Idaho is poised to execute serial killer Thomas Eugene Creech, one of the nation’s longest-serving death row inmates.
As of 10 a.m. local time, the Idaho Department of Corrections said witnesses had been moved to the execution chamber, and the DOC “expects the execution to begin shortly.”
Creech, 73, was sentenced to death for the 1981 fatal assault of a fellow inmate with a sock full of batteries, but he has made unsubstantiated confessions to as many as 42 murders.
He was convicted of five murders in three states, and is strongly suspected of at least a half-dozen others across the country.
However, Creech has made a last-ditch effort to delay his execution as his lawyers claim he may be put to death with expired lethal injection drugs.
For his last meal, Creech enjoyed fried chicken, mashed potatoes with gravy, corn, rolls and ice cream.
Thomas Creech, 73, will be executed for the fatal beating of his cellmate in 1981. He has been convicted of five murders but has confessed to as many as 42 murders nationwide
The serial killer will be executed at 10 a.m. local time on Wednesday in the death chamber (pictured) of Idaho’s Maximum Security Institution.
Before his execution, the Idaho Department of Corrections said he “remained cooperative” and was visited by his wife and spiritual advisor.
Creech was initially sentenced to death for the murders of two house painters in Donnelly, Idaho in 1974.
His death sentence was overturned two years later by the U.S. Supreme Court, when it banned automatic death sentences and gave him a life sentence.
Then in 1981 he attacked his cellmate David Jensen, a disabled man serving a prison sentence for car theft, with a sock filled with batteries, earning him another death sentence.
Since then, Creech has spent nearly half a century on death row and his execution has been scheduled eleven times over the years.
His execution hopes took a hit this morning when the U.S. Supreme Court denied his writ of certiorari, meaning it will not block his execution.
Creech is counting on a last-minute stay of his execution by the governor.
The killer’s lawyers have petitioned at least four courts in recent months to try to stop the execution, including arguments that the state is refusing to say where the execution drugs were obtained.
They have also demanded that his conviction by a judge rather than a jury should quash the execution, but that petition was rejected Friday by the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals.
The Idaho Maximum Security Institution is shown, near Kuna, Idaho on Wednesday, February 28, 2024
Creech was sentenced to death in 1981 for fatally assaulting his disabled cellmate David Jensen (pictured) with a sock filled with batteries
Just four weeks before his scheduled execution, Creech was found responsible for the 1974 murder of Daniel A. Walker (pictured)
Officials are still unclear how many people Creech killed, with his confessions to nearly 50 murders seen by some as exaggerated.
Prosecutors have focused on 11 cases they say he was responsible for, including a cold case that was only solved four weeks ago.
He was revealed to be the perpetrator of the October 1974 murder of Daniel A. Walker, who was randomly shot while sleeping on the side of a highway.
The dozens of murder confessions were reportedly made under the influence of since-discredited “truth serum” drugs, a local newspaper said. KFOR.
Creech’s numerous confessions include bizarre stories of human sacrifice and contract killings for the Hell’s Angels motorcycle gang.
He first stood trial in 1973 for the murder of 70-year-old Paul Schrader, in Tuscon, Arizona, after he was caught using the man’s credit cards and vehicle as he fled to Portland, Oregon.
Although authorities say they are confident he was the killer, a jury acquitted him in that trial.
The following year, while admitted to Oregon State Hospital, Creech was given a weekend pass from the facility, allowing him to travel to Sacramento, California, where he murdered Vivian Grant Robinson in her home.
He then allegedly stole her cell phone and called the hospital to tell them he would be delayed a day on his return to Oregon.
Robinson’s murder remained unsolved until Creech confessed in 1980, when he was already serving a life sentence.
At 43 years, Creech is one of the longest serving death row inmates in the country
The infamous serial killer seen in a recent, undated image from behind bars
After his release from Oregon State Hospital in 1974, Creech began working at a church in Portland, doing maintenance work.
That year he shot dead William Joseph Dean, 22, in his living quarters at the church, before also killing Sandra Jane Ramsamooj in a nearby supermarket.
His trail of terror ended that year, after he and a girlfriend hitchhiked to Idaho and were picked up by two painters.
The painters, Thomas Arnold and John Bradford, were shot dead by Creech during the trip, and his girlfriend led authorities to him.
While behind bars, Creech made a number of disturbing confessions, some of which were likely fabricated, while others led officials to find remains.
The substantiated confessions include the murders of Gordon Lee Stanton and Charles Thomas Miller near Las Vegas, and Rick Stewart McKenzie, 22, near Baggs, Wyoming, reports KFOR.
