{"id":85831,"date":"2024-01-11T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-01-11T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=85831"},"modified":"2024-01-12T21:12:36","modified_gmt":"2024-01-12T21:12:36","slug":"idahos-longest-serving-death-row-prisoner-wants-a-life-sentence-he-has-surprising-allies-the-idaho-statesman-id-idahos-longestserving-death-row-prisoner-wants-life-sentence-20240111","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=85831","title":{"rendered":"Idaho\u2019s longest-serving death row prisoner wants a life sentence. He has surprising allies [The Idaho Statesman :: ID-IDAHOS-LONGESTSERVING-DEATH-ROW-PRISONER-WANTS-LIFE-SENTENCE-20240111]"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kathy Niecko used to frequent Idaho\u2019s death row as a health care worker at the maximum security prison, making the rounds to check on her patients. That included the prisoner who has been there the longest, Thomas Creech<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In the ensuing years, after she was promoted to be the prison\u2019s health services administrator in 2006, Niecko, a U.S. military veteran, began to trust Creech with her own well-being.<\/p>\n

She recalled a time or two when the doors on a few of the prisoners\u2019 cells malfunctioned. They swung open while she was walking the row to go speak with a prisoner, she said. And if it happened again, she told correction officers at the time, she wouldn\u2019t be afraid to run to Creech\u2019s cell, confident that he would ensure she was protected, she told the Idaho Statesman in an interview.<\/p>\n

\u201cI said to them, \u2018Just so you know, if I\u2019m ever out there and all those doors pop open or there starts to be a riot,\u2019 I said, \u2018I\u2019m booking it to Creech\u2019s cell and slamming the door,\u2019 \u201d Niecko said.<\/p>\n

Niecko, of Meridian, retired from the site of the state\u2019s most violent imprisoned population in 2014, though other employees at the Idaho Department of Correction said Creech\u2019s pleasant demeanor remains the same a decade later. During Niecko\u2019s 13-year tenure working at the prison, Creech had always shown himself to be very respectful, she told the Statesman, especially to her female medical staff in the all-male prison.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe really watched out for them,\u201d Niecko said. \u201cHe was so different than any of the other death row inmates I\u2019d ever been around.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, Niecko is one of at least seven former state prison workers advocating on behalf of Creech, 73 \u2014 who was convicted of four murders \u2014 in his bid to have the state reduce his sentence to life in prison. So strong were the bonds that Creech developed with some IDOC workers that a guard at the time even introduced Creech to his mother, whom Creech later married from prison.<\/p>\n

The Idaho Commission of Pardons and Parole agreed to consider Creech\u2019s clemency request<\/a> at a hearing on Jan. 19, the result of which Gov. Brad Little has the final say<\/a> if he chooses.<\/p>\n

The parole board\u2019s decision halted the state\u2019s latest attempt to execute Creech during his half-century of incarceration \u2014 the majority of that time on death row.<\/p>\n

Death sentence stems from murder of fellow prisoner<\/h3>\n

Creech, who grew up in Ohio, is a notorious figure among Idaho\u2019s eight death row prisoners, in part because of his length of stay. Since he was first sentenced to death in 1976 for the murder of two men in Valley County, Creech has avoided a scheduled execution at least 11 times, according to records previously provided to the Statesman by his attorneys.<\/p>\n

Supporters often characterize Creech as cooperative, friendly and engaging with prison employees and his fellow prisoners \u2014 on death row and otherwise. He\u2019s artistic, plays the guitar and is a prodigious poet who sends his work to prison staffers. Over the course of his imprisonment, he\u2019s become a deeply Christian man who prays several times a day, narratives included in his clemency petition submitted to the parole board stated.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere have been some death row inmates that I\u2019ve taken care of that \u2026 you can tell there is no remorse at all with them,\u201d Niecko said. \u201cBut I really do believe there\u2019s some remorse with Creech. I really do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Creech\u2019s poems, Niecko said, some of which were included in his clemency petition, depict the side that supporters highlight. In his work, Creech frequently explores his personal faith, his trust in God and his admiration for the people who are the protectors of the world \u2014 including prison workers.<\/p>\n

\u201cBlessed are the peacemakers,\u201d Creech penned in a 2007 poem by the same name. \u201cFor they shall be called the children of God. \u2026 Their days are surrounded by unstable men that society has sent away.\u201d<\/p>\n

The portrayal comes in sharp contrast to Creech\u2019s criminal history. His detractors commonly refer to him as a \u201cserial killer,\u201d most recently including the 1981 beating death of fellow prisoner David Dale Jensen. Creech pleaded guilty to murder, prompting his latest death sentence, the only one still standing and under review by the parole board.<\/p>\n

