The Indiana Parole Board on Wednesday recommended against granting clemency to death row prisoner Roy Ward, setting up a final decision by Gov. Mike Braun about two weeks before Ward’s scheduled Oct. 10 execution.

The five-member panel deliberated behind closed doors and released its recommendation letter to the governor outlining its reasoning. Board members cited the “brutal nature” of Ward’s 2001 rape and murder of 15-year-old Stacy Payne, emphasizing that Payne was conscious during the attack and her “final hours living with the injuries that Roy Lee Ward inflicted on her.”

“Candidly, this Board reviews thousands of cases a year, many with gruesome facts, but the victimization of Stacy Payne stood out to us,” wrote parole board chairperson Gwen Horth.

The board’s decision is advisor

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