The Indiana Supreme Court's order was carried out at the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City shortly after 12 a.m. CST. Corcoran was pronounced dead at 12:44 a.m.

Corcoran was sentenced to death in 1999 for four murders in Fort Wayne in 1997. Corcoran was convicted of killing his brother James Corcoran, his sister’s fiancé Robert Scott Turner, as well as Timothy Bricker and Douglass Stillwell.

According to the Indiana Department of Correction, Corcoran's last words were “Not really. Let’s get this over with."

State executions had been on hold since 2009 due to the difficulty of acquiring a drug needed for a lethal injection. Indiana then obtained lethal doses of pentobarbital, a seizure medication, earlier this year.

Joseph Corcoran's attorneys filed to stay the execution with the Indiana Supreme Court, claiming Corcoran is mentally ill and not competent to be put to death. Justices denied the motion on December 5th. Attorneys then motion to hold an evidentiary hearing on Corcoran's competency, which federal Senior Judge Jon DeGuilio denied on Friday, December 13th, citing failure to follow proper appellate procedure and a lack of basis for consideration. Attorneys appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit on Monday, which affirmed the order from Judge DeGuilio. The U.S. Supreme Court was asked to issue an emergency ruling to stop the execution on Tuesday, which was quickly denied.

Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb held the authority to stay Corcoran's execution but chose not to. Early Wednesday morning Holcomb issued a statement saying, “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. His sentence has never been overturned and was carried out as ordered by the court.”

Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita also said, "Early this morning, Indiana conducted its first execution since 2009. Joseph Corcoran's case worked its way through our judicial system and today he finally paid his debt to society as justice was provided to his victims. A jury recommended and a judge imposed a sentence of death for the senseless murders of four people. My office fought to defend that sentence and state law every step of the way, and the Indiana Department of Correction carried it out professionally."

Rokita will now seek a date for the execution of Benjamin Ritchie, a man convicted of shooting and killing a Beech Grove police officer in September 2000.