The Idaho Supreme Court denied the motion to stay the execution of Thomas Creech, Idaho’s longest-serving death row inmate.
The state issued a death warrant last week and scheduled the execution for Feb. 28, 2024. Idaho code mandates the execution date be set within 30 days of a death warrant.
On Monday, Creech's legal team asked for information on the drugs the state plans to use for the execution. They say the state won’t confirm or deny whether the drugs were provided by a veterinarian, were obtained from another country or if they came from a now defunct pharmaceutical company that recalled all its drugs.
“The district court’s judgment dismissing Creech’s petition as untimely is affirmed. Shortly before oral argument Creech moved to stay his execution date of February 28, 2024, as set forth in the death warrant,” wrote the Supreme Court Justices in their opinion. “Having issued this opinion more than fourteen days before February 28, we see no need to stay the execution date set forth in the death warrant. Creech’s motion to stay execution is therefore denied”.
Creech has been convicted of killing multiple people, including two men in Valley County in 1974, and most recently, beating another inmate, David Dale Jensen, to death in 1981 that he claimed was self-defense.
Creech pled guilty to First Degree Murder in 1981 and Judge Robert G. Newhouse imposed the death sentence in 1995, according to a recent court filing.
The State of Idaho secured the necessary drugs for a lethal injection in October 2023.
