MICHIGAN CITY, IND. (WBBM NEWSRADIO) - Indiana carried out its first execution in fifteen years early this morning.
Joseph Corcoran died by lethal injection at the state prison in Michigan City, pronounced at 12:44 a.m.
The process took eight minutes, according to his attorney.
His last words, according to prison officials, “Let’s get this over with.”
Activists outside the prison sang Amazing Grace.
Corcoran was 49.
He had been on death row since 1999, the year he was convicted in the 1997 shootings of his brother, James Corcoran, 30; his sister's fiancé, Robert Scott Turner, 32; and two other men: Timothy G. Bricker, 30, and Douglas A. Stillwell, 30.
While jailed, he reportedly bragged about killing his parents five years earlier. He was acquitted.
His lawyers, attempting to prevent his execution for years, argued that he was mentally ill. Corcoran exhausted his federal appeals in 2016, and this month his attorneys asked the Indiana Supreme Court to stop his execution but the request was denied.
According to court records, before Corcoran shot the men in July 1997, he was stressed because his sister's forthcoming marriage to Turner would necessitate moving out of the Fort Wayne home he shared with her and his brother.
Overnight, Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb issued a statement regarding the execution.
“Joseph Corcoran’s case has been reviewed repeatedly over the last 25 years – including 7 times by the Indiana Supreme Court and 3 times by the U.S. Supreme Court, the most recent of which was tonight [Tuesday]. His sentence has never been overturned and was carried out as ordered by the court.”
Associated Press contributed to this report.
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