Joseph Corcoran is to be executed in Indiana, but his sister forgives him

Joseph Corcoran is expected to be the first death row inmate to be executed by the state of Indiana since 2009, and his journey to the death chamber has caused heartache for his family, especially his older sister, who changed her mind nearly three decades later about the man convicted of murder her then fiancé was convicted.

In an interview conducted in July 1997, Kelly Ernst, formerly Kelly Nieto, spoke to the Associated Press about Corcoran, who at the time was only accused of murdering her 30-year-old brother, James Corcoran; her fiancé, 32-year-old Robert Scott Turner; and the men’s two friends; 30-year-old Timothy Bricker and 30-year-old Douglas Stillwell. According to court documents, Joseph Corcoran, now 49, lived with Ernst in the Fort Wayne, Indiana, home where the murders occurred.

“Everything is gone. He ruined my life,” Ernst told the outlet in 1997. “I hope he eats.”

Joseph E. Corcoran was sentenced to death in 1999 for killing four people in Allen County.

Corcoran was convicted of murdering the four men on May 22, 1999, and sentenced to death on August 26, 1999. The quadruple murders came five years after Corcoran was acquitted in the fatal shootings of his parents, 53-year-old Jack Corcoran, and 47-year-old Kathryn Corcoran. Nieto also told the AP after the four murders that she believed her brother murdered her parents on April 14, 1992, at the family home in Ball Lake, Indiana.

Now Ernst rejects her brother’s execution and condemns her earlier statements.

“At the time of his actions, I was too naive, self-centered and uneducated to recognize his condition for what it was. While I couldn’t say I should have known, I could have known better,” Ernst wrote in a Facebook post shared on December 2nd. “I believe in going forward, not backward.”

As Corcoran’s execution approaches, USA TODAY looks into the four men whose murders he was convicted of and his recently rekindled relationship with his older sister.

Who was James Corcoran?

James Corcoran, a Marine, was eight years older than his younger brother and later murderer.

The eldest son grew up in Hamilton, Indiana with Joseph, Ernst and their other sister Kimberly Brown. Her father, Jack, was a strict disciplinarian and heavy drinker, while her mother, Katherine, was a homemaker with a history of depression, according to court documents.

The relationship between the brothers was complex, with Joseph Corcoran claiming in court documents that his older brother frequently teased and beat him when they were young. The younger Corcoran admitted in court documents that he admired his brother.

Joseph Corcoran even recalled his brother teaching him to swim by throwing him into deep water and letting him “romp around until he almost drowned,” court documents said. His older brother watched and laughed, but Corcoran said, “Eventually that’s how I learned how to dog paddle and from then on I learned how to swim,” court records say.

Who were Timothy Bricker and Douglas Stillwell?

According to his obituary, Bricker was a Fort Wayne native who worked as an arborist, or a professional who inspects trees, shrubs, vines and other foliage.

His obituary said Stillwell worked as a service technician for Comcast Cable for four years but was also an Army veteran and served in the National Guard.

According to the obituaries, Bricker is survived by his daughter and two sons, while Stillwell is survived by his wife and son.

The ultimate punishment:A look at the status of the death penalty in the USA

Kelly Ernst: “I have forgiven him”

Ernst said in a social media post that she had “forgiven” Corcoran after he killed her then-fiancé Robert Scott Turner.

Ernst said in the post that her brother had recently “expressed remorse and regret in written correspondence.” She also mentioned that she did not know in 1997 that her brother suffered from paranoid schizophrenia, a condition that Corcoran was diagnosed with in 1999 by two doctors as part of his pre-sentence memorandum.

“Almost 30 years have passed since the events and only then was Joe diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia,” Ernst wrote. “I assume he is now taking medication for his illness.”

Ernst told the Associated Press that until recently she had had no contact with her brother for 10 years, adding that it was “pretty obvious” that he struggled with mental illness.

Ernst confirmed in the Facebook post that she would not attend her brother’s execution on Wednesday, “neither as a family (nor) as a victim,” because she believes “it would cost a part of me that I can’t get back.”

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Joseph Corcoran is to be executed in Indiana, but his sister forgives him

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