Utah death row prisoner with dementia dies naturally 3 months after halted execution

UTAH, UNITED STATES: Utah death row inmate Ralph Leroy Menzies, 67, died of apparent natural causes on November 26 after spending nearly 40 years on Utah’s death row. The court had recently blocked his execution because he was developing severe dementia.

Menzies was sentenced to die by firing squad for kidnapping and killing 26-year-old Maurine Hunsaker, a mother of three, near Salt Lake City in 1986. A judge gave him the death penalty in 1988.

In August, the state Supreme Court stopped his September 5 execution after his lawyers argued that his dementia had become too advanced. The court had scheduled a new competency hearing for next month to re-evaluate his mental state.

Ralph Menzies’ death leaves victim’s husband feeling relieved

Utah Attorney General Derek Brown said he hopes the victim’s family can finally find some closure and peace after Menzies’ death.

“For decades, the state of Utah has pursued justice on her behalf,” Brown said. “The path has been long and filled with pain, far more than any victim’s family should ever have to endure.”

Maurine Hunsaker’s husband, Jim Hunsaker, said he felt relieved, like a huge weight had finally been lifted, when he learned of Ralph Menzies’ death.

“I think a lot of it is going to be just healing now. I don’t think there was a day that I didn’t think about it,” he said.

He voiced frustration with how the state’s judicial system handled the case, saying his family faced “one disappointment after another" for decades. "It seems like everything went his way,” he added.

What did state medical report of Ralph Menzies claim?

Menzies is one of several US death-row prisoners who died of natural causes before their execution. Earlier this summer, the state Supreme Court said his worsening dementia raised serious doubts about whether he was mentally fit for execution.

A state medical expert supported that view in a competency report released this month, concluding that Menzies no longer understood the reason for his execution in a rational way.

These findings came after a state judge had ruled in June that Menzies was still competent, saying he “consistently and rationally understands” what is happening and why he is facing execution despite his cognitive decline.

The judge also ruled that carrying out the execution would not violate the Eighth Amendment, which bans cruel and unusual punishment.

What did Ralph Menzies’ legal team say?

Menzies was convicted of first-degree murder and several other charges.

His legal team said in a statement, “We’re grateful that Ralph passed naturally and maintained his spiritedness and dignity until the end.”

Menzies had chosen the firing squad as his method of execution. If carried out, he would have been only the seventh prisoner in the US to die by firing squad since the death penalty was reinstated in 1977, three executions took place in Utah, the most recent in 2010, and three occurred in South Carolina this year.