MICHIGAN CITY – Indiana is preparing to carry out its first execution in 14 years, with Joseph Edward Corcoran scheduled to be put to death by lethal injection Wednesday at the Indiana State Prison.
Corcoran, who was convicted of murdering four people in 1997, including his brother James Corcoran, his sister’s fiancé Robert Scott Turner, and their friends Timothy Bricker and Douglass Stillwell, is set to be executed before sunrise on December 18.
Court records show Corcoran shot all four victims after hearing them talking about him downstairs. While in custody, he allegedly boasted about killing his parents in 1992 in Steuben County, though he was later acquitted of those charges.
Last-minute appeals by Corcoran’s attorneys to halt the execution have been unsuccessful. His legal team has long argued that severe mental illness affects his ability to understand and make decisions. Still, the Indiana Supreme Court recently denied their request to stop the execution. Corcoran exhausted his federal appeals in 2009.
The execution will take place in a sparse, operating room-like chamber at the Michigan City facility. Under Indiana law, witnesses are limited to prison officials, medical personnel, spiritual advisers, up to five friends or relatives of the condemned, and up to eight victims’ relatives.
Corcoran has requested Ben and Jerry’s ice cream for his last meal. Prison officials will release his final statement after the execution.
This will be Indiana’s first execution since 2009, when Matthew Wrinkles was put to death for a triple murder. The execution will proceed as scheduled unless Governor Eric Holcomb intervenes.
