WESTWOOD—The Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office announced that John Creech, 45, was sentenced on Tuesday, September 19 to 11 years in prison for murdering former Fox executive Gavin Smith in 2012. Creech is a convicted drug dealer, who was serving an eight-year jail sentence after pleading no contest to one count of sale or transportation for sale of a controlled substance in September 2012.
Smith’s remains were found 2 years later on October 26, 2014 in the Angeles National Forest in a shallow grave. Smith was last seen on May 1, 2012, with Creech’s estranged wife at a park in the victim’s car. A year later, Smith’s vehicle, a black Mercedes-Benz 420E was found at a Simi Valley storage facility on February 21, 2013 where Creech was connected to the crime.
Officials noted that Creech beat Smith to death, as Creech’s wife begged him to stop, the prosecutor noted. Smith was a former UCLA basketball player. Creech was found guilty in July of one count of voluntary manslaughter. He was sentenced by Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Stephen Marcus. The case was prosecuted by Deputy District Attorney Bobby Grace of the Major Crimes Division. The murder was investigated by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
