Convicted Spencer County rapist, murderer may soon get death penalty

SPENCER COUNTY, Ind. — The man who raped and killed Spencer County 15-year-old Stacy Payne in 2001 may soon be put to death for his actions.

The state has requested an execution date from the Indiana Supreme Court for Roy Lee Ward. Ward is from Spencer County.

Court records indicate Ward waited for adults in Payne’s Dale home to leave for work and then pretended to be looking for a lost dog. He convinced Payne to let him in the home, where he then raped and murdered her. Ward was convicted and sentenced to death in 2002, but the verdict was overturned over “prejudicial pre-trial publicity.”

He pleaded guilty when the case was sent back to a lower court in 2007, and was again sentenced to death. A December 2012 execution date was set by the Supreme Court, but was automatically stayed due to federal appeals.

In 2014, Ward filed an appeal after Indiana decided to use a different drug for lethal injections due to a shortage of one of those regularly used. Then in 2017, ruled in Ward’s favor saying the state cannot use a new combination of drugs to execute him. However, in 2024, the state approved the use of single‐drug protocol of pentobarbital.