Creech, then 30, and Jensen, a 23-year-old man from Pocatello convicted of felony car theft, got into a fight while they were both serving time in maximum security prison<\/a>. Jensen was partially disabled, with impaired speech and motor skills, after a portion of his brain had been removed and a plastic plate embedded in his skull, .<\/p>\n

The court records also detailed the incident: Jensen swung at Creech with a sock filled with batteries, which Creech took away. Jensen returned with a razor blade mounted to a toothbrush and Creech hit him in the head with the sock weapon, knocking him to the ground and shattering the plastic plate that protected his brain. Blood from Jensen\u2019s skull splattered onto the floor and walls. After the batteries broke from the sock, Creech kicked Jensen in the throat and head.<\/p>\n

When a prison guard came across the blood, Jensen was sent to a hospital, where he died that day. Creech was charged with first-degree murder.<\/p>\n

\u201cThomas Creech is a serial killer convicted of numerous atrocious murders and was lawfully sentenced to death in a court of law,\u201d Madison Hardy, the governor\u2019s spokesperson, said in a statement in October after the parole board granted Creech a clemency hearing. \u201cHe also bragged about killing many other people in other states but was never convicted of those crimes. Gov. Little supports capital punishment because it is sometimes the only way to bring justice upon evildoers and provide victims\u2019 families with some measure of peace.\u201d<\/p>\n

Creech has at points, including under oath, claimed responsibility for killing as many as 42 people by the time he was 24 years old. He later lowered that total to 26 murders that he committed, or at least participated in. Creech has been convicted of four murders, though the larger numbers have added to his notoriety \u2014 in and outside the prison. He was convicted of a 1974 murder in Oregon after already receiving a death sentence in Idaho for the two Valley County murders.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was obviously a murderer, though I\u2019ve never been sure whether the number of people he killed was in the teens or the 40s,\u201d former Ada County Prosecutor Jim Harris, who prosecuted Creech for Jensen\u2019s murder, told the Statesman in October. \u201cLet\u2019s face it, the guy is a really, really, really good killer. He\u2019s certainly proven that in his life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Creech\u2019s 256-page clemency petition paints a different picture and includes 19 signed letters from supporters, including the seven former IDOC workers. The others are from fellow prisoners, his wife and sister, longtime friends and the judge who sentenced Creech to death and now agrees he should be spared from execution.<\/p>\n

Which version of Creech the parole board settles on could be the difference in whether they recommend his sentence be reduced to life in prison, or he\u2019s eventually served a 12th death warrant and once again scheduled to die by lethal injection<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Creech\u2019s execution poised to take \u2018emotional toll\u2019<\/h3>\n

Executions have the potential to cause secondary trauma for those charged with carrying out capital punishment and the people who know the prisoner put to death, according to academic research. The phenomenon is also sometimes referred to as \u201ccompassion fatigue.\u201d<\/p>\n

Matthew Barry Johnson is a psychology professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City who has made secondary trauma originating from state-sponsored executions<\/a> an area of focus. The concept has in recent years become more widely recognized but still lacks sufficient scientific study, because death penalty states have not been willing to give researchers access to their execution processes<\/a> or the people involved in them, he told the Statesman by phone.<\/p>\n

\u201cDiscussions of the death penalty are largely about, does this particular individual who has been condemned deserve to live or be killed?\u201d Johnson said. \u201cWhat we\u2019ve tried to do is ask, \u2018What are the other impacts, are they substantial, and also are they being taken into consideration regarding this policy for the typical citizen?\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n

The idea was one presented by Jeanette Griggs, another of the former IDOC workers who is backing Creech for a reduced sentence to life in prison. Griggs, who worked as a ranking corrections officer in Idaho until retiring in 2007, said she has long believed in the death penalty but raised concerns about the pain it would cause others who have interacted with him over the decades.<\/p>\n

\u201cI strongly believe executing Mr. Creech will be emotionally stressful for the staff who have gotten to know him,\u201d Griggs wrote in her signed declaration. \u201cHow can anyone have any kind of relationship with an inmate for that long and not be impacted by it? I know Mr. Creech\u2019s execution will take an emotional toll on me, even though I retired 16 years ago and have not had any contact with him since then.\u201d<\/p>\n

Former IDOC Director Brent Reinke steered the state\u2019s two most recent executions, in 2011 and 2012, both by lethal injection. While he told the Statesman he had no misgivings about his past involvement in them, Reinke acknowledged the difficulties the situation presents, including for IDOC employees.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe made sure that there was counseling available in all areas, because of the challenges you can run into with this,\u201d he said. \u201cSo I can vouch for the fact that it is a very traumatic event.\u201d<\/p>\n

