Man who killed brother and 3 others set to be put to death in Indiana's first execution in 15 years

MICHIGAN CITY, Ind. — An Indiana man convicted in the 1997 killings of his brother and three other men was 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 fiancé, Robert Scott Turner, 32; and two other men: Timothy G. Bricker, 30, and Douglas A. Stillwell, 30.

Indiana and Wyoming are the only two states that do not allow members of the media 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 scheduled to be executed before sunrise at the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City. 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. Prison officials only provided photos of the execution chamber, which resembles a sparse operating room with a gurney, bright fluorescent lighting and an adjacent viewing room.

Under Indiana law, the only people allowed to be present are the prison warden, those assisting in the execution, the prison physician, another physician, the inmate's spiritual adviser and the prison chaplain.

Corcoran's attorneys have fought the death penalty sentence for years, arguing he is severely mentally ill, which affects his ability to understand and make decisions. 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.

Corcoran's attorneys asked the U.S. District Court of Northern Indiana last week to stop his execution and hold a hearing to decide if it would be unconstitutional because Corcoran has a serious mental illness. The court declined to intervene Friday, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit did the same Tuesday.

Corcoran's attorneys then asked the U.S. Supreme Court later Tuesday to review his case and issue an emergency order halting his execution.

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.

Corcoran awoke to hear his brother and others downstairs talking about him, loaded his rifle and then shot all four, 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.

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.

Since that time 13 executions have been carried out in Indiana, but they were initiated and performed by federal officials in 2020 and 2021 at a federal prison in Terre Haute.

State officials have said they could not continue executions because a combination of drugs used in lethal injections had become unavailable.

For years there has been a shortage nationwide because pharmaceutical companies have refused to sell their products for that purpose. That has pushed states, including Indiana, to turn to compounding pharmacies, which manufacture drugs specifically for a client. Some use more accessible drugs such as the sedatives pentobarbital or midazolam — both of which, critics say, can cause intense pain.

Indiana planned to use pentobarbital to execute Corcoran and, like many states, is refusing to divulge the source of the drugs. When asked for details, the Indiana Department of Correction directed The Associated Press to a state law labeling the source of lethal injection drugs as confidential.

Religious groups, disability rights advocates and others have opposed his execution. About a dozen people, some holding candles, held a vigil late Tuesday to pray outside the prison, which is surrounded by barbed wire fences in a residential area about 60 miles (90 kilometers) east of Chicago.

Bishop Robert McClory of the Diocese of Gary led the prayers and said their mission was to give value to the meaning of life, both to Corcoran and his shooting victims.

''We can build a society without without giving governmental authorities the right to execute their own citizens,'' he said.

Prison officials said in a brief statement Tuesday evening that Corcoran ''requested Ben & Jerry's ice cream for his last meal.'' Their statement said a final statement would be released ''after the execution has been carried out.''

Corcoran said farewell late Tuesday to relatives, including his wife, Tahina Corcoran, who told reporters outside the prison that they discussed their faith and their memories, including attending high school together. She reiterated her request for Indiana's governor to commute her husband's death sentence.

Holcomb said recently he would let the legal process play out before deciding whether to intervene.

Tahina Corcoran said her husband is ''very mentally ill" and she doesn't think he fully grasps what is happening to him.

''He is in shock. He doesn't understand,'' she said.

One of Corcoran's sisters, Kelly Ernst, who lost both a brother and her fiancé in the 1997 shootings, said she believes the death penalty should be abolished and executing her brother will not solve anything.

Ernst, who did not plan to witness the execution, said she had been out of contact with her brother for 10 years until recently.

''I'm at a loss for words. I'm just really upset that they're doing it close to Christmas,'' she said. ''My sister and I, our birthdays are in December. I mean, it just feels like it's going to ruin Christmas for the rest of our lives.''

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Callahan reported from Indianapolis. Isabella Volmert in Lansing, Michigan, contributed.