US EditionUtah judge rules a convicted killer with dementia is competent to be executed
- On late Friday, 3rd District Judge Matthew Bates ruled that Ralph Leroy Menzies, aged 67, is competent to be executed in Utah.
- The decision comes after hearings held over six days late last year to evaluate Menzies' mental capacity in light of his progressive vascular dementia diagnosis.
- Menzies was convicted in 1988 for kidnapping and murdering Maurine Hunsaker by slitting her throat and leaving her body in Big Cottonwood Canyon.
- Judge Bates determined that Menzies did not sufficiently demonstrate, based on the evidence, that his mental health issues impair his ability to comprehend the nature of the punishment or the reasons behind the State’s decision to impose it.
- Menzies' lawyers plan to appeal to the Utah Supreme Court, while Hunsaker’s family looks forward to a death warrant signing and continuing the justice process.
34 Articles
34 Articles
A convicted murderer in Utah, who developed dementia while on death row for 37 years, is competent enough to be executed, a state judge ruled late Friday. Ralph Leroy Menzies, 67, was sentenced to death in the 1988 killing of Maurine Hunsaker, a Utah mother of three. Despite his recent cognitive decline, Menzies “consistently and rationally understands” what is happening and why he faces execution, Judge Matthew Bates wrote in a court order.
A convicted murderer in Utah, who developed dementia while on death row for 37 years, is competent enough to be executed, a state judge ruled late Friday. Ralph Leroy Menzies, 67, was sentenced to death in the 1988 killing of Maurine Hunsaker, a Utah mother of three. Despite his recent cognitive decline, Menzies “consistently and rationally understands” what is happening and why he faces execution, Judge Matthew Bates wrote in a court order.
Utah killer with dementia is competent enough for death sentence to be carried out, judge rules
Ralph Menzies, a convicted killer in Utah who developed dementia during his decades on death row, is competent enough to be executed, a state judge ruled on Friday.
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