Thomas Creech is the most charming maniac in the United States, who cannot be executed for 40 years

Could you be friends with a guy who killed dozens of people? Do not rush to answer, because you do not know Thomas Eugene Creech, a serial killer from the United States who has been awaiting execution on death row for 40 years. During this time, he became a friend to many of the prison staff, who called him "Old Tom."

On February 28, 2024, an attempt was made to execute 73-year-old Thomas Creech at the Idaho State Penitentiary. It was not possible to cite the verdict passed many years ago. Failed to install an injection drip. Dozens of people in prison breathed a sigh of relief because they did not want Thomas to die. Now the elderly killer, who has several deaths on his conscience, will again have to wait for his fate indefinitely.

Thomas Eugene Creech is considered by many to be the most mysterious serial killer in the United States. The fact is that he himself does not know how many people he killed. Idaho would have executed Creech for the first time in 12 years. Prison officials and human rights activists fought for years to keep him alive. The man has been awaiting execution longer than anyone in state history. In total, Thomas spent 50 years behind bars, 40 of them awaiting death.

For the jailers and other prisoners, he had long become just Tom. The quiet elderly prisoner never caused problems for his guards and always interacted with them kindly. While in prison, Creech began writing poetry, many of which he dedicated to his staff. The guards came to work and retired, but the silent killer still sat in his solitary cell.

Even the former head of the penitentiary is in favor of abolishing the death penalty for Creech. He had been Tom's friend for many years and spent hours talking with him about this and that. The criminal's lawyers insisted on changing the sentence to life imprisonment. They argued that the lethal injection drugs were obtained from an unknown source and may not meet strict standards.

You might think that we are talking about an unfortunate person who has become the victim of a fatal mistake and is paying for the crimes of others. But no - in 1981, Thomas Creech brutally killed another prisoner, and before that he confessed to 40 murders. The investigation proved his involvement in only 5, but this is enough for a death sentence. It is worth saying that Thomas’s “proven” crimes are highly questionable.

Thomas Eugene Creech was born on September 9, 1950 in Hamilton, Ohio. His family was not prosperous - the boy’s parents drank heavily and fought constantly. As a result, they divorced and Tom stayed with his father. A few years later, the man became seriously ill and died in the arms of his minor son.

Creech himself says that on the day of his father’s death he committed his first serious offense. The teenager severely beat the nurse who was supposed to care for the patient. After this, the guy began to wander. It is quite natural that he found himself in bad company. In 1969, Thomas received his first sentence for robbery without using a weapon. Two years later he was released early for good behavior.

In 1973, Creech married 17-year-old Thomasina Lauren White. The girl was also not at all a gift and became an accomplice in at least one of her husband’s crimes. After the wedding, the young family moved from Ohio to Portland, Oregon. There Creech got a job as a caretaker at a church. Some time later, the body of 22-year-old William Joseph Dean was found in the couple's rented apartment. Thomas was later found guilty of murder, but his wife escaped punishment.

But Thomasina still ended badly. In an interview that Creech gave to reporters in 2019, he spoke about her fate. According to Thomas, his wife was raped by 11 people. After that, she was thrown out of a 4th floor window. The woman survived, but remained disabled and confined to a wheelchair. She lost her mind and committed suicide in a psychiatric hospital in Salem, Oregon.

In 1974, while suspected of murder, Creech committed a new crime. He dealt with Paul Schroeder in Tucson, Arizona. That same year, with a new girlfriend, 17-year-old Carol Spalding, he killed two more people. This happened while the couple was hitchhiking in Idaho. They got into the car with Thomas Arnold and John Bradford. On the way, an argument arose and Thomas shot both of them with the rifle he had with him.

Later, the killer long denied the double murder. But then he wrote a sincere confession. In it, Creech indicated that the men harassed his companion and they had to defend themselves. In 1975, the criminal suddenly began confessing to one murder after another. He spoke about dozens of deaths in different US states.

Thomas Creech told the details of 26 murders and showed the places where he hid the remains of 11 victims. Most of them were in an abandoned mine in a deserted area of California. The killer talked a lot and soon his person became surrounded by legends. They said that since 1965, Thomas was a member of the Satanist sect. There were also rumors that he had ties to the outlaw biker gang the Hells Angels. The press even wrote that the bikers planned to attack the courthouse and free Creech.

Later, the criminal's lawyers proved that his chatter was the result of the injection of truth serum. These days, such testimony cannot be attached to a case. In general, there is an opinion that Thomas invented most of the crimes while under the influence of a drug administered by investigators.

In 1975, a police detective proved that Creech got the story of one murder entirely from Playboy magazine, of which he had been a fan for many years. Thomas's testimony generally brought the cops a lot of useless trouble. In one of the places where Creech said he hid dozens of bodies, only the remains of a cow were found. Investigators believe that he was involved in only 9 murders, and was personally involved in only 5.

In 1975, a serial killer was sentenced to hang in the Arnold-Bradford case. In 1979, the sentence was commuted to life imprisonment. Prisoner Creech behaved decently and was even appointed as a janitor, with the right to move freely around the block. The murder of another prisoner was connected precisely with Thomas’s professional activities.

David Dale Jensen, 22, a convicted car thief, was left partially paralyzed. Because everything fell out of his hands, he always littered a lot. Krich first patiently cleaned up after the cripple, then began to argue with him. An unstable Jensen tried to hit the janitor with a sock containing batteries. Krich easily took away the homemade flail and beat his opponent to death with it.

However, there is also an unofficial version of the massacre. It says that Jensen Creech was ordered by authoritative criminals who were irritated by a noisy and unkempt disabled person. It was they who gave him the ill-fated sock, provoking a conflict so that Thomas could blame everything on self-defense. It is interesting that the author of both versions was the killer himself. He told them to investigators over the years.

To date, no one knows how many murders Thomas Creech committed. Over the years, he confessed to either 26 or 42 massacres. Therefore, so far there are only 5 episodes in his case, more or less similar to the truth and confirmed by evidence. After receiving a death sentence, Creech began to behave very quietly. A few years later, he was jokingly called "the living mascot of the Idaho Maximum Penitentiary."

Creech has shown himself to be a meek and benevolent prisoner and has no enemies in prison. He is always ready to help in any matter and loves to tell different stories. Many guards consider him their friend. Retired prison staff also maintain relationships with Thomas through correspondence. Sometimes they even visit a criminal who has no relatives or friends outside. Before the botched execution in February 2024, Idaho Department of Corrections Director Josh Tewalt said of him:

To the relief of many, the execution never took place. Contrary to Tevalt's expectations, he returned to his block for an indefinite period. While the numerous formalities associated with the re-execution will be carried out, Creech will live. His friends are worried that their next attempt to kill the serial killer will be successful. They do not sit idly by and write petitions to pardon Thomas to various authorities.