Joseph Corcoran is set to be executed in Indiana on December 18, 2024. Convicted in 1999 for the 1997 murders of four men, including his brother and future brother-in-law, he was sentenced to death. Corcoran has a long history of paranoid schizophrenia, marked by hallucinations and delusions. We urge the Governor to halt his execution and commute his death sentence.
Here’s what you can do:
Write to the Governor of the State of Indiana urging him to halt Joseph Corcoran’s execution and commute his death sentence
Write to:
Governor Eric Holcomb
Office of the Governor, Statehouse
Indianapolis, IN 46204-2797, USA
Email: GovHolcomb@gov.in.gov ; or via webform https://www.in.gov/gov/2752.htm
Salutation: Dear Governor Holcomb,
The crime and trial
In 1997, 22-year-old Joseph Corcoran was living with his sister. Her upcoming marriage meant he had to move out. On July 26, 1997, Corcoran heard his brother and others talking about him downstairs. Armed with a loaded rifle, he went downstairs and shot his brother, future brother-in-law, and two other men.
The prosecutor offered to drop the death penalty if Corcoran pleaded guilty or waived his right to a jury trial, but he declined. At his 1999 trial, the jury convicted him and recommended the death penalty based on multiple murders as an aggravating factor.
Mental health and sentencing
Corcoran’s mental health was a concern from the beginning. Diagnosed in 1992 with schizoid personality disorder and major depression, by 1999, two doctors diagnosed him with paranoid schizophrenia. Despite acknowledging his mental illness, the judge ruled it did not impair his ability to follow the law. The judge sentenced him to death, calling him a “dangerous, evil mass murderer.”
In 2000, the Indiana Supreme Court ordered a resentencing due to the judge’s improper comments about non-statutory factors, including the innocence of the victims and Corcoran’s future dangerousness. However, the same judge resentenced him to death in 2001, a decision later upheld by the Indiana Supreme Court and reinstated by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2010 after legal challenges.
Current condition and advocacy
Corcoran’s mental health has worsened over the years. Experts testify he suffers from severe paranoid schizophrenia, with delusions that prison guards use ultrasound to torture him and that he speaks involuntarily in his sleep, causing hostility from others. Despite clear evidence of mental illness, courts have repeatedly deemed him competent to waive appeals and accept execution.
Indiana has not carried out an execution since 2009. Amnesty International opposes the death penalty unconditionally and calls for a halt to Corcoran’s execution, scheduled for December 18, 2024.
Please take action as soon as possible until December 18, 2024! The UA will be duly updated should there be the need for further action.
