Court rulings or official announcements from Indiana State Prison

Indiana to Execute Joseph Corcoran for 1997 Killings, Despite Mental Illness Claims

Dec 15, 2024, 06:15 PM

Indiana officials are preparing to execute Joseph Corcoran, the state's first death row inmate in 15 years. Corcoran, convicted in 1999 for the murder of his brother and three other men in 1997, is scheduled for execution before sunrise on Wednesday at the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City. His sister, Kelly Ernst, opposes the death penalty and believes her brother suffers from a serious mental illness. The state's resumption of executions has raised questions about the source of the lethal injection drug pentobarbital, which Indiana has obtained through confidential means. Corcoran's attorneys have filed a petition to halt the execution, citing his severe and longstanding paranoid schizophrenia, but their requests were denied by the Indiana Supreme Court.