An Indiana man convicted in the 1997 killings of his brother and three other people is set to receive a lethal injection by early Wednesday in the state’s first execution in 15 years, without any independent witness present under the state’s laws shielding information about the death penalty.
Joseph Corcoran, 49, has been on death row since 1999, the year he was convicted in the shootings of his brother, James Corcoran, 30; his sister’s fianc窠Robert Scott Turner, 32; and two other men: Timothy G. Bricker, 30, and Douglas A. Stillwell, 30.
Indiana is one of only two states, along with Wyoming, that do not allow members of the press to witness state executions, according to a recent report by the Death Penalty Information Center.
Barring last-minute court action or intervention by Gov. Eric Holcomb, Corcoran is set to be put to death before sunrise Wednesday at the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City, according to state officials. Last summer, the governor announced the resumption of state executions after a yearslong hiatus marked by a scarcity of lethal injection drugs nationwide.
Indiana has provided few details about the process, including a specific execution time. Indiana prison officials only provided photos of the execution chamber, showing a space that looks like a sparse operating room with a gurney, bright fluorescent lighting, a floor drain and interior windows to an adjacent viewing room.
According to Indiana law, the only people allowed to be present are the prison warden, those selected to assist in the execution, the prison physician, one additional physician, the condemned person’s spiritual adviser and the prison chaplain.
Up to five friends or relatives of the person being executed and up to eight relatives of the victims of the crime are allowed to view the process.
Corcoran’s attorneys have fought the death penalty sentence for years, arguing that Corcoran is severely mentally ill, which affects his ability to understand and make decisions. Corcoran exhausted his federal appeals in 2016. Earlier this month, his attorneys asked the Indiana Supreme Court to stop his execution but the request was denied.
However, attorneys say since the justices were split 3-2 that signals there’s a chance.
“Given that it is a close case, it shouldn’t be rushed through,” said defense attorney Larry Komp. “He’s so extremely mentally ill. We think he’s irrational. We’ve never had a fair process.”
Attorneys have said one sign of Corcoran’s mental illness includes a handwritten affidavit that he wrote to the justices this month saying he was done litigating his case.
“I am guilty of the crime I was convicted of, and accept the findings of all the appellate courts,” he wrote.
According to court records, before Corcoran fatally shot the four victims in July 1997, he was stressed because his sister’s forthcoming marriage to Turner would necessitate moving out of the Fort Wayne, Indiana, home he shared with his brother and sister.
Corcoran awoke to hear his brother and others downstairs talking about him, loaded his rifle and then shot all four men, records show. While jailed, Corcoran reportedly bragged about fatally shooting his parents in 1992 in northern Indiana’s Steuben County. He was charged in their killings but acquitted.
If Corcoran is put to death as scheduled, it will be the state’s first execution since 2009. In that time, 13 executions were carried out in Indiana but those were initiated and performed by federal officials in 2020 and 2021 at a federal prison in Terre Haute.
Indiana’s last state execution was in 2009 when Matthew Wrinkles was put to death for killing his wife, her brother and sister-in-law in 1994.
State officials have said they couldn’t continue executions because a combination of drugs used in lethal injections had become unavailable.
