By Ruth Brown, Idaho Reports
Fourth Judicial District Judge Jason Scott signed a death warrant on Tuesday for Thomas Creech, scheduling his execution for Feb. 28.
The death warrant comes the day after the Idaho Commission of Pardons and Parole announced its denial of Creech’s commutation request.
The Idaho Department of Correction confirmed it had the necessary chemicals for an execution by lethal injection.
Creech, 73, has been on death row since 1983 for the beating death of fellow inmate David Jensen in 1981. Jensen is the fifth murder conviction on Creech’s record.
Per IDOC policy, immediately after being presented with the death warrant, Creech was moved to a cell in Idaho Maximum Security Institution’s F-block, where the execution will take place.
At the time of Jensen’s death, Creech was already incarcerated for the 1974 murders of Edward T. Arnold and John Wayne Bradford in Valley County. Creech also had prior convictions related to the earlier murders in Oregon and California.
Deborah Czuba, supervising attorney for the Capital Habeas Unit of the Federal Defender Services of Idaho, issued a statement Tuesday evening.
“We are hardly surprised state prosecutors aggressively obtained a death warrant as they relentlessly pursue a campaign of vengeance against Tom Creech,” Czuba wrote. “We are far from done fighting to save him from a needless execution. Ultimately, it will be impossible for them to execute the Tom Creech of 1974. He died inside Tom a long time ago, replaced by a harmless, remorseful, compassionate old man who has evolved into a valued, respected and beloved member of the prison community in which he has lived and been punished for 50 years.”
Creech is scheduled to go before the Idaho Supreme Court on Feb. 5 for hearings on an ineffective assistance by counsel claim. He’s also challenging his death sentence from 1995. At the time, judges could impose a death sentence. Today, a jury is involved in determining whether a crime should be punished by death. He’s asking that his case be remanded back to the district court.
The two most recent executions by lethal injection in Idaho were those of Paul Ezra Rhoades in November 2011 and Richard Leavitt in June 2012.
This story will be updated as more information becomes available.
Ruth Brown | Producer
Ruth Brown grew up in South Dakota and her first job out of college was covering the South Dakota Legislature. She’s since moved on to Idaho lawmakers. Brown spent 10 years working in print journalism, including newspapers such as the Idaho Statesman and Idaho Press, where she’s covered everything from the correctional system to health care issues. She joined Idaho Reports in 2021 and looks forward to telling stories about how state policy can impact the lives of regular Idahoans.