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Authorities in Idaho have halted the execution of a 73-year-old convicted serial killer after medical teams were unable to find a vein for a lethal injection.
Thomas Creech, who was imprisoned in 1974 and convicted of five murders in three states, was scheduled to be executed at 10 a.m. Wednesday at the Idaho Maximum Security Institute. According to the state Department of Corrections.
But around 11 a.m., Corrections Commissioner Josh Tewald announced that the execution could not proceed because the medical team was unable to establish an IV line.
Creech was returned to his cell and his death warrant was scheduled to expire at 11:59 p.m., police said.
in A press conference was held at noon on Wednesday.Tewalt said three medical professionals made a total of eight attempts to find Creech’s vein for the IV line.
Tewald said they tried his right arm, then his right leg, then his left arm, then his left leg, but ultimately were unsuccessful.
“We plan to allow the death warrant to expire because we do not foresee any changes in circumstances or circumstances that would allow the execution to continue today,” Tewald said.
Executions in Idaho are rare. There are eight death row inmates in the state.They are just a fraction of the approximately 2,300 people sentenced to death in the United States.
According to local newspapers, Creech’s defense team from the Idaho Department of Defense criticized the Department of Corrections for what they called a “botched” execution. Idaho politician.
“This is exactly what happens when you try to execute one of the nation’s oldest death row inmates in an environment of total secrecy, despite a well-known history of obtaining drugs from dubious sources.” This is the kind of accident we warned the country and the courts about,” said Deborah A. Zuba, a death row lawyer with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Idaho, according to the outlet.
But Tewalt said the stay of Creech’s execution shows the system is working.
“While some may describe today’s events as a failure, the opposite is actually the case. This process is working to prevent failure, and I think that’s an important distinction,” he said in a written statement. The ministry said on its website.
Tewald said authorities are discussing executions by firing squad but are having trouble finding troops and contractors willing to carry out such a mission.
Creech’s murder history — and what he says is a life turnaround
Creech grew up in Ohio, but was arrested in Idaho in 1974 and has been serving time there ever since. He was convicted of three murders in Idaho, one in California, and one in Oregon. According to the Ada County Prosecutor’s Office.
His death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment, but he was put on death row again after bludgeoning a 22-year-old inmate to death in 1983. Prosecutors said he killed his fellow prisoners in order to be transferred to his preferred housing.
Creech has admitted to killing at least 40 other people, and authorities say they have strong evidence linking him to six more murders.
Supporters of Creech’s death penalty commutation say he has changed since his days as a serial killer and renewed his Christian faith in 1993. Wall Street Journal.
According to WSJ, he married his mother, a correctional officer who worked at the detention center, in 1998.
He has been on death row for 43 years and told the Journal that since his conversion in 1993, he has tried to help mentor others in prison.
Ada County Deputy Prosecutor Jill Longhurst said in January: Creech may be ‘attractive’ and ‘likable’ However, he remained a “traditional sociopath”.
Creech is not the only U.S. inmate to be saved from death row, at least temporarily, after an IV failed.
alba campbell The execution of a terminally ill patient was halted in Ohio in 2017 after medical personnel were unable to find a vein. He was 69 years old at the time, and died of illness a year later.