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.
On October 11, Idaho Fish and Game District Conservation Officer Tim Klucken received calls regarding several carcasses and wasted meat from both mule deer and elk found in Game Management Unit 68 in the Big Desert.
Officer Klucken’s investigation took him to Winters Road just north of Crystal Ice Cave Road directly west of Aberdeen where he found the heads and hides from both mule deer does and fawns and wasted meat from one mule deer and one elk.
“It is not known if the does and fawns were taken unlawfully,” said Klucken. “There are a few opportunities in southern and eastern Idaho where it is legal to harvest an antlerless deer at this time of year. It’s possible that hunters harvested the animals where it was legal to do so, and simply dropped the heads and hides at this site after taking the meat. Until we get more information or something breaks in the investigation, we just won’t know for sure.”
Klucken pointed out that the wasted front quarters from an adult mule deer and an elk left at the site, though not necessarily by the same individual(s), is absolutely a violation.
“It is required by Idaho law to take the edible portions of any game animal,” said Klucken. “In the case of mule deer and elk, that includes front and hind quarters, loins and tenderloins.”
If anyone has any information regarding this case or any wildlife violation, please contact Officer Tim Klucken at 208-390-0626 or the Citizens Against Poaching hotline at 1-800-632-5999. Callers may remain anonymous and those with information leading to an arrest are eligible for rewards.
The state of Idaho has renovated the F Block unit at the Idaho Maximum Security Institution south of Boise to create a new execution preparation room, the Idaho Department of Correction announced Tuesday.
The move to create a new execution preparation room and update the Idaho Department of Correction procedures and protocols for executions occurred after the department was unable to carry out the scheduled execution of convicted murderer Thomas Creech on Feb. 28, Idaho Department of Correction officials said.
On Feb. 28, Idaho Department of Correction Director Josh Tewalt halted Creech’s execution after the medical team was unable to establish an IV line to administer the lethal injection chemicals to Creech, the Sun previously reported.
The cost for this phase of F Block renovations was $313,915, which included F Block imaging, design and engineering for total F Block renovations and phase one construction, Idaho Department of Correction public information officer Sanda Kuzeta-Cerimagic said. Those costs do not include additional funding that would be needed to create a secure facility in F Block to carry out an execution by firing squad, which the Idaho Legislature added as an alternative form of execution in 2023. Total costs for phase two of construction to accommodate executions by both lethal injection and firing squad are an estimated $952,589.
The new execution preparation room at Idaho Maximum Security Institution allows the medical team to have an alternative method to establish a central line to administer lethal injection chemicals when the team cannot establish a peripheral IV access – like what happened to Creech – Idaho Department of Correction officials said.
“Central lines are commonly used in medical situations for the administration of IV fluids or medications when it is difficult to establish or maintain peripheral venous access,” the Idaho Department of Correction said in a press release issued Tuesday.
“Our previous protocols proved effective at protecting the integrity of the process and ensuring adherence with 8th amendment protections against cruel and unusual punishment,” Tewalt said in a written statement. “These changes enhance the state’s ability to carry out an execution by lethal injection by ensuring we have the infrastructure in place to establish IV access,” Tewalt added.
That infrastructure, according to an article at IdahoCapitalSun.com (shorturl.at/XPcKt), is further bolstered by the nation’s cyber defense arm, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. CISA was formed in 2018 after Russia’s attempts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election, providing state and local governments no-cost cybersecurity support — assessments and training — ahead of elections.
CISA Director Jen Easterly cited Russia, Iran and China as the adversaries most intent on trying to weaken the U.S. through election interference.
“We know (they) are very intent on doing two things: undermining American confidence in the security of our election and in our democracy, and trying to stoke partisan rancor and discord,” she said.
Sound familiar?
McGrane noted that the American system of every state conducting its own elections helps thwart outside interference attempts, and Easterly added that our diverse systems used to cast votes aren’t connected to the internet, creating another steep challenge for interferers to hurdle.
Keep in mind that the federal government doesn’t conduct elections — that’s done only at local and state levels — so skeptics can’t blame Uncle Sam for manipulating processes or results.
With Idaho elections safe and secure, beware anyone trying to cast doubt on ballot counts. Such claims will only support the conclusion that the war against malignant interests, from without and within, is not over.
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