The only death row inmate in America who is begging to die

A quadruple murderer who has repeatedly asked to be killed is finally set to be executed after 25 years on death row. 

Joseph Corcoran, 49, murdered his brother James and three other men in Fort Wayne, Indiana, in July of 1997, and was sentenced to death after a trial in 1999.

The then 22-year-old had been living in a home with his brother, his sister Kelly and her fiancé Robert Turner at the time of the murders. 

He claimed he heard his brother, brother-in-law, Timothy Bricker and Doug Stillwell talking about him while he was upstairs.  

Enraged, he armed himself with a Ruger Mini-14 assault rifle and stormed downstairs, opening fire on the unsuspecting group, killing them within six seconds. 

Last month the Indiana Supreme Court issued a notice that he would be killed by lethal injection on December 18.

While his attorneys  are continuing to fight on his behalf, arguing he is too mentally ill to execute, Corcoran has previously said he wants to die.

In 2006 he wrote to a Fort Wayne newspaper and said: 'I believe the death penalty is a just punishment for murder. I'm guilty of murder, therefore I should be executed.'

He continued: 'Why give such a person life in prison? If they kill someone, they've won the lottery; they get free room and board for the rest of their life. 

'Therefore, it is my opinion that the death penalty is a just punishment for murder'. he added.

Corcoran also attempted to have his right to appeal the death sentence waived at the time of his conviction. 

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Addressing the court, he said: 'Do I have the right to waive my appeal? I wish to waive my appeals.'

He was found to be suffering from paranoid schizophrenia after being imprisoned for the murders. 

In a July court filing in the Indiana Supreme Court, it was revealed that Corcoran has daily delusions that prison guards are torturing him with an ultrasound machine. 

It also said that he has conversations with individuals who are not there, and that he suffers from an involuntary speech order. 

He also believes that his thoughts are broadcast throughout the prison, and that he says embarrassing things that make people act hostile towards him in his sleep.

Citing the opinions of medical professionals, his lawyers have tried to argue that his mental health problems are what have prompted his wish to die. 

Clinical psychologist Dr. Robert Kaplan previously testified at a post-conviction hearing that he was not competent to waive his appeals. 

Kaplan noted that: 'One of the reasons that he wants to die is because he doesn't want to continue to suffer with this speech disorder that he doesn't really have. 

'Another reason he wants to die is because he doesn't want to continue to be a victim of the guards' ultrasound machine. And that is a highly bizarre belief.'

At the time of the murders, Corcoran told his niece to stay in her room, loaded his assault rifle with 28 high velocity rounds and made his way downstairs.

Within six seconds he had shot his brother three times, Bricker twice and put four bullets into Turner. 

The men all died instantly. Stillwell bolted from the couch and into the kitchen where Corcoran gave chase, before he shot him four times. 

Following the quadruple murder, he lay down his rifle and appeared at a neighbor's house where he asked them to call the police. 

A search of his room and secure attic turned up over 30 firearms, munitions, explosives, guerilla tactic military guides and a copy of The Turner Diaries. 

The Turner Diaries is a notorious book written by neo-Nazi William Luther Pierce concerning a race war within the US.

The book has been described as being the 'bible of the racist right' by the FBI and has been inspiration for attacks such as the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995. 

Corcoran would later explain that he had been under stress due to his sister's upcoming marriage, which meant he had to move out of the home. 

He told officers that his real intention was to intimidate the group, saying: 'It just didn't happen that way.'

He asserted an insanity defense based upon his self diagnosis as having either a paranoid or schizotypal personality disorder. 

Court ordered psychiatrists who evaluated him later concluded that he was competent to stand trial. 

Earlier in 1992 he had been acquitted of killing his parents at their home in Steuben County. Jack and Kathryn Corcoran had died from shotgun blasts.

The Steuben County trial heard testimony that he had a preoccupation with guns and murder, and allegedly offered people money to murder his parents. 

According to a local newspaper article at the time seen by WANE, police believed he killed his parents with a 12-gauge and then got on the bus to school.

Prosecutors in the case argued that he killed his parents after they sold a car he thought would go to him, burned his music tapes and made him go to church. 

The investigation into their deaths remains ongoing but is at a standstill.  

Officials with the Steuben County Sheriff's Department told the outlet that the acquittal left it open, but there were no active leads.  

Following the death of her brother James, Corcoran's sister Kelly told reporters: 'I knew right then and there that he killed my parents.'

She continued; 'I've cried so many tears. I'm dry, everything's gone. He's ruined my life.'

Despite his lawyers arguing that by executing Corcoran the state would be violating his eight amendment, they are pushing forward with it. 

The order read: 'It is ordered that execution of the death sentence imposed on Joseph E. Corcoran be carried out on Dec. 18, 2024 before the hour of sunrise.'

Federal appeals from Corcoran came to an end in 2016. He is currently being held at the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City. 

His lead attorney Larry Komp told the Indiana Capital Chronicle that they would be seeking a last minute plea with a clemency petition.  

The execution of Corcoran will be the first in the state since 2009, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. 

The last was death penalty carried out was on Matthew Eric Wrinkles, who was killed for the triple murder of his wife, her brother and sister-in-law. 

The decade plus pause has been attributed to the unavailability of lethal injection drugs.

Earlier this year the Department of Corrections revealed that they had managed to acquired the sedative Pentobarbital after 'years of effort'. 

The use of the drug has never previously been used in Indiana, but Governor Eric Holcomb said he was 'comfortable' with the option.

Since the state announced that they had managed to procure the drug, despite a shortage, they have remained tight lipped over how they got their hands on it. 

The Department of Corrections has consistently denied requests for information. 

Holcomb said: 'We've done our due diligence, and we've tracked this particular drug, and feel comfortable that not only it's the right drug, but also that the protocol is in place, and we're prepared to carry out our duties.

'We've been working on this for seven years, and I would say — through no fault of anyone — it's been harder to get for various reasons. 

'When such evil is on display, I personally believe in this. I respect others that don't. The will of the people will be carried out, and it's the law of our land.'

The state currently has eight people on death row, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.  

Some states have been looking for new ways to execute inmates after drugs used in lethal injections became increasingly difficult to find. Alabama was the first state to use nitrogen gas in an execution earlier this year.