The Nation : Indiana Halts Prison Passes After Killing

An Indiana program that allowed convicts time away from prison was halted by Gov. Evan Bayh after an inmate out on an eight-hour pass allegedly bludgeoned his former wife to death. Bayh said two corrections officers were suspended in connection with the furlough of Alan Matheney, 38, from the Correctional Industrial Complex near the Indiana State Reformatory at Pendleton. Matheney was being held on a preliminary charge of murder in Saturday’s death of his ex-wife, Lisa Marie Bianco, 29, in Mishawaka. Officers said she was beaten to death with the butt of a shotgun. He had been serving an eight-year sentence for beating Bianco two years ago. The two were divorced in 1985, police said. Officials said Matheney was released from the light-medium security CIC to the custody of his mother Saturday morning and his freedom was supposed to be limited to the Indianapolis area.