UPDATE (March 27, 2025):
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (ADAMS) – A new document says the Indiana Department of Corrections paid $900,000 for the drug that was used to execute Joseph Corcoran. The drug was pentobarbital, but the document from the IDOC did not say how much of it was purchased.
Corcoran was put to death early in the morning on December 18th, 2024 for killing his brother and three other men on July 26th, 1997. He was the first death row inmate killed in Indiana since 2009.
Read more HERE
UPDATE (December 18, 2024):
MICHIGAN CITY, Ind. (ADAMS) – Joseph Edward Corcoran was put to death by lethal injection early today in Indiana, the state’s first execution in 15 years. His appeals over the years were denied while his lawyers argued Corcoran suffered from paranoid schizophrenia. The execution was carried out after the state spent years attempting to acquire the necessary lethal drugs. After the U.S. Supreme Court denied a last-ditch appeal on Tuesday, Joseph Edward Corcoran was executed by lethal injection shortly after midnight.
He was convicted and sentenced after killing his brother, his sister’s fiancé, and their two friends in 1997 in Fort Wayne.
According to the Indiana Department of Corrections, he had Ben & Jerry’s ice cream as his last meal. Corcoran’s last words were, “Let’s get this over with.” The 49-year-old was pronounced dead at 12:44 a.m. CST on December 18, 2024.
The IDOC released the following statements on Tuesday and early Wednesday:
This morning, the Indiana Supreme Court’s order for the execution of Joseph Edward Corcoran was carried out.
Corcoran was convicted and sentenced to death for the 1997 murders of his brother, James Corcoran; his sister’s fiancé, Robert Scott Turner; and two of their friends, Timothy Bricker and Douglass Stillwell.
The execution process started shortly after 12:00 a.m. CST on December 18, 2024.
Corcoran was pronounced dead at 12:44 a.m. CST on December 18, 2024. His last words were: “Not really. Let’s get this over with.”
Earlier this year, the Indiana Supreme Court issued an order for the execution of Joseph Edward Corcoran to be carried out before the hour of sunrise on Wednesday, December 18.
He requested Ben and Jerry’s ice cream for his last meal.
Corcoran is the first person the state has executed since 2009. Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita has filed a motion to set the execution date for a death row inmate convicted of killing a police officer. There are currently seven people on death row in Indiana.
UPDATE (December 17, 2024):
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (ADAMS) – Indiana is preparing to resume executions after over 15 years.
Joseph Edward Corcoran is scheduled to be executed on Wednesday after being convicted of a 1997 quadruple murder in Fort Wayne.
If he’s executed, he will be the first person the state has executed since 2009. Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita has filed a motion to set the execution date for another death row inmate convicted of killing a police officer.
Read more HERE
UPDATE (December 16, 2024):
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (ADAMS) – Joseph Corcoran is likely to be put to death before sunrise on Wednesday. U.S. District Judge Jon DeGuilio on Friday denied Corcoran’s request to have his execution paused, and the matter is now before the U.S. Court of Appeals. Corcoran was sentenced to death for killing four men, including his brother, in 1997. His attorneys continue to say putting him to death is unconstitutional.
Read more HERE
UPDATE (December 10, 2024):
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (ADAMS) – Indiana death row inmate Joseph Corcoran has filed a civil rights complaint in federal court against the state’s Department of Corrections. The IDOC had denied his request to have a spiritual advisor at his side when he is put to death on December 18th.
The lawsuit was filed on his behalf by federal defense attorney Larry Komp and Tahina Corcoran, who married Joseph Corcoran in 2004. Corcoran wants to have his spiritual advisor, Reverend David Leitzel, with him with a hand on his shoulder or holding his hand until “the execution is complete.”
Read more HERE
UPDATE (December 6, 2024):
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (ADAMS) -The Indiana Supreme Court issued an order Thursday evening denying the requests of death row inmate Joseph Corcoran to delay his execution that is scheduled for Wednesday, December 18th. Corcoran recently sent a letter to the state Supreme Court saying he does not want to appeal his death any longer and asked the court to withdraw the motions from his attorneys.
His fate is now in the hands of a federal judge.
Corcoran is from Fort Wayne and was convicted of killing his brother and three other people on July 26th,1997.
Read more HERE
Meanwhile, State Representative Bob Morris of Fort Wayne is asking Governor Eric Holcomb to halt an execution scheduled for later this month.
Morris has also filed legislation to abolish the death penalty in Indiana. He is asking Holcomb to stop the execution of Joseph Corcoran. Morris is a Republican and is urging the governor to show, “the courage and the wisdom to act boldly” and protect a man’s life.
UPDATE (November 19, 2024):
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (ADAMS) – Attorneys for Joseph Corcoran are appealing that his death sentence is cruel and unusual punishment for someone who is seriously mentally ill.
Corcoran is scheduled to be put to death on December 18th for killing four people in Fort Wayne in 1997. He would be the first person the state has executed since 2009 and Attorney General Todd Rokita filed to schedule his death this summer.
Corcoran’s attorneys say he has paranoid schizophrenia that has “completely removed him from reality.”
Read more HERE
(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.
Read more here
(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.”
Read more here
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.”
Comments