Indiana carries out first execution in 15 years after inmate chose Ben & Jerry’s ice cream as his last meal

An Indiana man convicted of the 1997 murders of four people, including his brother and his sister’s fiancé, was executed Wednesday in the state’s first execution in 15 years.

Joseph Corcoran, 49, was pronounced dead at 12:44 a.m. CST at the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City, Indiana, according to the Indiana Department of Correction, making it the 24th execution in the United States this year. He was scheduled to be executed with the powerful sedative pentobarbital, although officials did not mention that drug in their statement.

Prison officials said his last meal was Ben & Jerry’s ice cream.

Corcoran was convicted in July 1997 in the shootings of his brother, 30-year-old James Corcoran; his sister’s fiance, 32-year-old Robert Scott Turner, and two other men, 30-year-old Timothy G. Bricker and 30-year-old Douglas A. Stillwell.

INDIANA TO CONDUCT FIRST STATE HEARING IN 15 YEARS

Before the shooting, Corcoran was under stress because his sister’s upcoming marriage would require him to move out of the Fort Wayne, Indiana, home he shared with his brother and sister, according to court records.

During his time in prison for those killings, Corcoran reportedly bragged about shooting and killing his parents in 1992 in northern Indiana’s Steuben County, for which he was charged but later acquitted.

Wednesday’s execution comes after Gov. Eric Holcomb, a Republican, announced plans in June to resume state executions after a 15-year hiatus caused by difficulties obtaining lethal injection drugs.

The state provided limited details about the execution process, and no members of the press were allowed as witnesses under state law. But Corcoran chose a reporter for the Indiana Capital Chronicle as one of his witnesses.

Indiana and Wyoming are the only two states in the country that do not allow members of the media to attend state executions, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.

Corcoran’s lawyers had challenged his death sentence for years, arguing that he was severely mentally ill, affecting his ability to understand and make decisions. Earlier this month, the state Supreme Court rejected a request by his lawyers to halt his execution.

He had exhausted his federal appeals in 2016, but his lawyers asked the U.S. District Court in Northern Indiana last week to stay his execution and hold a hearing to determine whether it would be unconstitutional because Corcoran has a serious mental illness. The court declined to intervene Friday, followed by another denied request Tuesday by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit.

Corcoran’s lawyers then made a final plea, urging the U.S. Supreme Court to issue an emergency order blocking his execution, but it also denied their request for a stay late Tuesday.

Defense attorney Larry Komp said he was disappointed with the trial court’s decision, saying the issue surrounding Corcoran’s mental health was not properly investigated.

INDIANA SEEKS FIRST HEARING IN 15 YEARS AFTER LETHAL INJECTION

“There was never a hearing to determine whether he was competent to be executed,” Komp said in a statement to The Associated Press. “It is an absolute failure of the rule of law to have an execution when the law and due process were not followed.”

Corcoran’s only remaining option to extend his life after the legal challenges became Holcomb, who could have commuted Corcoran’s death sentence but chose not to.

Holcomb’s office released a statement Wednesday after Corcoran was executed.

“Joseph Corcoran’s case has been reviewed repeatedly over the past 25 years – including 7 times by the Indiana Supreme Court and 3 times by the US Supreme Court, the most recent of which was tonight,” Holcomb said. “His sentence has never been overturned and was carried out as ordered by the court.”

Indiana’s last state execution was carried out in 2009, when Matthew Wrinkles was executed for killing his wife, her brother and sister-in-law in 1994. Since then, 13 executions have been carried out in the state, but they were initiated. and executed by federal officials in 2020 and 2021 in a federal prison.

State officials have said they could not resume executions because the combination of drugs used for lethal injections was not available.

The drugs have been in short supply across the country for years because drug companies have refused to sell them to executions, forcing states including Indiana to use compounding pharmacies, which make drugs specifically for clients. Some of these pharmacies use more readily available drugs, such as the sedatives pentobarbital or midazolam, both of which critics claim can cause intense pain.

At midnight, a group of anti-death penalty activists began singing “Amazing Grace.”

Religious groups, disability rights advocates and others have opposed Corcoran’s execution. About a dozen people, including some holding candles, held a vigil late Tuesday to pray outside the jail.

“We can build a society without giving state authorities the right to execute their own citizens,” said Bishop Robert McClory of the Diocese of Gary, who led the prayers.

Other death penalty opponents also held protests outside the prison Tuesday night, with some holding signs that read “Execution Is Not The Solution” and “Remember The Victims But Not With More Killing.”

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“There is no need and no benefit to this execution. It’s all been shown,” said Death Penalty Action director Abraham Borowitz, whose organization protests any execution in the United States.

Corcoran’s wife, Tahina Corcoran, told reporters outside the jail that her husband was “very mentally ill” and she didn’t think he fully understood what was happening to him.

“He’s in shock. He doesn’t understand,” she said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.