The execution of an American death row inmate was halted at the last minute in Idaho on Wednesday because he was unable to administer the lethal injection within the legal deadline, the northwestern state’s prison administration announced.
Thomas Creech, 73, a serial killer who spent more than 50 years on death row for killing a fellow inmate serving a life sentence, was to be executed by lethal injection.
“Executive order shall expire”
But about an hour after the execution began, prison management concluded that “it was impossible to give him an intravenous drip,” the prison administration said in a press release. “Therefore the execution order will expire,” she added, adding that the state should decide on follow-up in the case.
For this reason Kenneth Smith’s last execution was missed on November 17, 2022 in Alabama (Southeast). Convicted to death in 1996 for the murder of a woman ordered by her husband, she was finally executed by nitrogen inhalation on 25 January. , a world first that sparked global outrage. In 2023, 24 executions in the United States were carried out by lethal injection.
Abolition of death penalty in 23 states
Thomas Creech’s execution was one of two scheduled for Wednesday in the United States. Ivan Cantu, 50, sentenced to death in 2000 and whose fate attracted celebrity attention, is awaiting execution Wednesday evening in Texas (South). He was sentenced to death in 2001 for the shooting deaths of his cousin James Mosqueda and his fiancee Amy Kitchen. A double murder in which he always said he was innocent.
The main prosecution witness at his trial was his then-fiancée Amy Boettcher. She claimed that Ivan Cantu confessed to her and drove her to the scene before taking her to Arkansas (South). Amy Boettcher’s brother, Jeff Boettcher, also testified against her at the trial, but recanted his testimony after his sister’s death in 2021. Ivan Cantu pointed the finger at a local drug dealer to whom his cousin had paid a lot of money.
Mobilization of Martin Sheen and Kim Kardashian
Following the discovery of new elements and the emergence of doubts about these prosecutorial testimonies, his execution scheduled for April 2023 was stayed but this suspension was later lifted by the Texas Court of Appeals.
Anti-death penalty actor Martin Sheen took to Instagram to sign an online petition, which has already gathered more than 150,000 signatures, to ask Texas Governor Greg Abbott, a conservative, to stop the death penalty. Reality TV star Kim Kardashian also took to social media on Wednesday to call for mobilization to ask the governor for a “30-day reprieve” to reinvestigate Ivan Cantu’s case.
Abolition of death penalty in 23 states
The Texas Conference of Bishops voted for leniency, noting “serious uncertainties” surrounding the sentence. Death penalty has been abolished in 23 US states. Six others (Arizona, California, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee) suspend executions by governor’s decision.
According to a recent Gallup Institute poll, a majority of Americans (50% versus 47%) believe that the death penalty is not fairly applied in the United States, for the first time since the survey began in 2000. A majority (53%) however remains in favor of punishment
