By Ruth Brown, Idaho Reports 

Fourth Judicial District Judge Jason Scott signed a death warrant Wednesday for Thomas Creech, the same man the Idaho Department of Correction unsuccessfully attempted to execute in February. 

The warrant sets Creech’s execution for 10 a.m. Nov. 13. Creech is Idaho’s longest serving man on death row after the beating death of fellow inmate David Jensen in 1981. 

Previously set for execution in February, the medical team failed to establish an IV line to administer lethal injection chemicals — despite efforts in Creech’s hands, arms, legs and feet – and the execution was called off.  

Just yesterday, IDOC established a new policy that allows the execution team to establish a catheter in a central vein of the condemned person.  

A central vein is a major vein in the body, usually in the chest, neck or groin. Access to a central vein requires the insertion of a catheter. Previously, IDOC only used the condemned person’s peripheral veins. A peripheral vein is closer to the skin’s surface, such as in the arm or hand, commonly used in things like a blood draw or establishing an IV line on a patient.  

Creech has been on Idaho’s death row since 1983 for a beating death in Ada County. In January, the Commission of Pardons and Parole heard pleas for mercy but ultimately denied Creech’s request for commutation. 

Under the new IDOC execution policy, what witnesses see will look different. Designated execution witnesses will see a live audio and video feed of the newly constructed execution preparation room where IVs are inserted, rather than witnessing it through glass as allowed in prior executions. The condemned would later be moved into the execution chamber, which designated witnesses can see through glass, where the next steps of the execution will take place. 

IDOC said in a news release yesterday that a “qualified physician will establish a central line.” Identities of the medical team are not disclosed. 

Creech’s attorney issued the following statement after the warrant was served. 

“We are heartbroken and angered that Idaho would try again to execute Thomas Creech using virtually the same process and team of executioners, and before conducting any official review of what led to the botched attempt to take his life earlier this year,” said Deborah Czuba, supervising attorney for the Capital Habeas Unit of the Federal Defenders of Idaho in the written statement. 

“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 said. “Arizona, for example, appointed a retired federal judge to conduct an independent review. Tennessee hired a former federal prosecutor to do its investigation. Idaho has instead opted to move forward without any accountability. On top of that, the team that couldn’t find a vein, not once, not twice, but eight times, will now be tasked with carrying out the more complicated and risky procedure of injecting the drugs through a central line.”  

“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,” said Czuba. “The state is sacrificing common decency and humanity in its haste for an execution. Mr. Creech’s legal team is fighting to save Mr. Creech’s life on many fronts. Mr. Creech has spent more than 50 years in prison and is now suffering from significant mental health issues because of the trauma he was subjected to when the state failed to execute him. We hope the courts will recognize the cruel and unusual level of punishment that this remorseful and harmless old man has already been through, and stop a needless execution.”  

---