US EditionUtah Judge Schedules Sept. 5 Firing Squad Execution for Inmate with Dementia
SALT LAKE COUNTY, UTAH, JUL 9 – Ralph Leroy Menzies was convicted for the 1988 kidnapping and murder of Maurine Hunsaker and chose death by firing squad, despite claims of dementia by his lawyers.
- Utah judge Matthew Bates set an execution date of September 5, 2025, for Ralph Leroy Menzies, a 67-year-old inmate with dementia convicted of a 1986 murder.
- Menzies' attorneys filed recent appeals arguing his severe dementia causes incompetency to be executed, but the judge ruled no legal basis stops setting the date.
- Menzies was convicted for abducting and killing Maurine Hunsaker, whose family says the execution starts a process awaited over 40 years despite disputes about his competence.
- Attorney Lindsey Layer expressed that executing a person suffering from a terminal illness and severe dementia, who no longer poses a threat, fails to uphold the principles of justice and basic human compassion.
- Menzies is among 10 scheduled executions in 2025, and Utah's Attorney General expressed full confidence in the ruling, while appeals and clemency requests may still affect the outcome.
46 Articles
46 Articles
Ralph Leroy Menzies was convicted of the kidnapping and murder of Maurine Hunsaker, a mother of three, in 1986.
Court sets execution date by firing squad for Utah inmate with dementia
SALT LAKE CITY (KTVX) – A Utah judge on Wednesday set an execution date for a man whose lawyers say he suffers from worsening dementia. Ralph Leroy Menzies, 67, has been on death row since 1988 after his conviction for abducting and killing Utah mother of three Maurine Hunsaker in 1986. When given a choice decades ago, Menzies selected a firing squad as his method of execution. If he's executed on Sept. 5, he would become only the sixth U.S. pri…
Murderer with dementia finally given execution date after 37 years on death row - The Mirror
Ralph Leroy Menzies has spent 37 years on death row after murdering mother-of-three Maurine Hunsaker in Utah in 1986, but the 67-year-old has now been given an execution date
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