The governor of the US state of Indiana, Eric Holcomb, announced that the state will resume executions for the first time in more than a decade.
The state has purchased lethal injections and is currently setting an execution date for Joseph Corcoran, convicted of killing four people in 1997, Holcomb said. Attorney General Todd Rokita petitioned the local district's Superior Court to set an execution date. The inmate's attorney plans to seek clarification on the state's lethal injection protocol.
The last execution in Indiana took place in 2009, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. Then Matthew Eric Wrinkles was executed for murdering his wife, her brother and sister-in-law.
The Indiana Department of Corrections has purchased a drug used by several states for lethal injections, the governor said. The long-term pause in executions is explained by the lack of drugs for lethal injections.
Because of the difficulty in procuring drugs for lethal injections, some states are looking for new ways to execute prisoners. For example, Alabama became the first state to use nitrogen in executions earlier this year.
