Serial killer Thomas Eugene Creech, one of the country's longest-serving death row inmates, is executed in Idaho.
At 10 a.m. local time, the Idaho Department of Corrections said witnesses had been brought to the execution chamber and the DOC “expects the execution to begin immediately.”
Creech, 73, was sentenced to death for fatally beating a fellow inmate with a sock filled with batteries in 1981. However, he has unfoundedly confessed to up to 42 murders.
He was convicted of five murders in three states and is strongly suspected in at least a half-dozen other murders across the country.
However, Creech has made a final attempt to stay his execution as his lawyers argue that he could be executed using expired lethal injections.
For his last meal, Creech enjoyed fried chicken, mashed potatoes with gravy, corn, rolls, and ice cream.
73-year-old Thomas Creech is scheduled to be executed for the fatal beating of his cellmate in 1981. He was convicted of five murders but has confessed to up to 42 murders across the country
The serial killer is scheduled to be executed on Wednesday at 10 a.m. local time in the death chamber (pictured) of the Maximum Security Institution in Idaho
Before his execution, the Idaho Department of Corrections said he “remained cooperative” and received a visit from his wife and spiritual advisor.
Creech was originally sentenced to death for the 1974 murders of two house painters in Donnelly, Idaho.
His death sentence was overturned two years later by the U.S. Supreme Court, when it banned automatic death sentences and sentenced him to life in prison.
He then attacked and killed his cellmate David Jensen, a disabled man in prison for car theft, with a sock full of batteries in 1981, earning him another death sentence.
Since then, Creech has been on death row for nearly half a century and has been scheduled to be executed 11 times over the years.
His hopes for his execution took a hit this morning as the U.S. Supreme Court rejected his petition for certiorari, meaning it will not block his execution.
Creech expects the governor to postpone his execution at the last minute.
The killer's lawyers have appealed to at least four courts in recent months to try to stop the execution, arguing, among other things, that the state is refusing to say where the execution drugs came from.
They have also requested that his conviction by a judge rather than a jury also overturn the execution, but that request was rejected Friday by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
The Idaho Maximum Security Institution is shown near Kuna, Idaho, on Wednesday, February 28, 2024
Creech was sentenced to death in 1981 for fatally beating his disabled cellmate David Jensen (pictured) with a sock filled with batteries
Just four weeks before his scheduled execution, Creech was found responsible for the 1974 murder of Daniel A. Walker (pictured).
Officials are still unclear how many people Creech killed, as his confessions to nearly 50 murders are seen by some as exaggerated.
Prosecutors have focused on 11 cases they believe he was responsible for, including a cold case that was solved just four weeks ago.
He was found to be the perpetrator of the October 1974 murder of Daniel A. Walker, who was randomly shot as he slept on the side of the road.
According to local news agency KFOR, the dozens of murder confessions were reportedly made under the influence of now discredited “truth serum” drugs.
Creech's countless confessions included outlandish tales of human sacrifice and contract killings for the Hell's Angels biker gang.
He first went on trial in 1973 for the murder of 70-year-old Paul Schrader in Tuscon, Arizona, after he was caught using the man's credit cards and vehicle as he fled to Portland, Oregon.
Although authorities said they were certain he was the killer, a jury acquitted him in that trial.
When Creech was admitted to the Oregon State Hospital the following year, he was given a weekend pass by the institution that allowed him to travel to Sacramento, California, where he murdered Vivian Grant Robinson in her home.
He then reportedly stole her cell phone and called the hospital to tell them his return to Oregon would be delayed by a day.
Robinson's murder remained unsolved until Creech confessed in 1980, by which time he was already serving a life sentence.
At 43, Creech is one of the longest-serving death row inmates in the country
The infamous serial killer is seen behind bars in a recent, undated picture
After his discharge from Oregon State Hospital in 1974, Creech began working maintenance work at a church in Portland.
That year, he shot and killed 22-year-old William Joseph Dean in his church living room before also committing the murder of Sandra Jane Ramsamooj in a nearby grocery store.
His trail of terror ended this year when he and a friend hitchhiked to Idaho and were picked up by two painters.
Painters Thomas Arnold and John Bradford were shot during Creech's trip and his girlfriend led the authorities to him.
While behind bars, Creech has made a number of disturbing confessions, some of which are likely fabricated, while others led officers to find remains.
The substantiated confessions include the murders of Gordon Lee Stanton and Charles Thomas Miller near Las Vegas and Rick Stewart McKenzie, 22, near Baggs, Wyoming, KFOR reports.