FORT WAYNE — The Indiana Supreme Court has denied a motion for Joseph Corcoran to stay his execution.
Corcoran was found guilty in the 1997 fatal shooting of his brother James Corcoran, his sister’s fiancé Robert Scott Turner, and their friends Timothy Bricker and Douglas Stillwell. He has been on death row since 1999.
Thursday, the state’s highest court denied a request from Corcoran’s attorneys' to stay his execution.
Corcoran has been diagnosed by several doctors with paranoid schizophrenia, something his attorneys say should spare his life. But representatives from the Indiana Attorney General's office argue that his attorneys have not proven that he is incompetent for execution.
Corcoran is scheduled to be executed on Dec. 18. If he is executed, it will be the first state-level execution in Indiana in 15 years.
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