A man who killed four people, including his brother, in 1997 was executed in Indiana, the first execution in the state in 15 years.

Joseph Corcoran, 49, had been on death row since his conviction in 1999 and was executed by lethal injection at Indiana State Prison early Wednesday morning despite a late appeal on the grounds that he was severely mentally ill.

Corcoran fatally shot his brother James Corcoran, 30, his sister’s fiancé Robert Scott Turner, 32, and two other 30-year-old men, Timothy G. Bricker and Douglas A. Stillwell, at his family home in Fort Wayne on July 26. 1997.

INDIANA IS TO CONDUCT THE FIRST EXECUTION IN 15 YEARS AFTER RECEIVING A LETHAL INJECTIVE

Five years earlier, he had been acquitted of shooting his parents after the jury found insufficient evidence to convict.

Indiana’s last state execution was in 2009, when Matthew Wrinkles was put to death for killing his wife, her brother and sister-in-law in 1994. Thirteen executions have been carried out in Indiana since Wrinkle’s execution, but these were initiated and carried out by federal officials in a federal prison in 2020 and 2021.

Since Wrinkles was executed, the state suspended federal executions because a combination of drugs used in lethal injections was no longer available. There has been a nationwide shortage for years because pharmaceutical companies – particularly in Europe, where opposition to the death penalty is strongest – have refused to sell their products for this purpose.

Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb, a Republican, announced in June that Corcoran’s execution would take place after the state acquired a drug called pentobarbital that could be used in executions and is used by several states for lethal injections.

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

Corcoran’s lawyers had fought his death sentence for years, arguing that Corcoran was severely mentally ill, which impaired his ability to understand and make decisions. Corcoran exhausted his federal complaints in 2016. Earlier this month, his lawyers asked the Indiana Supreme Court to stop his execution, but the request was denied.

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His lawyers believed the denial offered some hope of preventing the execution, as the justices were divided 3-2.

“Given the fact that this is a close case, it shouldn’t be rushed,” defense attorney Larry Komp said previously. “He is so extremely mentally ill. We think he is irrational. We never had a fair trial.”

Corcoran wrote a handwritten affidavit to judges this month saying he was done litigating his case, although his lawyers said it was a sign of his mental illness, according to the Associated Press.

“I am guilty of the crime for which I was convicted and accept the findings of all appellate courts,” Corcoran wrote.

Corcoran fatally shot the four victims while under stress because his sister’s impending marriage to Turner would require him to move out of the Fort Wayne home he shared with his brother and sister, according to court records.

When he woke up, he heard his brother and others talking about him downstairs, loaded his rifle and then shot all four men, records say.

After the shooting, Corcoran asked a neighbor across the street to call police. When they arrived, Corcoran told them, “You might as well just arrest me,” according to the Tampa Bay Times.

Corcoran reportedly bragged in prison about fatally shooting his parents.

One of Corcoran’s sisters, Kelly Ernst, said she believes the death penalty should be abolished and that executing her brother will not solve or change anything.

She criticized the fact that the execution took place so close to Christmas.

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“I am at a loss for words. I’m just really upset that they’re doing it right before Christmas,” she said. “My sister and I have a birthday in December. I mean, it just feels like it’s going to ruin Christmas for the rest of our lives. That’s exactly how it feels.”

Earlier this year, Alabama became the first state to use nitrogen gas for an execution when it carried out the death penalty for convicted murderer Kenneth Smith.

The execution method, which has been criticized as inhumane and a form of torture, killed Smith after he appeared to shake and writhe on the gurney, sometimes pulling at the shackles, before breathing heavily for several minutes until he could no longer breathe .

Landon Mion of Fox News and the Associated Press contributed to this report.