{"id":11046,"date":"2024-12-18T13:19:20","date_gmt":"2024-12-18T21:19:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crimeandconsequences.blog\/?p=11046"},"modified":"2024-12-18T13:27:09","modified_gmt":"2024-12-18T21:27:09","slug":"indiana-executes-murderer-of-four","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crimeandconsequences.blog\/?p=11046","title":{"rendered":"Indiana Executes Murderer of Four"},"content":{"rendered":"

An Indiana man who killed four people, including his brother, in 1997 was executed early this morning. CBS News reports<\/a> that Joseph Corcoran received a lethal dose of the sedative pentobarbital and was pronounced dead a few minutes later.<\/p>\n

Facts taken from a unanimous Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals decision<\/a> upholding his death sentence indicate that on July 26, 1997, Corcoran was in a bedroom at his sister’s home in Fort Wayne when he thought he heard his brother, future brother-in-law, and two friends talking about him downstairs.\u00a0 Angry,\u00a0 he loaded his rifle and confronted the four men, shooting his brother, his sister’s fianc\u00e9, and one friend at close range, he then chased the other friend into the kitchen and shot him in the head. At trial, Corcoran’s defense argued that he was upset about having to find a new home after his sister’s wedding.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The defense also claimed that Corcoran was mentally ill and suffered from a personality disorder.\u00a0 The trial judge reviewed the opinions of seven doctors that had examined Corcoran finding that they disagreed with each other on diagnosing his mental condition.\u00a0 Other evidence indicated that, when he killed the four men, Corcoran knew what he was doing and knew that it was wrong.\u00a0 Prior to trial, Corcoran refused a plea bargain that would have given him a life without parole sentence, insisting on a trial with a not-guilty plea. After hearing the evidence, the jury found him guilty and recommended a death sentence. Since his conviction, Corcoran’s claims of error have been reviewed seven times in the Indiana Supreme Court and three times by the U.S. Supreme Court.<\/p>\n

The CBS story notes that the attorney representing Corcoran’s multiple appeals complained that no hearing has been held to determine if he was mentally competent to be executed. Mental competence is routinely claimed during appeals of condemned murderers. The multiple courts reviewing the case agreed that Corcoran’s mental condition was thoroughly evaluated at trial.<\/p>\n

The CBS story also mentions that “critics say” that sedatives such as pentobarbital “can cause intense pain.”\u00a0 This is not true.\u00a0 Pentobarbital is a pain killer<\/em> and the dose used in executions is ten to twenty times the dose given for people undergoing open heart surgery.<\/p>\n

The news story also focused on the “dozen people” holding a vigil for the murderer outside the prison. “There is no need and no benefit from this execution. It’s all show,” said the head of an anti-death penalty group.<\/p>\n

How about justice for the four dead victims and their families?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An Indiana man who killed four people, including his brother, in 1997 was executed early this morning. CBS News reports that Joseph Corcoran received a lethal dose of the sedative pentobarbital and was pronounced dead a few minutes later. Facts taken from a unanimous Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals decision upholding his death sentence indicate that on July 26, 1997, Corcoran was in a bedroom at his sister’s home in Fort Wayne when he thought he heard his brother, future brother-in-law, and two friends talking about him downstairs.\u00a0 Angry,\u00a0 he loaded his rifle and confronted the four men, shooting his brother, his sister’s fianc\u00e9, and one friend at close range, he then chased the other friend into the kitchen and shot him in the head. At trial, Corcoran’s defense argued that he was upset about having to find a new home after his sister’s wedding.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11046","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"yoast_head":"\nIndiana Executes Murderer of Four - Crime & Consequences<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.crimeandconsequences.blog\/?p=11046\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Indiana Executes Murderer of Four - Crime & Consequences\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"An Indiana man who killed four people, including his brother, in 1997 was executed early this morning. CBS News reports that Joseph Corcoran received a lethal dose of the sedative pentobarbital and was pronounced dead a few minutes later. Facts taken from a unanimous Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals decision upholding his death sentence indicate that on July 26, 1997, Corcoran was in a bedroom at his sister’s home in Fort Wayne when he thought he heard his brother, future brother-in-law, and two friends talking about him downstairs.\u00a0 Angry,\u00a0 he loaded his rifle and confronted the four men, shooting his brother, his sister’s fianc\u00e9, and one friend at close range, he then chased the other friend into the kitchen and shot him in the head. 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