Death row inmate in Indiana to be executed after gap of 15 years

INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana: Indiana officials are preparing to execute the state's first death row inmate in 15 years, who was convicted a quarter-century ago of killing his brother and three other men.

Joseph Corcoran, 49, has been on Indiana's death row since 1999. He is scheduled to be executed on Wednesday, marking the state's first execution since 2009. Between 2020 and 2021, 13 executions were carried out in Indiana, but federal officials did those at a federal prison.

Corcoran's execution is set to take place before sunrise at the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City, about 45 miles from Chicago. The case has drawn attention to the state's method of obtaining lethal injection drugs.

In 1997, Corcoran fatally shot his brother, James Corcoran, and three other men: Douglas Stillwell, Timothy Bricker, and Robert Turner. At the time, Corcoran was 22 years old and living with his brother and sister in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Court records state that he was stressed because his sister's upcoming marriage to Turner meant he would have to move out. He woke up one night, overheard the men talking about him, loaded his rifle, and killed them.

While in jail, Corcoran reportedly boasted about killing his parents in 1992, but he was acquitted of those charges. His sister, Kelly Ernst, lost both her brother and fianc in the 1997 shootings. Ernst believes the death penalty should be abolished and does not plan to attend the execution, saying it will not bring change or closure.

Indiana's last execution was in 2009 when Matthew Wrinkles was put to death for a triple murder. Afterward, executions were paused because lethal injection drugs became unavailable.

States, including Indiana, began using compounding pharmacies or alternative drugs like pentobarbital and midazolam, although critics claim these can cause severe pain. Indiana plans to use pentobarbital for Corcoran's execution, as was done in the federal executions under President Trump's administration.

The Indiana Department of Correction has not disclosed where it obtained the pentobarbital, citing a state law that keeps this information confidential. In June, Governor Eric Holcomb announced that the state had acquired the drug and asked the Indiana Supreme Court to set an execution date, which was finalized in September.

Indiana law specifies who can attend executions, including prison officials, a spiritual adviser, the prison chaplain, up to five friends or relatives of the inmate, and up to eight relatives of the victims. Indiana and Wyoming are the only states that do not allow media to witness executions.

Corcoran exhausted his federal appeals in 2016. On December 5, the Indiana Supreme Court denied his attorneys' request to halt the execution, including arguments about his mental competency. Corcoran himself wrote to the court, stating he accepted the guilty verdict and no longer wanted to continue fighting his case.

Despite this, his lawyers petitioned a federal court to stop the execution, citing Corcoran's severe mental illness. The petition was denied on December 13, and they appealed to a higher court.

Meanwhile, a disability rights group urged Governor Holcomb to commute Corcoran's sentence to life in prison without parole.