BOISE, Idaho (CBS2) — Serial Killer Thomas Creech has been connected to a 1974 cold case murder in San Bernardino County.
According to San Bernardino Police, The incident happened on Oct. 1, 1974. Daniel Walker was parked along I-40, sleeping in his van with a passenger. An unknown suspect opened fire on Walker and his passenger, though the passenger was able to escape and flag down a passing motorist for help. Walker died later in the hospital.
The suspect fled the area, and the case remained unsolved for nearly 50 years despite numerous attempts by cold case investigators. The cold case team out of San Bernardino County obtained information while working with the Ada County District Attorney's Office about statements Creech made.
Creech's statements revealed intimate details from the scene of Walker's murder. San Bernardino has closed the Walker case, attributing the murder to Creech.
Creech is Idaho's longest-serving inmate on death row for several different murders. He has five total convictions, but according to CBS News, he confessed at a trial in 1975 to killing 42 people in several states.
A clemency hearing was held last week for Thomas Creech. His defense attorneys argued he is not the same person he was then and has become a well-liked and well-regarded member among prison staff and inmates.
Even the Judge who sentenced him initially said Creech would be punished enough if he spent the rest of his life in prison and that execution now would be nothing more than an act of vengeance by the state.
Creech has been in prison for nearly 50 years, 40 of which have been on death row.
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