Creech’s supporters have pushed to have his sentence converted to life without parole, saying he is a deeply changed man who has become a kind and supportive force inside the Idaho Maximum Security Institution cell block where he lives. Several years ago he married the mother of a correctional officer, and former prison staffers said he was known for writing poetry and frequently expressing gratitude for the work done by correctional officers.
During his clemency hearing, Ada County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Jill Longhorst did not dispute that Creech can be polite and friendly with correctional officers. But she said he is a psychopath — a man who can be charming and likeable but who lacks remorse and empathy for others.
Sounds like his behavior has changed over the decades, and of course the prosecutor is going to describe him in the worse possible way as that is their job. If he hasn’t been violent in jail for decades, killing him at this point does not accomplish anything at all even if he is just pretending to be good. The alternative being pushed for was life in prison.