Thomas Eugene Creech (born September 9, 1950) is an American serial killer who was convicted of two murders committed in 1974 and sentenced to death in Idaho.
[7] In a letter that Creech sent to KIVI-TV decades after the fact, he claimed that his wife had been raped by a gang of men and then thrown out a window, causing her debilitating physical and mental injuries that were the primary contributors for her decision to end her life.
[7] On November 6, 1974, Creech and Spaulding were hitchhiking in Idaho from Lewiston south to Donnelly when a 1956-model Buick Century, operated by two house painters, 34-year-old Edward Thomas Arnold and 30-year-old John Wayne Bradford, picked them up.
[7] Along the way, Creech pulled out a rifle and shot both of them in the head, then hid their bodies in a barrow pit along Highway 55 in Valley County near Donnelly, north of Cascade.
[7][10][11] In the meantime, Creech had befriended a 26-year-old named Gene Alvin Hilby, who later agreed to bury the rifle at his behest, unaware that it was a murder weapon.
[12][13][14][15] While both of them were arraigned on murder charges,[16] Creech was cleared of his supposed involvement with the death threats,[17] as it was determined that it was just rumors that spread from a police officer, one of Hart's campaign managers and a prosecutor.
[14][15][19] About a week after his arrest, Creech attempted to commit suicide by slashing his wrists with a broken piece of mirror, but managed only a minor injury before being restrained by prison guards and moved to another cell.
[24] A month later, Creech attempted to sue the Idaho Statesman for supposedly violating his right to a fair trial by publishing information on other crimes he was either convicted or suspected of, thus possibly prejudicing the public against him.
[25] In August, shortly after a change of venue from Cascade to Wallace (in Shoshone County) was accepted, Creech was sent to the hospital for stitches after suffering injuries caused from falling out of his bunk bed in his cell and hitting his head.
[26][27] In October, it was ruled that an alleged confession, in which Creech, who initially had claimed was not near the murder site, says that he had shot and killed the two men after they pulled a knife on them and threatened to rape Spaulding, could be admitted as evidence in the upcoming trial.
[28] After his taking the stand at his trial in October 1975, Creech shocked the entire nation when he readily admitted his responsibility in 42 murders in nearly a dozen states.
[2] He also directed the authorities to two alleged burial grounds in Los Angeles County, where he claimed they could locate 100 victims, but the searches only turned up a cow bone.
[2] Nonetheless, they were able to link him to the murders of nine victims in total, none of whom were killed in supposed "Satanic sacrifices": Gordon Lee Stanton and Charles Thomas Miller in Las Vegas, Nevada; 22-year-old William Joseph Dean, the man whose body was found in his church living quarters in Portland, Oregon; 19-year-old Salem store clerk Sandra Jane Ramsamoog, who was killed not long after Dean; 22-year-old Riogley Stewart McKenzie near Baggs, Wyoming, and 50-year-old Vivian Grant Robinson in Sacramento, California.
[3] Among his credible victims was 70-year-old retiree Paul C. Schrader, who was stabbed to death in an apparent robbery at the Downtown Motor Hotel in Tucson, Arizona, on October 23, 1973.
[33] Creech, who at that time was working as a cook in the El Bambi Cafe in Beaver, Utah, was later arrested for disorderly conduct and identified as the suspect after a routine police check revealed that he was wanted for Schrader's murder.
[1] Just days before the rejection of his clemency plea in 2024, Creech was found to be the true perpetrator behind the unsolved murder of Daniel Walker in San Bernardino, California in October 1974.
"[52] He asked the victim's father for forgiveness and stated his wish to be executed as he did not want to die in solitary confinement; however, Creech has since changed his mind having appealed his sentence for Jensen's murder for over 40 years.
One of the prosecutors at his original trial, Jim Harris, later said in an interview that he wished Creech to be taken off death row as he considered that his case had cost the taxpayers too much for an execution that possibly may never happen.
[4] In 2020, Creech and another death row inmate, Gerald Pizzuto, filed a federal lawsuit in which they claimed their rights were violated by the state's secrecy surrounding the execution protocol.
However, one hour past the designated 10:00 a.m. execution time, it was announced that the medical team had failed to successfully establish an intravenous line for the lethal injection drugs.