Midwest
Indiana carries out first execution in 15 years after inmate chooses Ben & Jerry's ice cream as last meal
An Indiana man convicted in the 1997 killing of four people including his brother and his sister’s fiancé was put to death on Wednesday in the state’s first execution in 15 years.
Joseph Corcoran, 49, was pronounced dead at 12:44 a.m. CST at the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City, Indiana, according to the Indiana Department of Correction, making it the 24th execution in the U.S. this year. He was scheduled to be executed with the powerful sedative pentobarbital, although officials did not mention that drug in their statement.
Prison officials said his last meal was Ben & Jerry’s ice cream.
Corcoran was convicted in the July 1997 shootings of his brother, 30-year-old James Corcoran; his sister’s fiancé, 32-year-old Robert Scott Turner, and two other men, 30-year-old Timothy G. Bricker and 30-year-old Douglas A. Stillwell.
INDIANA TO CARRY OUT FIRST STATE EXECUTION IN 15 YEARS
Joseph Corcoran, 49, was pronounced dead at 12:44 a.m. CST at the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City, Indiana. (Indiana Department of Corrections via AP)
Prior to the shooting, Corcoran was under stress because his sister’s upcoming marriage would require moving out of the home in Fort Wayne, Indiana, that he shared with his brother and sister, according to court records.
During his time in jail for those killings, Corcoran reportedly bragged about shooting and killing his parents in 1992 in northern Indiana’s Steuben County, for which he was charged but later acquitted.
The execution on Wednesday comes after Gov. Eric Holcomb, a Republican, announced plans in June to resume state executions following a 15-year hiatus caused by difficulty obtaining lethal injection drugs.
The state provided limited details about the execution process, and no members of the press were allowed as witnesses under state law. But Corcoran chose a reporter for the Indiana Capital Chronicle as one of his witnesses.
Indiana and Wyoming are the only two states in the country that do not allow members of the media to witness state executions, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
Corcoran’s attorneys had challenged his death penalty sentence for years, claiming he was severely mentally ill, which affected his ability to understand and make decisions. Earlier this month, the state Supreme Court rejected a request from his attorneys to stop his execution.
He had exhausted his federal appeals in 2016, but his attorneys asked the U.S. District Court of Northern Indiana last week to halt his execution and hold a hearing to decide if it would be unconstitutional since Corcoran has a serious mental illness. The court refused to intervene on Friday, followed by another denied request on Tuesday from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit.
Corcoran’s attorneys then made a final plea and urged the U.S. Supreme Court to issue an emergency order blocking his execution, but it also denied their request for a stay late Tuesday.
Defense attorney Larry Komp said he was disappointed with the high court’s ruling, saying that the issue surrounding Corcoran’s mental health was not properly examined.
INDIANA SEEKS TO CARRY OUT FIRST EXECUTION IN 15 YEARS AFTER OBTAINING LETHAL INJECTION DRUG
Joseph Corcoran is led to the City-County Lockup on Aug. 26, 1999, in Fort Wayne, Indiana, after being sentenced to death in the slayings of four people in July 1997. (Matt Sullivan/The Journal-Gazette via AP)
“There has never been a hearing to determine whether he is competent to be executed,” Komp said in a statement to The Associated Press. “It is an absolute failure for the rule of law to have an execution when the law and proper processes were not followed.”
Corcoran’s only remaining option to extend his life after the legal challenges became Holcomb, who could have commuted Corcoran’s death sentence but elected not to.
Holcomb’s office released a statement Wednesday after Corcoran was put to death.
“Joseph Corcoran’s case has been reviewed repeatedly over the last 25 years – including 7 times by the Indiana Supreme Court and 3 times by the U.S. Supreme Court, the most recent of which was tonight,” Holcomb said. “His sentence has never been overturned and was carried out as ordered by the court.”
Indiana’s last state execution was carried out in 2009 when Matthew Wrinkles was put to death for killing his wife, her brother and sister-in-law in 1994. Since that time, 13 executions have been carried out in the state, but those were initiated and performed by federal officials in 2020 and 2021 at a federal prison.
State officials have said they could not resume executions because the combination of drugs used in lethal injections were unavailable.
There has been a shortage of the drugs across the country for years because pharmaceutical companies have refused to sell them for executions, which forced states, including Indiana, to use compounding pharmacies, which make drugs specifically for clients. Some of these pharmacies use more accessible drugs such as the sedatives pentobarbital or midazolam, both which critics argue can cause intense pain.
At midnight, a group of anti-death penalty activists began singing “Amazing Grace.”
Religious groups, disability rights advocates and others have opposed Corcoran’s execution. About a dozen people, including some who were holding candles, held a vigil late Tuesday to pray outside the prison.
The sun sets behind Indiana State Prison on Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024, in Michigan City, Indiana. (AP)
“We can build a society without giving governmental authorities the right to execute their own citizens,” Bishop Robert McClory of the Diocese of Gary, who led the prayers, said.
Other death penalty opponents also held protests outside the prison Tuesday night, with some holding signs that read “Execution Is Not The Solution” and “Remember The Victims But Not With More Killing.”
“There is no need and no benefit from this execution. It’s all show,” Death Penalty Action director Abraham Borowitz, whose organization protests every execution in the U.S., said.
Corcoran’s wife, Tahina Corcoran, told reporters outside the prison her husband was “very mentally ill” and she did not think he fully understood what was happening to him.
“He is in shock. He doesn’t understand,” she said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN) – Nebraska Athletics announced Friday that the expansion of John Cook Arena is in full swing.
