SALT LAKE CITY, UT – A Utah judge has ruled that Ralph Leroy Menzies, a 67-year-old man who has spent nearly four decades on death row and was recently diagnosed with dementia, is still competent to be executed for the 1986 murder of 26-year-old Maurine Hunsaker, a mother of three.
Judge Matthew Bates determined that despite Menzies’ cognitive decline, he retains a rational understanding of his punishment and the reason for it. “Menzies has not shown by a preponderance of the evidence that his understanding of his specific crime and punishment has fluctuated or declined in a way that offends the Eighth Amendment,” Bates wrote in his ruling, referencing the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment.
According to the Associated Press, the court found that Menzies still comprehends both the nature of his crime and the rationale behind his scheduled execution. “Menzies consistently and rationally understands what is happening,” Bates wrote.
Menzies previously chose to be executed by firing squad—a rare method in the United States. If carried out, he would become only the sixth person to be executed by firing squad since 1977.
Attorneys for Menzies have expressed deep concern over the ruling and announced plans to appeal to the Utah Supreme Court. Lindsey Layer, one of Menzies’ lawyers, said, “Ralph Menzies is a severely brain-damaged, wheelchair-bound, 67-year-old man with dementia and significant memory problems.” She called it “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 decision comes despite precedent from the U.S. Supreme Court sparing other incarcerated people with dementia, including a 2019 ruling involving an Alabama prisoner convicted of killing a police officer.
Menzies has spent nearly 40 years fighting his sentence through legal proceedings and appeals. His defense team has repeatedly cited his deteriorating mental state and the constitutional protections afforded to individuals with diminished capacity.
According to court records cited by the Associated Press, Hunsaker was abducted from the convenience store where she worked. Her body was later discovered in the Wasatch Mountains, where she had been strangled and her throat cut. Menzies, who had been in jail on unrelated charges, was found in possession of Hunsaker’s wallet and personal belongings.
Matt Hunsaker, who was 10 years old at the time of his mother’s death, said his family was “overwhelmed with emotion” upon hearing the court’s ruling. “Justice would finally be served,” he told the Associated Press.
The Utah Attorney General’s Office is expected to file a death warrant in the coming days.