In her support letter for Creech, Griggs wrote about her personal experience as a state prison worker during the execution of prisoner Keith Wells in 1994 \u2014 Idaho\u2019s first by lethal injection.<\/p>\n

\u201cNearly 30 years have passed since his execution, and I can still recall my mental stress and emotional distress surrounding it,\u201d Griggs said. At the time, she thought she was mentally prepared. But when she arrived at work the next morning and was told about the execution, she wrote, she had to step into an empty hallway as she struggled to compose herself.<\/p>\n

Niecko also remembered the state\u2019s other two lethal injection executions to date during Reinke\u2019s watch, of convicted murderers Paul Rhoades in 2011 and Richard Leavitt in 2012. A number of prison guards and medical staff noted their discomfort to Niecko, she said, expressing their concerns if it were ever \u201cCreech\u2019s turn.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some were vocal that they wouldn\u2019t come to work that day, Niecko said, and suggested that they would either call in sick or schedule vacation.<\/p>\n

Creech\u2019s execution would deliver sadness to many, Niecko said. She counts herself among them.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think there will be a lot of people that will be affected if he\u2019s gone,\u201d she said. \u201cI just see nothing to be gained by his execution, nothing at this point in time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Former IDOC workers to testify<\/h3>\n

Niecko plans to testify at Creech\u2019s Jan. 19 clemency hearing. Creech also has two standing appeals before the Idaho Supreme Court. Both are scheduled for oral arguments next month.<\/p>\n

One appeal argues that Creech\u2019s death sentence is unconstitutional because a judge imposed it. The U.S. Supreme Court set a revised standard in 2002 that the death penalty may only be decided by a jury.<\/p>\n

The other appeal argues that Creech received ineffective legal counsel during his prosecution for the Jensen murder. Creech\u2019s history of childhood physical and sexual abuse, and traumatic head injuries, each contributing to mental health problems, were not presented to the judge for consideration at sentencing, his attorneys contend.<\/p>\n

Before then, former Idaho maximum security deputy warden Gary Hartgrove hopes the parole board \u2014 and Little \u2014 will decide to allow Creech to live out his life in prison. Hartgrove retired from IDOC in 2020 after more than 40 years in corrections, including five of them helping to manage the state\u2019s death row, where Creech remains imprisoned.<\/p>\n

\u201cI walked death row regularly and got to know all the inmates on the tier including Creech,\u201d Hartgrove said in his signed declaration included in the clemency petition. \u201cI am aware of the crime that he was convicted of perpetrating.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hartgrove, of Eagle, bristles at arguments that the death penalty is the only way to ensure that violent prisoners, including Creech, are adequately punished for their past crimes.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just don\u2019t believe at his age, in his health \u2014 he\u2019s really kind of benign in the unit \u2014 that an execution is absolutely necessary and what we need to do to protect society,\u201d Hartgrove told the Statesman in a phone interview.<\/p>\n

Other state prison workers may seek to testify as well. On Monday, IDOC Director Josh Tewalt sent an all-staff email, which the department provided to the Statesman, granting permission to all IDOC employees to testify at Creech\u2019s hearing if they choose. They can do so without fear of any form of retaliation, the email read.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile I won\u2019t speak for anyone else, I know all too well the internal conflict and difficulty that comes from implementing this law while still believing wholeheartedly in the capacity for redemption,\u201d Tewalt wrote. \u201cIt is a lot to reconcile.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe decision to testify in this matter is entirely yours. While your opinions may have been formed in an official capacity with IDOC, your testimony is offered in a personal capacity. Please be mindful that you are representing yourself and not IDOC.\u201d<\/p>\n

Creech\u2019s attorneys with the nonprofit Federal Defender Services of Idaho criticized the timing of his message to IDOC employees, which left them with limited chance to decide whether to participate in their client\u2019s clemency hearing.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the eleventh hour, with only about a week left before the hearing, we have little if any time to find and organize support from within IDOC staff,\u201d Deborah A. Czuba, supervising attorney for the legal nonprofit\u2019s death penalty unit, said in a statement to the Statesman. \u201cThis is unfair to Mr. Creech, as it is well known that he is widely backed by the (prison) rank-and-file, many of whom have grown up with him and believe he deserves mercy, and who will certainly suffer if he is executed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Creech says \u2018I\u2019ve changed\u2019<\/h3>\n