The Nebraska Athletics Capital Planning and Facilities Department posted to social media that the effort to modernize amenities and provide new seating options is well underway.
According to the athletic fund, the renovation will enhance Nebraska’s home-court advantage, modernize amenities and provide new premium and general seating options. This includes adding:
- New and improved seats with cup holders in each seat.
- A new centralized student section.
- New and improved courtside seating with both end court and side court locations available. The Courtside Lounge offers access pregame and during intermission and includes private restrooms, televisions and all-inclusive gourmet food, beverage and alcohol.
- New Loge Box seating with hospitality lounge with access pregame and during intermission, including access to private restrooms, televisions and all-inclusive gourmet food and beverage with a cash bar.
- Libero Club seating replaces the VIP seats. Located in the back row of the 100 level, seats include access to the Libero Club Lounge pregame and during intermission complete with televisions and all-inclusive gourmet food and soft drinks with a cash bar.
- Additional ADA seating with new vantage points and easier access from around the concourse.
The Husker Athletic Fund announced the first-ever reseating and parking process in October 2025. It is timed to coincide with the renovation of the arena to increase overall capacity to 10,000.
For more information about the reseating process, click here.
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Copyright 2026 KOLN. All rights reserved.
Three years after a deal with Fairview was called off, South Dakota-based Sanford Health is getting into the Twin Cities market with a new merger.
On Friday, the health system announced that it will combine with North Memorial Health.
Fairview, Sanford call off planned merger
Under the merger, Sanford says the organization will invest $600 million to strengthen the Robbinsdale hospital and double the Maple Grove hospital’s size.
Sanford is the largest rural nonprofit health system in the country, with 58 hospitals and roughly 56,000 employees across the Dakotas, Iowa, Wisconsin, Wyoming and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. North Memorial operates two hospitals in Robbinsdale and Maple Grove, along with several other clinics, employing more than 6,500 people.
If completed, the health systems plan to keep some local leadership in place, including North Memorial CEO Trevor Sawallish, and two North Memorial board members will serve on the combined system’s board. However, the overall company will be led by Sanford CEO Bill Gassen.
The companies say they expect the merger to close later this year, as long as regulatory processes don’t cause delays.
Sanford’s previous attempt to merge with Fairview was called off in 2023, eight months after initially announcing the planned merger. Many Minnesotans raised concerns about that transaction, including Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, although some of that was due to the University of Minnesota’s partnership with Fairview and the possibility of an out-of-state company running the state’s flagship medical school.
As with most mergers, concerns are still likely to arise about possible cutbacks and the impact on the state’s healthcare quality. However, the deal seems more likely to be completed than Sanford’s past attempts.
Reaction
SEIU Healthcare Minnesota & Iowa, who represents over 1,000 workers at North Memorial, called the news “worrisome.”
“At a time when healthcare costs are skyrocketing for Minnesota families and frontline healthcare workers are getting squeezed by short staffing levels, this latest attempt at consolidation brings many concerns. It is especially concerning because previous merger attempts by Sanford Health to come into Minnesota have failed due to their values and corporate behavior,” the union said.
SEIU also called on Ellison “to use all of his office’s powers within the law to provide oversight into this proposed merger and ensure the interests of Minnesota’s workers and patients are protected.”
Ellison’s office is asking the public to submit information through an online Community Input Form.
“As we have done and are currently doing with other healthcare transactions, we are conducting a thorough review of this potential acquisition to ensure it complies with the law and is in the public interest,” Ellison daid. “Proposed health care consolidation requires careful examination. As long as I am Attorney General, I will use the full range of regulatory tools to protect Minnesotans’ access to quality, affordable healthcare.”
The Minnesota Nurses Association released a statement saying it is “deeply concerned” by the merger announcement, warning it “could have far-reaching consequences for patients, healthcare workers, and the communities they serve.”
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It isn’t over until it’s over. That’s the case for both the UCLA Bruins football program recruiting and for quarterback Brady Edmunds. Edmunds is currently committed to head to Ohio State but he took a visit from UCLA offensive coordinator Dean Kennedy earlier this week.
Kennedy met Edmunds on Thursday despite the fact that the quarterback has been committed to the Buckeyes since December of 2024 but could the UCLA Bruins be making a run at flipping the quarterback?
Edmunds has only had an official visit with Ohio State but could UCLA heave a heat check on the 6’5” quarterback? New UCLA head coach Bob Chesney is off to an unbelievable start to his recruiting with the Bruins and flipping a recruit of Edmunds’ caliber would be his most impressive move yet.
247 Sports has Edmunds as the No. 16 quarterback in the class, which would give UCLA a clear predecessor for Nico Iamaleava whenever the Bruins current starting quarterback decides to head to the professional level.
It’d be a full circle moment for the Bruins, as Edmunds was originally recruited to Ohio State by former UCLA head coach Chip Kelly, who bailed on UCLA to go run the Buckeyes offense. Ohio State is a great spot for a developing quarterback, as the Buckeyes produce tons of NFL talent, especially at the wide receiver position, which would help Edmunds put up some gaudy numbers in Columbus.
Chesney and the Bruins have geography on their side, Edmunds attends Huntington Beach High School in Southern California, which could potentially become a factor if Edmunds views UCLA as a program on the rise that’d be much closer to his friends and family than out in Ohio.
Time will tell if Kennedy’s visit will make a difference but UCLA’s recruiting has made waves in the first offseason under Chesney and the new regime.
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