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The state of Indiana has scheduled the execution of convicted murderer Eric Wrinkles by lethal injection before sunrise on Dec. 11, as he has exhausted all his avenues of appeal. He has not sought nor intends to seek clemency from Gov. Mitch Daniels from his sentence of death.
Wrinkles wantonly slaughtered his wife and two in-laws, members of an extended Evansville family, 14 years ago while under the influence of methamphetamine. He is guilty of the murders. He has admitted his crime and has sought forgiveness from those whose lives he has shattered. He acknowledges that he is powerless to make appropriate restitution for what he has caused.
The state of Indiana has a constitutional right to execute Wrinkles to protect its citizens and to prevent this man from ever committing such a crime again. Within that legal framework, Wrinkles must pay for his heinous crime. He must die at the hands of the state of Indiana.
Capital punishment is a matter of justice under the law. But are there not other ways to exact justice for capital crimes without execution?
As the Roman Catholic bishop of the Diocese of Evansville where Wrinkles murdered, I am a member of the Indiana Catholic Conference. For more than 30 years, the Indiana Catholic Conference has persistently worked toward the abolition of capital punishment in Indiana. To date we have not prevailed, yet we are determined to continue our effort.
Capital punishment demands the life of the criminal to protect the members of society. On the “frontier” of our own land many years ago, execution provided quick and final justice. That may have been necessary to protect its citizens then, as there were no means to separate the criminal from society for a lifetime. Protective custody was impossible.
“Frontier justice” became the standard for states to protect their citizens from murderers by killing them. Frontier justice employs various means for killing criminals; they include hanging, firing squad, gas chamber or lethal injection. Quick justice used lynching outside the law. Death was the inevitable result. Society was protected.
It seems that we in Indiana are still invoking frontier justice. Indiana is no longer the frontier. The state is able to protect its citizens from murderous criminals by separating them from society by sentencing them to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. Indiana citizens can be protected without executing its criminals.
However, one cannot ignore the reality that deep within the human being there is somehow a blood lust as ancient as humankind. Executions were made a public spectacle so as to teach a lesson, or worse to satisfy base instincts for vengeance and retribution. They somehow gave approval, even applauded, the base instinct of hatred arising from ignorance and fear.
Ironically, executions are now sanitized and are accomplished virtually in secret. A public act of the state of Indiana taking place behind closed and locked doors? Who is kidding whom?
The state of Indiana must not pander to baser human instincts.
Respectful of all faith traditions, Christians are taught by Jesus that we are not only to forgive our enemies, but we are also to love them without approving the wrongs they have committed.
Mary Winnecke of Evansville is an extraordinary example who lives up to that ideal. Her daughter, her daughter’s husband and her husband’s sister were wantonly slaughtered by Eric Wrinkles. Mary continues to grieve the loss of her family. Nonetheless, she has not only forgiven Wrinkles, but she also urges that the state of Indiana not kill him. It solves nothing, nor will it bring peace to her or others suffering from his heinous acts. She prays for Eric Wrinkles.
Mary Winnecke, a grieving mother, continues to be a champion for the cause of abolishing the death penalty in Indiana. May the state of Indiana and its leadership heed her pleas.
