Death row inmate thought he was ‘in the afterlife’ during botched execution

A death row inmate who was part of a botched execution has opened up on the harrowing ordeal.

73-year-old Thomas Creech is one of the few people to have survived a death penalty execution and currently resides in an Idaho prison for nearly five decades after being convicted for five murders committed in three different states. He was scheduled for execution by lethal injection in February but it did not proceed as planned due to several complications.

Medics battled for almost an hour to administer the lethal drug into Creech’s veins at Idaho Maximum Security prison, situated outside Boise. Their trials initially failed on his arms, then hands, and they even endeavoured on his legs before calling everything off.

READ MORE: Death row killer put to death mouths final three words to family moments before execution

It became a harrowing episode for the murder convict, who is strongly implicated in committing more crimes. Opening up for the first time since the botched occasion, the death row convict shared his dreadful ordeal by telling the New York Times: “The worst ones was when they got down to my ankles. I was thinking the whole time that this is really it. I’m dead. This is my day to die.”

Creech’s situation throws light on an increasingly disturbing pattern of bungled executions across the US prisons. It could be attributed to several factors, including inept or untrained executioners, challenges in procuring lethal injections, along with the ageing captive population on death row.

Creech revealed the fear-stricken moments he was plunged into, caused by the repeated needle pricks that brought him close to mortality each time. The pain intensified with every jab, but it was his wife’s presence nearby that gave him strength during his nervy phase.

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In the past five years, at least nine executions in five US states have gone awry, often due to execution teams struggling to find a vein, as reported by the Death Penalty Information Center. In one harrowing instance, officials resorted to cutting open an inmate’s arm to administer the lethal injection, while other executions were halted altogether.

Creech has been on death row for years, where he found love with LeAnn Creech, a prison guard’s mother. They connected after the guard suggested Creech write to her, leading to their marriage in 1998. Before his scheduled execution, Creech enjoyed a last meal of chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy from the prison kitchen. He then spent time bidding farewell to his lawyers, wife, and stepson.

The next morning, he prayed before being strapped to a board in his cell and taken to the execution chamber. The execution team struggled for approximately 42 minutes to insert an IV line before halting the procedure, as stated by Creech’s legal representatives. Josh Tewalt, Idaho’s prison system director, confirmed at a press briefing that the decision to stop the execution was correct.

Tewalt emphasized: “We, from the very beginning, try to be very candid and upfront that this isn’t a do-it-at-any-cost process. Our first objective is to carry this out with dignity, professionalism and respect. And part of that was training and practising for the chance that they were unable to establish IV access.”

Creech and his legal team are in the dark about the identities of the three-person execution team, as prison officials keep such details under wraps. Deborah Czuba, one of Creech’s attorneys, described the executioners as three men clad in blue scrubs with their faces hidden behind white hoods and goggles.

Mz Czuba, reflecting on her client’s harrowing experience, stated that witnessing Creech’s failed execution was a first for her. She said: “I don’t think it’s something you get beyond. I think it’s that scarring, mental-health-wise. It just really devastates a person in a way they can’t come back from.”

The memory of his wife’s face during the ordeal is what haunts Creech the most. He shared: “That look on her face tore my heart out.”

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Haunted by the experience, Creech expressed his existential confusion: “I thought maybe I might already be in the afterlife. Even now, today, I stop and I have to catch myself and think, ‘Am I really dead? I was supposed to be dead on the 28th of February. Am I really dead, and this is part of the afterlife? Continued punishment for my sins that I’ve committed? ‘”.

In an effort to save Creech from a second execution attempt, his lawyers have urged a judge to void his death sentence. They argue that another attempt would not only be “cruel and unusual” but also tantamount to double jeopardy, which is unconstitutional.

Thomas Creech’s confessions regarding his criminal past have fluctuated over time. As one of the longest-standing inmates on death row, he once claimed under oath to have killed up to 42 people, attributing some of these deaths to his involvement with a motorcycle gang and a Satanic cult.

However, Creech later retracted these statements, accusing a “fame-seeking” attorney of influencing him. In a more recent interview, Creech revised his account, asserting that he is responsible for the deaths of seven individuals. He attributed these actions to his drug addiction and claimed that his victims had participated in the gang rape of his now-deceased ex-wife, who took her own life.

Creech received the death penalty for the brutal murder of fellow inmate David Jensen in 1981. During this year’s Idaho Commission on Pardons and Parole meeting, Jensen’s family spoke of the enduring anguish caused by his murder and implored the commission to uphold Creech’s death sentence, which it subsequently did.

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