(UPDATE: September 12, 2024):
FORT WAYNE, Ind. (ADAMS) – 49-year-old Joseph Corcoran will be executed by the state before sunrise on December 18, 2024.
The Indiana Supreme Court issued the unanimous order setting the date on Wednesday. Corcoran is from Fort Wayne and was convicted of killing his brother, his sister’s fiancé, and two friends. He’s been in prison since being convicted in 1999.
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(UPDATE: July 1, 2024):
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (ADAMS) – Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb is defending the state’s move to seek an execution date for Joseph Corcoran of Fort Wayne.
Corcoran was convicted of killing four people in 1997 and will be the first person from death row put to death in Indiana in 15 years.
Holcomb says the state has obtained the drug necessary to kill him. The governor says the state has done their due diligence, have tracked the particular drug that will be used, and “feel comfortable that not only it’s the right drug, but also that the protocol is in place.”
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ORIGINAL STORY:
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (ADAMS) – Governor Eric Holcomb and Attorney General Todd Rokita say the Indiana Department of Correction has obtained the drug needed for the execution of Joseph Corcoran.
They are asking the Indiana Supreme Court to schedule an execution date for the Fort Wayne man, who has been on death row since being convicted of killing four people in 1997.
The state has not executed any prisoners in the past 15 years and eight men are on death row. Four of them have exhausted all of their appeals, including Corcoran.
Governor Eric Holcomb’s Office released the following on Wednesday:
Governor Eric J. Holcomb announced today that he and Attorney General Todd Rokita are seeking the resumption of executions in Indiana prisons — starting with a convicted murderer responsible for the deaths of four people.
“After years of effort, the Indiana Department of Correction has acquired a drug — pentobarbital – which can be used to carry out executions. Accordingly, I am fulfilling my duties as governor to follow the law and move forward appropriately in this matter,” Gov. Holcomb said.
Joseph Corcoran was found guilty of the 1997 murders of four people. He exhausted his appeals in 2016 and has been awaiting execution.
“In Indiana, state law authorizes the death penalty as a means of providing justice for victims of society’s most heinous crimes and holding perpetrators accountable,” Attorney General Rokita said. “Further, it serves as an effective deterrent for certain potential offenders who might otherwise commit similar extreme crimes of violence. Now that the Indiana Department of Correction is prepared to carry out the lawfully imposed sentence, it’s incumbent on our justice system to immediately enable executions in our prisons to resume. Today, I am filing a motion asking the Indiana Supreme Court to set a date for the execution of Joseph Corcoran.”
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