BOISE, Idaho — Attorneys for death row inmate Thomas Creech submitted a petition to commute his death sentence for the opportunity to change it to life without parole.
As KTVB reported last week, Idaho issued a death warrant for the execution of Creech. The 11-page petition submitted on Oct. 13 argues Creech should not be put to death and allows him to make that case during a hearing.
The document states the judge, who originally sentenced Creech to death row, sees no need for him to be executed and killing him would, "just be an act of vengeance."
It gives examples of interactions he had with prison staff, and argues he has become an "exemplary inmate if re-sentenced to life in prison." The petition claims a 2021 IDOC document shows the last disciplinary offense was issued in 1994, and since he has only received one.
The petition argues it would negatively affect the mental health of prison staff if he is executed. Also, by killing him it would be taking away a positive influence to other inmates.
The document concludes by asking the commission to grant a hearing to present all evidence for him to be placed in life in prison instead of being executed.
Creech pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in 1983 for killing a fellow inmate in 1981 while he was already in prison. He was sentenced to death.
Creech also killed two people in Valley County in 1974 and was sentenced to death for those murders before his sentence was commuted to life in prison.
He was serving that life sentence when he murdered fellow inmate David Jensen.
His case has gone through multiple appeals over the years. The most recent, and last, appeal was denied by the U.S. Supreme Court earlier this week, which led to the state issuing the death warrant.
Creech is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection on Nov. 8.
The full document is below:
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