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A convicted killer in Utah who developed dementia during his time on death row is competent enough to be executed, a state judge ruled on Friday.
Ralph Leroy Menzies, age 67, was convicted and sentenced to death in March 1988 for the murder of Maurine Hunsaker, a 26-year-old mother of three, in 1986.
Judge Matthew Bates stated that Menzies “consistently and rationally understands” the proceedings and the reasons for his execution, even though he has experienced some recent cognitive decline.
Bates noted in his court order that “Menzies has not demonstrated by a preponderance of the evidence that his comprehension of his specific crime and punishment has changed or deteriorated in a manner that violates the Eighth Amendment,” which forbids cruel and unusual punishment.
Ralph Leroy Menzies had selected the firing squad as his method of execution. (Trent Nelson/The Salt Lake Tribune via AP, Pool, File)
“Ralph Menzies is a severely brain-damaged, wheelchair-bound, 67-year-old man with dementia and significant memory problems,” his attorney, Lindsey Layer, said in a statement. “It is deeply troubling that Utah plans to remove Mr. Menzies from his wheelchair and oxygen tank to strap him into an execution chair and shoot him to death.”
The U.S. Supreme Court has previously spared death row inmates with dementia from execution, including an Alabama man in 2019 who was convicted of killing a police officer.
Since his sentencing 37 years ago, Menzies’ attorneys have filed multiple appeals that delayed his death sentence, which had been scheduled at least twice before it was postponed.
Ralph Leroy Menzies would become only the sixth U.S. prisoner executed by firing squad since 1977. (South Carolina Department of Corrections via AP)
Menzies had abducted Hunsaker in February 1986 from the convenience store where she worked, just three days after he was released on bail over an unrelated crime. Hunsaker was later found strangled with her throat cut at a picnic area in the Wasatch Mountains of northern Utah.
When he was later jailed on unrelated matters, Menzies had Hunsaker’s wallet and several other items that belonged to her. He was convicted of first-degree murder and other crimes.
Matt Hunsaker, who was 10 years old when his mother was killed, said Friday that his family is overwhelmed with emotion to know that justice will finally be served.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
