Thomas Eugene Creech, a 73-year-old death row inmate, is set for execution in Idaho after nearly 50 years behind bars. He was convicted of multiple murders in three states and is suspected of several others. Creech's attorneys have filed last-minute appeals to halt the execution, but a three-judge panel rejected the argument that he should not be executed because he was sentenced by a judge rather than a jury. If carried out, this will be Idaho's first execution in 12 years. Creech's criminal history includes killing a fellow prisoner in 1981 and confessing to multiple other killings.
Jerrid Joseph Powell, the suspect in the killings of three homeless men in Los Angeles and a San Dimas resident, has been officially charged with four counts of murder, one count of residential robbery, and one count of being a felon with a firearm. If convicted, Powell faces a potential sentence of life in prison without parole. He was already in custody for the killing of the San Dimas resident during a follow-home robbery when investigators connected him to the homeless killings. Powell's arraignment has been rescheduled to January 8, and he will remain held in jail without bail. The suspect allegedly followed the San Dimas victim from a charging station, robbed and shot him in his garage. Police credit the capture of Powell to an automatic license plate reader in Beverly Hills. The handgun recovered from Powell's vehicle was the same weapon used in the homeless killings. The four killings appear to be unrelated, and there is no known connection between Powell and the San Dimas victim.
