Indiana carries out first state execution in 15 years

A man who killed four people including his brother in 1997 will be executed in Indiana – the state’s first execution in 15 years.

Joseph Corcoran, 49, has been on death row since his 1999 conviction and, despite late appeals on the grounds that he was seriously mentally ill, is set to be executed Wednesday by lethal injection at the Indiana State Prison.

Corcoran fatally shot his brother James Corcoran, 30, his sister’s fiance Robert Scott Turner, 32, and two other 30-year-old men, Timothy G. Bricker and Douglas A. Stillwell, inside his family home in Fort Wayne on July 26. 1997.

Joseph Corcoran is taken to the City-County Lockup on August 26, 1999 in Fort Wayne, Ind., after being sentenced to death in the July 1997 murders of four people. (Matt Sullivan/The Journal-Gazette via AP)

INDIANA SEEKS FIRST HEARING IN 15 YEARS AFTER LETHAL INJECTION

Five years earlier, he was acquitted of murdering his parents after the jury found insufficient evidence to convict him.

Indiana’s last state execution was in 2009, when Matthew Wrinkles was executed for killing his wife, her brother and sister-in-law in 1994. Thirteen executions have been carried out in Indiana since Wrinkles’ execution, but they were initiated and carried out by federal authorities. officials in 2020 and 2021 in a federal prison.

Since Wrinkles was euthanized, the state suspended state executions because a combination of drugs used for lethal injections had become unavailable. There has been a nationwide shortage for years because pharmaceutical companies – especially in Europe, where opposition to the death penalty is strongest – have refused to sell their products for that purpose.

Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb, a Republican, announced in June that Corcoran’s execution would go ahead after the state acquired a drug — pentobarbital — that can be used to carry out executions and is used by several states for lethal injections.

Joseph Corcoran pictured in prison. (Indiana Department of Corrections via AP)

Corcoran was being held at the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City.

Corcoran’s lawyers had fought his death sentence for years, arguing that Corcoran was severely mentally ill, affecting his ability to understand and make decisions. Corcoran exhausted his federal appeals in 2016. Earlier this month, his lawyers asked the Indiana Supreme Court to halt his execution, but the request was denied.

OKLAHOMA DEATH ROW PRISONER EXECUTED FOR DOUBLE KILLING AFTER 3 LAST WORDS

His lawyers believed the refusal offered some hope of averting the execution, as the justices split 3-2.

“Given that it’s a close case, it shouldn’t be rushed through,” defense attorney Larry Komp said earlier. “He’s so extremely mentally ill. We think he’s irrational. We’ve never had a fair trial.”

Corcoran wrote a handwritten statement to judges this month saying he was done with his case, though his lawyers said it was a sign of his mental illness, according to the Associated Press.

“I am guilty of the crime of which I was convicted and accept the findings of all the appellate courts,” Corcoran wrote.

Corcoran fatally shot the four victims when he was under stress because his sister’s upcoming marriage to Turner would necessitate moving out of the Fort Wayne home he shared with his brother and sister, according to court records.

He awoke to hearing his brother and others downstairs talking about him, loaded his rifle and then shot all four men, records say.

After the shootings, Corcoran asked a neighbor across the street to call the police. When they arrived, Corcoran told them, “You might as well just arrest me,” according to the Tampa Bay Times.

While incarcerated, Corcoran allegedly bragged about fatally shooting his parents.

One of Corcoran’s sisters, Kelly Ernst, said she believes the death penalty should be abolished and that her brother’s execution will not solve or change anything.

She criticized the execution for taking place so close to Christmas.

Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb speaks at the Indiana School for the Blind and Visually Impaired on Jan. 8, 2024, in Indianapolis. Holcomb announced in June that Corcoran’s execution would go ahead after the state acquired a drug – pentobarbital (AP Photo/Darron Cummings, File)

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“I’m at a loss for words. I’m just really upset that they’re doing this so close to Christmas,” she said. “My sister and I, our birthdays are in December. I mean, it just feels like it’s going to ruin Christmas for the rest of our lives. It just feels that way.”

Earlier this year, Alabama became the first state to use nitrogen gas for an execution when it carried out the death penalty for convicted murderer Kenneth Smith.

The execution method, which has been criticized as inhumane and a form of torture, killed Smith after he appeared to shake and squirm on the stretcher, sometimes pulling on the restraints before several minutes of heavy breathing until he stopped breathing could be felt.

Fox News’ Landon Mion and The Associated Press contributed to this report.