Fort Wayne Republican Rep. Bob Morris has called on Gov. Eric Holcomb to block the execution of convicted murderer Joseph Corcoran, as well as others awaiting death.
He also filed legislation on Thursday to repeal the death penalty in Indiana.
“The recent Supreme Court decision to return the matter of abortion to each state and Indiana’s Special Session thereafter resulted in tremendous upheaval in my heart regarding the value of every human life,” he said in a letter to the governor. “My view of this issue is driven by my faith. I believe only one position honors our Lord and Savior, our Creator: to protect all human life.”
Corcoran is scheduled to be put to death Dec. 18 unless the Indiana Supreme Court intervenes.
His guilt is not in question, but his long-term mental illness is at the heart of efforts to block the execution.
Corcoran’s attorneys point to a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia and delusions that he has about ultrasound machines controlling him and his thoughts. But attorneys for the state say he is competent to be put to death.
It will be the first state execution since 2009 after officials finally obtained the drug necessary to carry out the lethal injection.
Corcoran – then 22 — killed his brother, James Corcoran, 30; Robert Scott Turner, 32; Douglas A. Stillwell, 30; and Timothy G. Bricker, 30, on July 26, 1997. He committed the murders at the home he shared with his brother and a sister.
Joseph Corcoran told police at the time that the four men had been talking about him. He first placed his 7-year-old niece in an upstairs bedroom to protect her from the gunfire before killing the four men.
He then laid down the rifle, went to a neighbor’s house, and asked them to call the police. A search of his room and attic, to which only he had access, uncovered over 30 firearms, several munitions, explosives, guerrilla tactic military issue books, and a copy of “The Turner Diaries.”
Morris said in his letter that human life is sacred.
“But life cannot be sacred in one instance and not sacred in another. If we begin deciding when life is sacred versus when it is not sacred, our culture finds only regret,” he wrote.
Morris also noted that when Corcoran was tried, the law left the sentencing decision up to the judge. But in 2002, lawmakers changed the law to require a jury to decide the sentence. He ended by saying he hopes Holcomb has “the courage and the wisdom to act boldly. If you do nothing more, it is enough to protect human life. All life. Today.”
“Please, at minimum, delay the execution of all Indiana Capital Punishment until after the General Assembly has re-convened and has had a chance to consider this grave matter,” he continued. “Thank you for your consideration of this request.”
— The Indiana Capital Chronicle covers state government and the state legislature. For more, visit indianacapitalchronicle.com.
