INDIANAPOLIS – 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.
A total of eight men are awaiting execution on Death Row at the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City. The last execution in Indiana was Dec. 11, 2009, and none of the current Death Row inmates has an execution date.
“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.”
