(Michigan City, IN) - An inmate at Indiana State Prison in Michigan City will be executed overnight, unless a last minute appeal is approved.

 

Joseph Corcoran, 49, has been on death row since 1999, convicted in the fatal shootings of his brother and three other men inside his family’s home in Ft. Wayne. Five years earlier, Corcoran was found not guilty in the shooting deaths of his parents by a jury citing insufficient evidence to convict him.

 

It would be the first execution in Indiana in 15 years if the death by lethal injection happens as scheduled early Wednesday morning. 

 

The state previously suspended executions because the combination of drugs used in lethal injections was unavailable due to a shortage caused by pharmaceutical companies refusing to sell their products for that purpose. Those companies are mostly in Europe where opposition to capital punishment is strongest. In June, Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb announced the execution could happen since the state acquired a drug used by other states for lethal injections.

 

The defense has been trying to overturn his death sentence on appeal, arguing Corcoran is severely mentally ill. The Indiana Supreme Court denied the most recent request to stop the execution.