In 15 years, Indiana has performed its first state execution.

In 1997, a man who murdered four people, including his brother, was executed in Indiana, marking the state's first death penalty in 15 years.

Joseph Corcoran, 49, was executed early Wednesday morning by lethal injection at Indiana State Prison, despite late appeals claiming he was severely mentally ill.

In 1997, on July 26, Corcoran fatally shot his brother James Corcoran, his sister's fiancé Robert Scott Turner, and two other 30-year-old men, Timothy G. Bricker and Douglas A. Stillwell, inside his family home in Fort Wayne.

Five years ago, he was found not guilty in the murder of his parents due to a lack of sufficient evidence.

Since 2009, Indiana has not carried out any state executions, with the last one being the death of Matthew Wrinkles for murdering his wife and her family members in 1994. However, thirteen executions have been performed in the state since then, but they were initiated and carried out by federal officials at a federal prison in 2020 and 2021.

The suspension of state executions in the US was due to a years-long nationwide shortage of drugs used in lethal injections, caused by pharmaceutical companies refusing to sell their products for that purpose.

In June, Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb, a Republican, decided to proceed with Corcoran's execution after acquiring pentobarbital, a drug used in lethal injections by multiple states.

Corcoran was being held at the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City.

Corcoran's attorneys had been fighting his death sentence for years, arguing that he was severely mentally ill, which affected his ability to understand and make decisions. However, Corcoran's federal appeals were exhausted in 2016. Earlier this month, his attorneys requested that the Indiana Supreme Court stop his execution, but the request was denied.

The denial provided some hope for his attorneys to stave off execution, as the justices were split 3-2.

"Since it's a close case, it should not be rushed through," defense attorney Larry Komp previously stated. "He is extremely mentally ill and we believe he is irrational. We have never had a fair process."

This month, Corcoran submitted a handwritten affidavit to the justices, stating that he had finished litigating his case. However, his attorneys argued that it was evidence of his mental illness, according to the Associated Press.

Corcoran admitted guilt in the crime for which he was convicted and accepted the judgments of all appellate courts.

According to court records, Corcoran fatally shot four victims due to stress from the upcoming marriage of his sister to Turner, which would require him to move out of the Fort Wayne home he shared with his brother and sister.

Records indicate that he awoke to the sound of his brother and others discussing him downstairs, loaded his rifle and then fired at all four men.

Corcoran, after the shootings, instructed a neighbor to contact the police. Upon their arrival, he declared, "You may as well take me into custody," according to the Tampa Bay Times.

While jailed, Corcoran reportedly bragged about fatally shooting his parents.

Kelly Ernst, one of Corcoran's sisters, stated that she believes the death penalty should be abolished and that her brother's execution won't solve or change anything.

She criticized the execution for taking place so close to Christmas.

""I'm speechless. I'm so angry that they're doing it near Christmas. My sister and I share birthdays in December, and it just feels like it will ruin Christmas for us forever," she exclaimed."

This year, Alabama became the first state to use nitrogen gas for an execution, as it carried out the death penalty for convicted killer Kenneth Smith.

Smith died after being subjected to a method of execution that has been criticized for being inhumane and a form of torture. Despite appearing to struggle and writhe on the gurney, he eventually stopped breathing for several minutes.

Planet Chronicle’ Landon Mion and the Associated Press contributed to this report.