Dec. 18 (UPI) -- For the first time 15 years, Indiana executed someone on its death row early Wednesday when Joseph Corcoran died by lethal injection.
The Indiana Department of Corrections said that Corcoran died at 12:44 a.m. CST. He was convicted in a multiple-murder incident in 1997 that included his brother, two of his friends, and his sister's fiancée.
"Joseph Corcoran's case has been reviewed repeatedly over the last 25 years, including seven times by the Indiana Supreme Court and three times by the U.S. Supreme Court, the most recent of which was tonight," Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb said, according to the Indianapolis Star.
"His sentence has never been overturned and was carried out as ordered by the court."
Corcoran's attorneys had argued that their client had "severe and longstanding paranoid schizophrenia." In a self-published book, he talked about being under "ultrasonic surveillance."
U.S. District Judge John Lee said in dissent in one of Corcoran's appeals that he deserved some assessment of his competency.
"Given Corcoran's long, undisputed history of severe mental illness and the pervasiveness of his continuing delusions, as evidenced by his book and recent medical records, Corcoran is entitled to have at least one court assess his competency to be executed."