IDAHO, USA — The Idaho Supreme Court denied a motion to stay Thomas Creech's Feb. 28 execution early Friday evening.
Creech, 73, is Idaho's longest-serving death row inmate. It is still unknown at what time or how he will be executed.
"We see no need to stay the execution date set forth in the death warrant," the court stated.
Creech's lawyers filed the motion in late January. They argued Creech's death sentence, imposed by a judge in 1995 without the participation of a jury, was unlawful "based on the prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment under the U.S. Constitution and the Idaho Constitution."
KTVB reached out to the Attorney General's Office but has not heard back. The Federal Defender Services of Idaho called the decision "disappointing."
"We will continue to fight to keep the government from killing a harmless, deeply remorseful old man who is beloved by the prison staff that will have to carry out his execution," a supervising attorney said in a statement to KTVB.
Originally from Ohio, Creech's five murder convictions span Idaho, Oregon and California. His first conviction was in 1975 after killing Edward Arnold and John Bradford in Valley County, Idaho, the year before.
A first-degree murder charge was a mandatory death sentence under Idaho law at the time. In 1979, the Idaho Supreme Court ruled that decision unconstitutional. So, Creech's sentence was reduced to life.
While in prison, he was convicted of two other murders also committed in '74 — William Dean of Oregon and Vivian Robinson of California. Those convictions came in 1979 and 1980.
A year later, in '81, Creech murdered fellow inmate David Dale Jensen inside an Idaho State maximum-security prison. Authorities say he beat Jensen to death with a sock full of batteries and stomped on his head and neck.
Once again, a judge put Jensen on death row in 1982. After more than a decade of appeals and a 9th Circuit Court of Appeals decision in '91 reversing that decision, Creech was sentenced to death for the third and final time in 1995.
"If I'm eventually executed, that's part of the price, also," he told KTVB in 1998. "I'll walk out there with my head held up."
Creech has been linked to other murders. Most recently, a California cold case from nearly 50 years.
Even though specifics have not been released about February's execution, the Idaho Department of Corrections said in an October news release it has the chemicals necessary to carry out an execution by lethal injection.
Creech's team can appeal Friday's decision to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Watch more Local News:
See the latest news from around the Treasure Valley and the Gem State in our YouTube playlist:
HERE ARE MORE WAYS TO GET NEWS FROM KTVB:
Download the KTVB News Mobile App
Apple iOS: Click here to download
Google Play: Click here to download
Watch news reports for FREE on YouTube: KTVB YouTube channel
Stream Live for FREE on ROKU: Add the channel from the ROKU store or by searching 'KTVB'.
Stream Live for FREE on FIRE TV: Search ‘KTVB’ and click ‘Get’ to download.