After he was sentenced to death for Jensen\u2019s murder in 1982, Creech told the Associated Press<\/a> in an interview that he preferred just to be executed.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think dying would be best,\u201d Creech said, describing Jensen\u2019s death as an act of self-defense. \u201cI don\u2019t really think I should die for the Jensen murder, no. \u2026 But I pleaded guilty to first-degree murder. I just think it would be best for my family, because if they put me back at the Idaho Penitentiary, I\u2019ll kill again, there\u2019s no doubt about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Creech\u2019s past request differs dramatically from his signed declaration included in his clemency petition. Creech\u2019s attorneys declined to make him available to the Statesman for an interview.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve changed a lot since 1981,\u201d Creech wrote. \u201cI\u2019m not the person I was. I believe I\u2019ve touched a lot of hearts in the last 40 years. If my sentence were commuted to life in prison without the possibility of parole, I would do my best to continue having a positive impact on people\u2019s lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

Former state prison guard Rodney Schlienz agreed that Creech is not the same man today that he once was. He noticed Creech changed after he married his wife, LeAnn, in 1998.<\/p>\n

\u201cThough never a problem, Tom seemed to develop a brighter outlook on life,\u201d Schlienz wrote in his support letter for Creech. \u201cI have nothing negative to say about Tom. \u2026 I think it would be fair for him to be resentenced to life without parole.\u201d<\/p>\n

Creech met his wife two years before they married while he was on death row. Her son was a guard at the prison and introduced them, according to LeAnn Creech\u2019s signed declaration in support of her husband.<\/p>\n

She also referenced the personal torment she would experience if her husband of 25 years were executed. LeAnn Creech said she would be devastated if the state enforced his death sentence. She declined to comment by email to the Statesman.<\/p>\n

\u201cTom is my whole life,\u201d she wrote. \u201cIf he were executed, I think I would crawl up into a ball and just give up. I have a lot of health problems, and being there for Tom is what keeps me going.\u201d<\/p>\n

The governor, a staunch supporter of the death penalty, has the authority to reject the parole board\u2019s recommendation, whether it maintains Creech\u2019s death penalty or grants him clemency. Little pledged earlier this month to allow the process to play out before making any decisions about Creech.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen those come to me, it usually isn\u2019t just a black and white,\u201d Little told the Statesman at a media event ahead of the start of the legislative session. \u201cIt\u2019s usually, here\u2019s that condition, and until I know \u2014 until that hearing takes place \u2014 I have no idea, because what were their grounds for doing that? And that\u2019s what will help me make my determination.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2021, Gerald Pizzuto<\/a>, another death row prisoner convicted of four murders, came before the parole board for a clemency hearing. The seven-member commission voted to reduce Pizzuto\u2019s sentence to life in prison, which Little immediately blocked to maintain his death sentence.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe severity of Pizzuto\u2019s brutal, senseless and indiscriminate killing spree strongly warrants against commutation,\u201d Little said in his statement at the time<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Hartgrove, the former deputy warden of the Idaho maximum security prison, said he thinks Creech would pose little risk to other prisoners if he received a reduced life sentence, including if he were released back into the prison\u2019s general population.<\/p>\n

After more than 40 years of incarceration, Creech should be spared from execution, Harris, Ada County\u2019s former elected prosecutor, agreed. But it\u2019s because Harris thinks the judicial system has failed for decades to deliver on the rightful sentence, not because Creech didn\u2019t deserve capital punishment, he said.<\/p>\n

Harris expressed reservations about Creech returning to the general prison population if he were granted the reduced sentence. Creech has a track record of developing connections with prison staff and law enforcement, Harris said, but preserving conflict with other prisoners he doesn\u2019t like. Creech and Jensen were rivals, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo if he goes back into the yard, he\u2019s going to be confronted with these people that obviously some of whom he probably won\u2019t like,\u201d Harris said. \u201cThere\u2019s definitely a possibility that he\u2019d find a way to at least attempt to kill somebody out in the yard. That\u2019s been his history, and different things set him off, obviously.\u201d<\/p>\n

To those who have worked in the state prison system or continue to do so and have taken issue with Creech\u2019s possible execution, Harris is blunt.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese employees are state employees, and have to do what they\u2019re ordered to do,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd if they think a death penalty situation is going to interrupt their lifestyle or philosophy of life, or be considered something they don\u2019t want to do, then they should look for another job.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reinke, the former IDOC director from 2007 to 2014, said he understands the emotional challenges those workers may face.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no question that it\u2019s a very difficult situation,\u201d he said. \u201cBut when you look at the laws of the state of Idaho, that\u2019s what you\u2019re there to carry out.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a92024 The Idaho Statesman. Visit idahostatesman.com<\/a>. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.<\/a> <\/p>\n

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Kathy Niecko used to frequent Idaho\u2019s death row as a health care worker at the maximum security prison, making the rounds to check on her patients. That included the prisoner who has been there the longest, Thomas Creech. In the ensuing years, after she was promoted to be the prison\u2019s health services administrator in 2006, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-85831","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85831","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=85831"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85831\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":85832,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85831\/revisions\/85832"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=85831"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=85831"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=85831"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}