Joseph Corcoran

The convicted killer of four was pronounced dead at 12:44 a.m. today.

Corcoran’s legal team quickly responded with a request for a rehearing by the full 7th Circuit Court of Appeals.

The high court justices released their lengthy opinion several days after they issued an order declining multiple requests from death row inmate Joseph Corcoran’s lawyers.

The Friday filing came hours after the Indiana Supreme Court refused to grant a stay of the Dec. 18 execution date.

With a split decision Thursday evening, the Indiana Supreme Court upheld the Dec. 18 execution date for convicted murderer Joseph Corcoran

The Indiana Supreme Court will now decide the fate of convicted murderer Joseph Corcoran, set to die in just over two weeks.

Chief Justice Loretta Rush set a tight timeline of about two weeks for a response to Corcoran's motion and a subsequent reply as the Dec. 18 execution date looms.

According to Joseph Corcoran's attorneys, the convicted Allen County murderer suffers from treatment-resistant paranoid schizophrenia and is not competent.

The 49-year-old man was convicted in 1999 of murdering four people including his brother inside a Fort Wayne home. He has been on death row for 25 years.

Convicted in the late 1990s of four murders and sentenced to death, Joseph Corcoran's attorneys argue his persistent mental illness needs to be considered again before a sentencing date is scheduled.