US prison in Idaho postpones inmate’s execution after failed lethal injections

US prison authorities in Idaho have postponed the execution of death row inmate Thomas Creech.

It was after several attempts to find a suitable vein on his arms and legs failed and the executioners could not deliver a fatal lethal injection dose to the inmate.

“The medical team could not establish an IV line, rendering the execution unable to proceed,” prison officials said in a statement.

The execution had been scheduled to be undertaken on Wednesday.

Botched execution causes outcry after Oklahoma inmate dies vomiting and convulsing

The lethal injection ended a six-year moratorium on executions in Oklahoma that was put in place following a series of flawed executions.

“They did their level best in a professional way that was respectful of the process,” according to a statement released by Idaho Department of Correction Director, Josh Tewalt.

The statement came about an hour after the attempted execution.

Tewalt said when “it appeared that those efforts were going to be unsuccessful, they did the right thing and opted to stop additional efforts so we could evaluate next steps.”

“Mr. Creech will be returned to his cell and witnesses will be escorted out of the facility. As a result, the death warrant will expire,” Tewalt said. “The State will consider next steps.”

The Idaho lawmakers passed a law in 2023 authorizing inmates to be executed by firing squad. However, prison officials have yet to construct the facility where the executions will take place. Also, officials need to write a protocol as to how an execution by fire squad is to be carried out.

US executes only Native American on federal death row

The United States executes the only Native American on federal death row against the wishes of the Navajo Nation, which accuses the US government of violating tribal sovereignty.

Tewalt said they lacked the necessary rules and facilities to carry out executions by firing squad. Asked if the department would consider using nitrogen gas for an execution, he said that would require a change to state law.

In January, the state of Alabama carried out the country’s first known nitrogen gas execution when it put to death Kenneth Smith, one of the two inmates there who, like Creech, had survived the attempted death by lethal injection.

In the meantime, Creech’s lawyers said the executioners who were all volunteers whose identities remain undisclosed had tried to access his veins in both of his arms and legs 10 times before giving up.

“We are angered but not surprised that the State of Idaho botched the execution of Thomas Creech today. This is what happens when unknown individuals with unknown training are assigned to carry out an execution,” the lawyers said in a statement.

Creech, who has been in prison since 1974, serving four life sentences for multiple murders in several states, was eventually sentenced to death in 1981 for the fatal beating of another inmate, 23-year-old David Dale Jensen.

The execution of Creech, who is Idaho’s longest-serving death row inmate, would have been Idaho’s first in 12 years.

Executions are rare in Idaho. Only three inmates have been executed in almost half a century.

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.co.uk