U.S. Supreme Court declines to hear appeal of death row inmate

SOUTH BEND -- The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear the appeal of a death row inmate convicted in the 1989 beating death of his former wife while out of prison on a brief furlough.\nAlan Matheney, 54, was charged with forcing his way into Lisa Bianco's Mishawaka home a few hours after his release on an eight-hour pass from a prison. As their two daughters fled in terror, Matheney chased Bianco into the street and beat her outside a neighbor's home with an unloaded .410-guage shotgun.\nThe state attorney general's office will file a motion with the state Supreme Court in the coming days to set an execution date for Matheney, spokeswoman Staci Schneider said.\nMatheney had been serving an eight-year sentence for a 1987 assault on his former wife when he was released on the furlough.\nThe killing drew widespread national attention as it came in the wake of the 1988 presidential election, during which then-Vice President George Bush ran a series of TV ads that depicted Democratic rival Michael Dukakis as soft on crime. The commercials blamed Dukakis for the prison furlough program that permitted the release of Willie Horton, a convicted murderer who fled during his furlough and was eventually arrested for brutally assaulting a man and raping a woman.\nThe Supreme Court gave no comments in its decision Monday not to hear the case.\nMatheney still can seek a new round of appeals with the state Supreme Court or reconsideration of the U.S. Supreme Court's denial, Schneider said.\nThe state's high court would wait until those matters are resolved to set a date to carry out Matheney's death sentence, she said.\nMonday's ruling comes about 10 months after a federal appeals court rejected Matheney's argument that he was incompetent to stand trial.\nIf Matheney is executed this year, he could become the fifth person put to death in Indiana in 2005. Two men have already been executed at the Indiana State Prison and other executions have been set for May 25 and June 22.\nThe state of Indiana hasn't executed more than two people in a year since the death penalty was reinstituted in 1977.