A serial killer who has been on death row for 41 years has had his execution called off by authorities for the tenth time.
Thomas Eugene Creech was supposed to be the third death row inmate in the US to be executed so far this year.
But a mere hour after Creech went into the death chamber, Department of Correction Director Josh Tewalt canceled the execution after it was determined that “the medical team could not establish an IV line,” according to the Idaho Department of Correction’s website.
“I made the decision to stand down the execution based on the professional advice of our medical team,” Tewalt said in the statement, adding that he would allow Creech’s death date to expire and not try again that day. “It was the right decision.”
The Department of Correction did not reveal how many times the execution of Creech was attempted between 10 and 11AM.
But Federal Defender Services of Idaho said in a statement on February 28 that they “tried and failed 10 times to access Tom’s veins in both of his arms and both legs.”
Federal defenders referred to it as a “botched execution,” claiming that the serum officials had planned to use was “mysteriously acquired pentobarbital.”
“We are angered but not surprised that the State of Idaho botched the execution of Thomas Creech,” they said, adding: “This is precisely the kind of mishap we warned the State and the Courts could happen when attempting to execute one of the country’s oldest death-row inmates in circumstances completely shielded in secrecy despite a well-known history of getting drugs from shady sources.”
Creech - a convicted murderer on death row since 1983 - was found guilty of at least five killings in three states and is suspected in some others, according to the Associated Press.
Listed as one of eight death row inmates in the state, Creech was put on death row for fatally beating a prisoner in Ada County.
In 1981, Creech murdered David Jensen – a young, disabled man, who was behind bars for car theft – by subjecting him to a brutal beating with a battery-filled sock.
Over 40 years later, on the night before Creech was set to be executed, he met with his wife.
For his last meal, Creech opted for fried chicken, mashed potatoes with gravy, corn and rolls. He ate ice cream for dessert.
At 8:34AM on Wednesday, the United States Supreme Court issued orders in which it denied any pending applications to halt the killer's execution.
Those invited to attend his execution were taken into a gallery at around 10AM.
Authorities have not set a new new date for Creech’s execution.
In his statement on Wednesday, Tewalt spoke about the plan to use alternative execution methods.
In January, Alabama executed the first US citizen with nitrogen gas in what Kenneth Eugene Smith’s lawyers referred to as an “experimental, never-before-used method” and which led to backlash after witnesses watched on as Smith convulsed during his execution.
A death row inmate can be put to death by firing squad in some states including South Carolina.
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