'Let's get this over with': Joseph Corcoran becomes Indiana's first execution in 15 years

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The state of Indiana has executed its first inmate in 15 years, as Joseph Edward Corcoran was declared dead before sunrise on Wednesday morning.

Corcoran, 49, was convicted in 1999 for the 1997 quadruple murder of his older brother, sister's fiancé and their two friends. He committed the homicides with a semi-automatic rifle, and at the home he lived in with his older sister and brother in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Corcoran, who was 22 at the time, killed his brother, 30-year-old James Corcoran; his sister's fiancé, 32-year-old Robert Scott Turner; and their two friends, 30-year-old Timothy Bricker and 30-year-old Douglas Stillwell.

Before Corcoran's execution, his attorneys filed a request at the Indiana Supreme Court asking them to consider his client's competency due to his paranoid schizophrenia diagnosis in 1999. The court denied the attorneys' request on Dec. 5.

"If Corcoran was not mentally ill, the crimes never would have happened," Larry Komp, one of Corcoran's attorneys, told Paste BN before the execution.

Corcoran died at 12:44 a.m. CST after being given a lethal dose of pentobarbital, a drug separately used to manage seizures and insomnia, according to the Indiana Department of Correction.

Here's what to know about Corcoran's execution.

'Let’s get this over with'

Execution proceedings began shortly after midnight CST, according to the state department of corrections.

Corcoran delivered his final words before taking his last breath.

“Not really. Let’s get this over with," he said.

After the execution, Gov, Eric Holcomb said, "Joseph Corcoran’s case has been reviewed repeatedly over the last 25 years — including 7 times by the Indiana Supreme Court and 3 times by the U.S. Supreme Court, the most recent of which was tonight. His sentence has never been overturned and was carried out as ordered by the court.” 

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

What was Joseph Corcoran convicted of?

Corcoran was convicted on May 22, 1999, for the murders of his brother, Turner, Stillwell and Bricker. He was sentenced to death for the homicides on Aug. 26, 1999.

On July 26, 1997, Corcoran laid down on his bedroom floor in the Fort Wayne, Indiana home he lived in with James Corcoran and his older sister, Kelly Ernst, and heard men's voices downstairs, according to a 2013 court filing. He thought the men were allegedly talking about him, the court document continued.

An angered Corcoran grabbed the rifle, went downstairs and confronted the four men before shooting them at close range, according to the filing. Stillwell tried escaping the home, but Corcoran tracked him down and shot him in the head, the court document reads.

After the shooting, Corcoran went to a neighbor's home and asked her to call 911, according to a separate court filing. After the call went out to the police, he returned home, sat down on the front porch and waited for officers to arrive, the court document continued.

"They made me mad," Corcoran told officials, according to court records. "I shot them all."

The quadruple murder occurred five years after Corcoran was acquitted of the murders of his parents, 53-year-old Jack Corcoran and 47-year-old Kathryn Corcoran, at the family's home in Ball Lake, Indiana. The couple was shot dead with a 12-gauge shotgun.

Kelly Ernst decries her younger brother's execution 27 years later

In a Facebook post shared on Dec. 2, Ernst wrote she was "too naïve, self-absorbed, and uneducated to recognize" Corcoran's paranoid schizophrenia 27 years ago. Two doctors made the diagnosis in 1999 during Corcoran's pre-sentencing memorandum, according to court records.

"While I couldn’t say I should’ve known, I could’ve known better," Ernst wrote in the Facebook post. "I believe in moving forward not backward."

Ernst has also "forgiven" her younger brother despite him killing her fiancé over two decades ago, according to the social media post. Corcoran has even "expressed remorse and regret in written correspondence" to his sister, the post reads.

"I believe that the death penalty does not address grief or provide true justice especially for victims, and those with mental illness, it fails to bring closure or relief as I believe there is no such thing as closure," her social media post reads. "Instead, it is a lengthy, costly and political process. My views on the death penalty have evolved as I’ve matured."

In 1997, Ernst, then Kelly Nieto, spoke to the Associated Press about Corcoran and said, "Everything's gone. He's ruined my life. I hope he fries." Now Corcoran's sister believes "his execution serves no purpose," according to the Facebook post.

The state of Indiana resumed executions after 15 years

An inmate has not been executed in Indiana since Dec. 11, 2009, when Matthew Eric Wrinkles died by lethal injection for the 1994 murders of his estranged wife, her sister and her brother-in-law.

A total of 94 inmates have been executed by the state of Indiana dating back to 1897, with two occurring in different states and another being done by federal authorities, according to the Indiana Department of Corrections. Following Wrinkles, Indiana took a 15-year hiatus from executions until Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb decided this year to resume them.

“Accordingly, I am fulfilling my duties as governor to follow the law and move forward appropriately in this manner,” Holcomb said in a statement.

Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita said in a separate statement obtained by the Indianapolis Star, part of the Paste BN Network, that: "We're doing our duty − on behalf of the victims and the law-abiding public − to hold perpetrators like Joseph Corcoran accountable for their horrific actions.” 

Anti-death penalty advocates have gone against Holcomb's decision, including the Indiana Abolition Coalition and Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty, who argue that executions are undignified, morally wrong and expensive for taxpayers.

Joseph Corcoran got remarried two months before his execution

On Oct. 30, Corcoran remarried Tahina Krontz, the Louisville Courier-Journal, part of the Paste BN Network, reported. According to the outlet, the ceremony was officiated by Justin Krontz, the bride's son.

The two met in high school and court records indicate they married in 2004 before filing for divorce two years later.

With Corcoran's attorneys, Tahina Corcoran filed a final petition to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit on Tuesday to stay her husband's execution, citing that he "suffers from untreated mental illness."

"For years, he heard and saw things that nobody else could hear or see, but to him these delusions were all very real," the petition reads. "This tragedy unfolded because of his untreated mental illness."

The court denied the petition and Corcoran was executed.

Contributing: Kayla Dwyer, Sarah Nelson & Kristine Phillips/ Indianapolis Star and Marina Johnson/ Louisville Courier Journal