Indiana executes Joseph Corcoran in state’s first death penalty in 15 years

Dec 18, 2024

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Lauren Taylor Anchor

By Lauren Taylor (Anchor), Roey Hadar (Producer), Zachary Hill (Video Editor)

Indiana executed Joseph Corcoran overnight on Wednesday, Dec. 18. His execution is the first to occur in the state in 15 years.

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Corcoran was convicted for killing his brother and three others in 1997. In the years since, Corcoran has repeatedly admitted to the crime.

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He shot each victim multiple times after hearing them allege he murdered his parents. Corcoran stood trial for their deaths, but a jury found him not guilty.

The 49-year-old’s execution came despite a plea from family and lawyers to grant him clemency. They cited what his lawyers described as “serious mental illness,” while the anti-execution nonprofit Death Penalty Information Center told The Washington Post that Corcoran had a long history of paranoid schizophrenia.

Had the death sentence been in neighboring Ohio or Kentucky, they said, a court would likely block the execution. Those states ban using the death penalty in cases of serious mental illness.

And while most state-sanctioned executions throughout history have occurred with some public visibility, Indiana is one of just two states that doesn’t allow members of the media to witness executions.

Despite this, Corcoran’s execution was different, as the warden approved his request to allow a reporter from the Indiana Capital Chronicle to be a witness as corrections officials administered a lethal drug via IV.

“He had some very brief head movement,” Casey Smith, the reporter who witnessed the execution, told the Associated Press. “You could see his eyes were open. He was blinking. We couldn’t hear him say anything. He did not seem from my vantage point to be in distress at that point.”

Smith also wrote that Corcoran was mostly still and silent. “After a brief movement of his left hand and fingers at about 12:37 a.m., Corcoran did not move again,” she wrote.

Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita issued a statement Wednesday morning, saying that Corcoran “finally paid his debt to society as justice was provided to his victims.”

Tags: Crime, Death, Death row executions, Indiana

LAUREN TAYLOR: Indiana executed Joseph Corcoran overnight Wednesday. His execution is the first to occur in the state in 15 years.

Corcoran was convicted for killing his brother and three others in 1997. In the years since, Corcoran has repeatedly admitted to the crime.

He shot each of them multiple times after hearing them allege he murdered his parents. Corcoran stood trial for their deaths but a jury found him not guilty.

The 49-year-old Corcoran’s execution came despite a plea from family and lawyers to grant him clemency. They cited what his lawyers described as “serious mental illness,” and the anti-execution nonprofit ‘the Death Penalty Information Center’ told The Washington Post that Corcoran had a long history of paranoid schizophrenia.

They added, had the death sentence been handed down in neighboring Ohio or Kentucky, the execution would likely be blocked, as those states ban using the death penalty in cases of serious mental illness.

And while most state-sanctioned executions through history have occurred with some public visibility, Indiana is one of just two states that doesn’t allow media members to witness executions.

Corcoran’s execution was different, as the warden approved his request to allow a reporter from the Indiana Capital Chronicle to be a witness to the execution as corrections officials administered a lethal drug via IV.

Casey Smith / Reporter, Indiana Capital Chronicle and witness to execution: “He had some very brief head movement. You could see his eyes were open. He was blinking. We couldn’t hear him say anything. He did not seem from my vantage point to be in distress at that point.”

LAUREN TAYLOR: The reporter also wrote that Corcoran was mostly still and silent, and that “After a brief movement of his left hand and fingers at about 12:37 a.m., Corcoran did not move again.”

Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita issued a statement Wednesday morning, saying that Corcoran “finally paid his debt to society as justice was provided to his victims.”

For Straight Arrow News, I’m Lauren Taylor.

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