Oct. 17 (UPI) — An Idaho judge has scheduled the execution of the state’s longest-serving death row inmate following a botched attempt to administer his sentence earlier this year.
Fourth Judicial District Judge Jason Scott on Wednesday issued the death warrant for Thomas Eugene Creech for 10 a.m. on Nov. 13.
The Idaho Department of Correction then served Creech, 74, the death warrant at 10 a.m. Wednesday. He was immediately moved to the Idaho Maximum Security Institution’s F Block, where his execution will take place.
IDOC Director Josh Tewalt confirmed in a statement that Creech will be put to death by lethal injection and that the department has procured the chemicals necessary to administer his sentence.
The announcement came a day after the IDOC said it had completed modifications to its F Block necessitated by the state’s botched Feb. 28 execution of Creech.
With the septuagenarian strapped to a gurney, the medical team was unable to establish an IV line to administer the lethal cocktail, and his death was called off.
The IDOC said in a statement Tuesday that it had lacked “the appropriate environment to conduct the procedure” but over the summer, the F Block “was renovated to create an execution preparation room to establish venous access.”
It also revised its execution protocols “to reflect how the new space affects the protocols and sequence of procedures,” it said.
Creech has been convicted of killing five people, four in 1974 in Portland, Ore., and Sacramento, Calif., for which he received life sentences. The death penalty was handed down after he pleaded guilty for beating a fellow inmate to death with a sock filled with batteries in 1981.
However, Creech has confessed to killing more than two dozen people, claiming he was 15 years old when he killed his first victim.
Following its failure in late February to kill Creech, the state’s attorney general, Raul Labrador, described it as a delay of justice.
“Today is a sad day for the families of his victims, and a continuation of the pain they have endured for almost five decades,” Labrador said in a statement. “Our duty is to seek justice for the many victims and their families who experienced the brutality and senselessness of his actions.”
Following the issuance of the death warrant Wednesday, Creech’s attorney, Deborah Czuba, said she was “heartbroken and angered” that the state would try again to execute her client before conducting an official review of what caused the state’s initial failure.
“The level of recklessness puts Idaho in a class by itself, as other states that botched executions took significant steps to examine what went wrong before trying again,” Czuba, supervising attorney for the Capital Habeas Unit of the Federal Defenders of Idaho, said in a statement to local media.
“Idaho has now made itself the first state in the history of the country to try to use lethal injection a second time on the same inmate after failing the first time.”
According to the IDOC, there have been three executions since Idaho enacted its death penalty statute in 1977.
There are nine people on Idaho’s death row, including Creech, who was sentenced to death in 1983, making him the state’s longest-serving death row inmate.
The results are in for the Idaho Lottery’s draw games on Monday, April 20, 2026.
Here’s a look at winning numbers for each game on April 20.
09-17-36-47-64, Powerball: 26, Power Play: 3
Check Powerball payouts and previous drawings here.
Day: 9-5-5
Night: 1-3-9
Check Pick 3 payouts and previous drawings here.
Day: 9-3-4-7
Night: 6-9-2-8
Check Pick 4 payouts and previous drawings here.
05-07-31-41-43, Star Ball: 07, ASB: 02
Check Lotto America payouts and previous drawings here.
05-12-27-33-45
Check Idaho Cash payouts and previous drawings here.
19-37-40-41-53, Bonus: 02
Check Millionaire for Life payouts and previous drawings here.
Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results
This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a USA Today editor. You can send feedback using this form.
I remember watching a documentary about Idaho’s wildlands. A narrator said there were probably many parts of the state where no human being has ever set foot. I believe that, but I stay relatively close to the highways. If I were 30 years younger, I would probably enjoy exploring the back country, but today, unless a plane takes me in and out, it’s not happening. I can’t say definitively that there is one spot that I find better than others. We’re surrounded by beautiful terrain, however. One place keeps calling me back.
When I go over the mountain between Gooding and Fairfield, I take time to stop at the overlook above the Camas Prairie. It reminds me of a scene in Exodus, where the Paul Newman character takes an American woman to look across a flat plain leading to Mount Tabor. He explains that’s the site where Deborah gathered her armies. It makes me feel there is something godly about the Camas Prairie. I keep going back to this spot. Sometimes I take along a folding chair and sit and look at the world below.
Fairfield may be nothing more than a blip as people speed down Route 20, but it’s their loss. On the other side of the highway is some of the prettiest country in Idaho. It’s going to be a lot less lush this spring, but drought conditions haven’t been nearly as severe in the central highlands. But if I’m granted a few more years by the Almighty, I plan to see the prairie for many more springs.
What was once a great little summer escape has become a total headache according to the internet
Gallery Credit: Mateo, 103.5 KISS FM
The results are in for the Idaho Lottery’s draw games on Sunday, April 19, 2026.
Here’s a look at winning numbers for each game on April 19.
Day: 9-5-1
Night: 8-0-6
Check Pick 3 payouts and previous drawings here.
Day: 2-7-0-3
Night: 4-3-3-3
Check Pick 4 payouts and previous drawings here.
15-28-31-38-45
Check Idaho Cash payouts and previous drawings here.
32-42-52-53-55, Bonus: 05
Check Millionaire for Life payouts and previous drawings here.
Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results
This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a USA Today editor. You can send feedback using this form.
Havana in Atlanta: 6 Cuban restaurants we keep craving
10 years later, our Prince superfan shares his Prince Pilgrimage
Indianapolis Democrat Andrea Hunley to seek bid for mayor’s job in 2027
Kozora: Pittsburgh Steelers 2026 Mock Draft (Final Version)
Geoff Duncan visits Augusta to campaign on Monday
US industry leaders take sport fishing issues to Washington DC – Angling International
Rabbi Leibel Alevsky, Chabad of Northeast Ohio founder and director, dies at 86
Man charged after driving 100 mph in East Austin, crashing into bus station: affidavit
