About a week after his arrest, Creech attempted suicide by slashing his wrists with a broken piece of mirror, but managed only a minor injury before being restrained by prison guards and moved to another cell. In January 1975, it was decided that the now-18-year-old Spaulding would be
tried as an adult for the two counts of first-degree murder. On February 25, 1975, Carol Spaulding plead guilty to abetting (harboring a fugitive, specifically) and was sentenced to 2 years in prison. She began serving her sentence in Idaho, but was transferred to
Carson City, Nevada in early May 1975 along with all the other women held in the prison in Boise. A week later, Spaulding was brought back to Idaho to testify at Creech's trial scheduled for May 20, which was subsequently postponed and relocated. On January 12, 1975, Thomas Creech's trial was set for May 20, 1975 at the Valley County Courthouse in
Cascade, Idaho. All the pretrial work was done (motions, discovery, psychiatric exams, subpoenas) when jury selection began on May 20. After 2 full days of jury selection, Judge J. Ray Durtschi called a mistrial. He cited that several articles had appeared immediately before trial. These articles referred to information and evidence that would probably be inadmissible at trial but would probably be prejudicial to the defense. This – combined with the small size of Valley County (≈3,400 in 1975), and the rarity of murder there (last murder was in 1947) – meant that a change of venue was necessary. On May 29, 1975, Judge Durtschi issued a gag order. In early June, public defender Ward Hower asked to be recused and Creech's new private attorney Bruce O. Robinson was approved by the court in a hearing held June 09, with the switch formally approved on June 14, 1975. By August 6, the venue, schedule, and new trial date had all been worked out – the trial would commence on Oct. 6, 1975 in
Wallace, Idaho in Shoshone County, which is in Idaho's 4th Judicial District, with Judge Durtschi still presiding. On August 7, Creech was transferred 400+ miles north to the jail in Wallace. Creech continued to cause trouble even after his arrest; on June 16, he attacked and injured his cellmate William O. Fischer during an altercation. Fischer had to be driven to hospital to treat his facial injuries, but no further information is available about the incident itself due to a
gag order being placed on the case. In August, shortly after a
change of venue from Cascade to
Wallace (in
Shoshone County) was accepted, Creech was sent to the hospital for
stitches after suffering injuries caused from falling out of his bunk bed in his cell and hitting his head. In October, it was ruled that an alleged confession, in which Creech, who initially had claimed he was not near the murder site, says that he had shot and killed the two men after they pulled a knife on them and threatened to rape Spaulding, could be admitted as evidence in the upcoming trial.
Confessions and other victims After his taking the stand at his trial in October 1975, Creech shocked the entire nation when he readily admitted his responsibility in at least 42 murders in nearly a dozen states. He alleged the first murder occurred when he was 15 (in August 1966) when he drowned a friend in
New Miami, Ohio. Among his credible victims was 70-year-old retiree Paul C. Schrader, who was stabbed to death in an apparent robbery at the Downtown Motor Hotel in
Tucson, Arizona, on October 22, 1973. Creech was working as a fry cook in the El Bambi Cafe in
Beaver, Utah, when he was arrested on December 29, 1973, for disorderly conduct and identified as the suspect after a routine police check revealed that he was wanted for Schrader's murder. Creech was charged with the murder, and his trial began February 28, 1974, but he was acquitted on March 6, 1974, after only hours of deliberation. The jury took deliberated overnight before returning a guilty verdict to the case due to the confusing circumstances. His attorney, with the assistance of private investigator John Wickersham, sought to interview additional witnesses in order to have the conviction overturned. Five months later on March 25, 1976, Creech was
sentenced to death by
hanging for the two murders. Originally set for May 21, After the Idaho Supreme Court officially commuted Creech's death sentence to two life sentences, other states were finally able to proceed against Creech. On August 3, 1979, Creech was convicted of the murder of William Joseph Dean (22), whom Creech had shot in
Portland, Oregon in the early morning hours of August 15, 1974 (Mr. Dean's body was discovered August 17). Creech was sentenced to 99 years imprisonment (essentially life) for murdering Mr. Dean. The other Oregon murder was in a different county, in
Salem, Oregon. In this case, the Marion County prosecutor decided to drop the charge against Creech for murdering grocery clerk Sandra Jan Ramsamooj (21) on August 17, 1974. Creech was next extradited to California. In September 1980, Creech was convicted of the murder of Vivian Grant Robinson (50), whom Creech strangled in Mr. Robinson's Sacramento home in mid-June 1974 (his body was discovered June 19). Creech was sentenced to life imprisonment for murdering Mr. Robinson. Robinson's strategy proved to be a success as Creech's sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment. Robinson additionally petitioned for Creech to be freed altogether but was unsuccessful. Creech was housed at the
Idaho State Correctional Institution, east of
Kuna. a car thief who had previous altercations with Creech, was murdered by Creech, with a sock stuffed with batteries. There are two theories over the murder, which Creech has himself changed at different points in time. The first theory was that Jensen attempted to attack Creech using the sock of batteries. The second theory, which Creech claimed at his 1980s sentencing hearing, involved different inmates offering to pay Creech for killing Jensen since he was not well liked at the prison; in that scenario, Creech, through an intermediary, gave Jensen weapons to attack Creech to justify killing Jensen, essentially setting up Jensen to be killed. Regardless of the pretext to the murder, Creech managed to take hold of the sock and started beating Jensen with it, repeatedly bashing and kicking his head, causing Jensen's death. Jensen, who was a car thief, was disabled, which impaired his ability to adequately protect himself in prison. The sentencing judge acknowledged that Creech "did not instigate the fight with the victim, but the victim, without provocation, attacked him. [Creech] was initially justified in protecting himself," when balancing the aggravating and mitigating factors however the judge also identified five aggravating factors and stated that "the murder, once commenced, appears to have been an intentional, calculated act," with "the victim, once the attack commenced, was under the complete domination and control of the defendant", concluding that the murder and the "violent actions Creech" took "went well beyond self-defense." ==Current status==