A judge in Utah has set an execution date for a death-row prisoner with dementia, while his lawyers argue that his worsening condition should be considered in the application of his punishment.
Ralph Leroy Menzies, 67, is set to be executed on Sept. 5 for the 1986 kidnapping and murder of a Utah mother of three, Maurine Hunsaker.
Given the choice 37 years ago, Menzies selected to be killed by firing squad. If he dies in this manner, he will become just the sixth U.S. prisoner to be executed by firing squad since 1977, according to The Associated Press.
Despite the court’s acknowledgement of Menzies’ deteriorating mental state, he was deemed competent for execution by Judge Mathew Bates in June.
In July, his lawyers filed a petition asking the court to reconsider the decision after presenting a new expert report claiming his health had declined significantly since previous evaluations and was no longer cognizant of the reason for the execution.
But Bates said Wednesday that Menzies’ worsening dementia was not a reason to stop him from setting an execution date.
However, Bates did schedule a July 23 hearing to evaluate the new competency petition. Menzies’ lawyers say his dementia has gotten so severe that he uses a wheelchair, is dependent on oxygen and cannot understand his legal case.
Ralph Leroy Menzies appears in Third District Court for a competency hearing in West Jordan, Utah, Monday, Nov 18, 2024.
Rick Egan / The Canadian Press
“We remain hopeful that the courts or the clemency board will recognize the profound inhumanity of executing a man who is experiencing steep cognitive decline and significant memory loss,” Lindsey Layer, a lawyer for Menzies, said.
“Taking the life of someone with a terminal illness who is no longer a threat to anyone and whose mind and identity have been overtaken by dementia serves neither justice nor human decency.”
Meanwhile, the Utah Attorney General’s Office said it has “full confidence” in the judge’s decision, Assistant Attorney General Daniel Boyer said.
In the past, the U.S. Supreme Court has spared inmates with dementia from the death penalty.
In Alabama in 2019, a man who killed a police officer was not put to death because the court ruled that if a defendant cannot understand why they are being executed, the execution does not carry out the retribution that society is seeking.
Authorities considering the death penalty for alleged killer of Israeli embassy employees
The son of Hunsaker, who was 10 when his mother was killed by Menzies, said it has been hard to accept that it has taken almost 40 years to serve justice.
Hunsaker, 26, was abducted by Menzies from a convenience store where she worked in the Salt Lake City suburb of Kearns. She was later found strangled and her throat cut about 25 kilometres away at a picnic area in Big Cottonwood Canyon.
Menzies had Hunsaker’s wallet and several other belongings when he was jailed on unrelated matters. He was convicted of first-degree murder and other crimes in 1988.
Over nearly four decades, lawyers for Menzies have filed multiple appeals that delayed his execution, which had been scheduled at least twice before it was pushed back.
In April, a death row inmate in South Carolina suffered a bungled execution after the firing squad missed its target.
Mikal Mahdi was killed by prison officials, but autopsy results, as well as photographs and documents obtained by the Guardian and analyzed by his legal team, indicated that executioners did not follow protocol and that Mahdi endured prolonged pain that outlasted the 10- to 15-second period of consciousness that is expected.
Utah last executed prisoners by firing squad in 2010, and South Carolina used the method on two men this year. Only three other states — Idaho, Mississippi and Oklahoma — allow firing squad executions.
Menzies is among 10 people scheduled to be put to death in seven states during the remainder of 2025. Twenty-five men in the U.S. have died by court-ordered execution so far this year.
— with files from The Associated Press