required protocol” for the execution but didn’t comment further.

    Green said they discovered through their lawsuit that the pentobarbital to be used in Ward’s execution is manufactured and not compounded. Ward’s attorneys said that means fewer concerns about the drug deteriorating quickly and they received assurances about proper handling of the drug, including temperature control. The lawsuit was dropped, as was another legal challenge over execution chamber conditions.


    Remembered for a love of life

    Relatives said Payne, who loved the song “You Are My Sunshine,” was full of life.

    An honor student and cheerleader, she was saving money from her pizzeria job, her mother Julie Wininger told the parole board.

    “Stacy’s life was so short but was filled with so much meaning,” she said.

    Wininger tallies each of the 8,000 plus days since Payne’s passing. She asked the parole board for justice to be carried out.

    “We will never see Stacy smile again,” Wininger said, crying. “We will never hear her voice, never have the joy of watching her grow into the incredible woman she was meant to be.”

    Ward, who declined interview requests through his attorneys, has said little publicly.

    He didn’t comment when sentenced in 2007. He also declined a parole board interview, saying he didn’t want to force the victim’s family travel to Michigan City. Attorneys also said he’s remorseful but has a hard time expressing it.

    Ward was recently diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, an issue attorneys had raised in challenges.

    In a Sept. 17 affidavit, Ward said he declined a parole board appearance because “due to my learning disability and language impairments the messages I mean to convey are sometimes difficult for me to accurately express.”

    While behind bars, he lost relatives, including his mother who moved to Michigan City to be closer to him. Through a prison program, he took care of a cat named Sadie, who was rehomed ahead of his execution.

    He’s renewed his faith and was baptized in prison. He keeps close contact with spiritual advisers who say he’s expressed regret.

    “He’s not hiding the fact that it happened,” said Deacon Brian Nosbusch. “He’s definitely a changed person.”

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