A man from Indiana found guilty of the murder of four individuals, which included his brother and his sister’s fiancé back in 1997, was executed in the state after 15 years without any executions taking place.
Joseph Corcoran, aged 49, was declared deceased at 12:44 a.m. CST at the Indiana State Prison located in Michigan City, Indiana, as reported by the Indiana Department of Correction. This execution marked the 24th one in the United States throughout the year. The original plan was to carry out the execution using the potent sedative pentobarbital; however, the officials refrained from specifying the drug in their announcement.
Prison officials said his last meal was Ben & Jerry’s ice cream.
Corcoran was found guilty of the July 1997 shootings that resulted in the deaths of his brother, James Corcoran at 30 years old, his sister’s fiancé, Robert Scott Turner at 32 years old, and two other men, Timothy G. Bricker, and Douglas A. Stillwell, both 30 years old.
Joseph Corcoran is led to the City-County Lockup on Aug. 26, 1999, in Fort Wayne, Indiana, after being sentenced to death in the slayings of four people in July 1997. (Matt Sullivan/The Journal-Gazette via AP)
“There has never been a hearing to determine whether he is competent to be executed,” Komp said in a statement to The Associated Press. “It is an absolute failure for the rule of law to have an execution when the law and proper processes 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 elected not to.
Holcomb’s office released a statement Wednesday after Corcoran was put to death.
“Joseph Corcoran’s case has been reviewed repeatedly over the last 25 years – including 7 times by the Indiana Supreme Court and 3 times by the U.S. 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 put to death for killing his wife, her brother and sister-in-law in 1994. Since that time, 13 executions have been carried out in the state, but those were initiated and performed by federal officials in 2020 and 2021 at a federal prison.
State officials have said they could not resume executions because the combination of drugs used in lethal injections were unavailable.
There has been a shortage of the drugs across the country for years because pharmaceutical companies have refused to sell them for executions, which forced states, including Indiana, to use compounding pharmacies, which make drugs specifically for clients. Some of these pharmacies use more accessible drugs such as the sedatives pentobarbital or midazolam, both which critics argue 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 who were holding candles, held a vigil late Tuesday to pray outside the prison.
The sun sets behind Indiana State Prison on Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024, in Michigan City, Indiana. (AP)
“We can build a society without giving governmental authorities the right to execute their own citizens,” Bishop Robert McClory of the Diocese of Gary, who led the prayers, said.
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.”
“There is no need and no benefit from this execution. It’s all show,” Death Penalty Action director Abraham Borowitz, whose organization protests every execution in the U.S., said.
Corcoran’s wife, Tahina Corcoran, told reporters outside the prison her husband was “very mentally ill” and she did not think he fully understood what was happening to him.
“He is in shock. He doesn’t understand,” she said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
