One of the longest serving inmates on death row in the United States is scheduled to be executed on Wednesday — more than 40 years after he was sentenced.
Serial killer Thomas Eugene Creech, 73, who was convicted of five murders and suspected of several others, is expected to be executed at 10am local time (5pm UK time) at a maximum security location. Idaho prison.
Supporters say he has changed and are calling for his sentence to be converted to life in prison, saying he has become kind and supportive while behind bars.
While prosecuting barrister Jill Longhurst acknowledged that he could be polite and friendly to prison staff, she described him as a “psychopath” who lacked remorse and empathy for others.
His last chance to get a last-minute reprieve is to file a petition with the Supreme Court, claiming that the execution should be delayed until the court can weigh Creech's claims that prosecutors lied.
But so far, judges in four courts have rejected a series of late appeals against the death sentence.
What will happen to Krish?
Barring any final orders from the court to stay the execution, Creech will be asked if he would like a light sedative to calm him before he is killed Wednesday morning.
Next, officials will bring him to the execution chamber and strap him to a padded medical table, where volunteers will insert a catheter into one of his veins.
He will have the opportunity to say any final words and the spiritual director will be allowed to pray with him and touch his shoulder, although he cannot hold his hand or make any noise as the injection begins.
Execution chamber. Photo: AP
Krish may also wear a cross and his wife will sit in the witness area, where he can make eye contact with her.
He will then finally be injected with drugs.
Creech crimes
This will end a 50-year prison sentence, after he was originally sentenced to death for the shooting deaths of John Wayne Bradford and Edward Thomas Arnold.
But this sentence was changed to life imprisonment after the state's penal code was found to be unconstitutional.
Then, in 1983, he was sentenced to death for the murder of David Dale Jensen, who was 22, disabled and serving time for carjacking when Creech beat him to death in prison on May 13, 1981.
During Creech's clemency hearing last month, Jensen's family members described him as a gentle soul who loved to hunt and be outdoors.
Jensen's daughter was just four when he died, and she spoke about how painful it was to grow up without a father.
More doubts
In addition to the Idaho murders, Creech was convicted of two murders in 1974 – William Joseph Dean in Oregon and Vivian Grant Robinson in California.
He was also charged with the murder of Sandra Jean Ramasmoog in Oregon that year, but the charge was later dropped in light of his other murder convictions.
In 1973, Creech was tried for the murder of 70-year-old Paul Schrader in Arizona, but was acquitted of the crime.
Authorities still believe he is responsible for Schrader's death, and say Creech provided information that led them to the bodies of two people near Las Vegas and one person in Wyoming.
Late appeals
Creech's supporters are demanding that his sentence be converted to life in prison without parole, saying he is a profoundly changed man.
Several years ago he married the mother of a prison officer, and former employees said he was known for writing poetry and expressing gratitude for the work done by the prison team.
Read more:
A Florida man is executed after being convicted of killing two women in 1996
A man sentenced to death for murder in 1998 was released after a wrongful conviction
Creech's execution, if carried out as expected, will be the second in the United States this year, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
The first was in Alabama last month, when Kenneth Eugene Smith controversially became the first to be executed using nitrogen gas.
Alabama officials said the method was humane and they expected death to take a few minutes, but Smith appeared to remain conscious for several minutes and then He appeared to be writhing in pain for at least two minutes.
