Utah Supreme Court blocks execution of prisoner with dementia who chose
to die by firing squad
[August 30, 2025]
By MATTHEW BROWN and JACQUES BILLEAUD
The impending execution of a man by firing squad in Utah was blocked by
the state’s Supreme Court on Friday after his attorneys argued he should
be spared because he has dementia.
Ralph Leroy Menzies, 67, was set to be executed Sept. 5 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. He would have become only the sixth U.S. prisoner executed by
firing squad since 1977.
Lawyers for Menzies had launched a new push beginning in early 2024 to
free him of his death sentence, arguing that the dementia their client
had developed during his 37 years on death row is so severe that he uses
a wheelchair, is dependent on oxygen and can’t understand why he is
facing execution.
The Utah Supreme Court said Menzies adequately alleged a substantial
change of circumstances and raised a significant question on his fitness
to be executed, concluding a lower court must reevaluate Menzies'
competency.
“We acknowledge that this uncertainty has caused the family of Maurine
Hunsaker immense suffering, and it is not our desire to prolong that
suffering. But we are bound by the rule of law,” the court said in the
order.
A defense attorney for Menzies said his dementia had significantly
worsened since he last had a competency evaluation more than a year ago.
“We look forward to presenting our case in the trial court,” attorney
Lindsey Layer said.
In a statement to media outlets, Hunsaker’s family members said they
“are obviously very distraught and disappointed at the Supreme Court’s
decision” and asked for privacy.
The Associated Press left phone and email messages Friday with a
spokesperson for the Utah Attorney General’s Office seeking comment on
the ruling.
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Matt Hunsaker cleans off the grave of his mother Maurine Hunsaker,
who was murdered in 1986, at Valley View Memorial Park in West
Valley City, Utah, on Friday, Feb. 9, 2024. (Kristin Murphy/The
Deseret News via AP)
Menzies is not the first person to receive a dementia diagnosis
while awaiting execution.
The U.S. Supreme Court in 2019 blocked the execution of a man with
dementia in Alabama, ruling Vernon Madison was protected against
execution under a constitutional prohibition against cruel and
unusual punishment. Madison, who killed a police officer in 1985,
died in prison in 2020.
That case followed earlier Supreme Court rulings barring executions
of people with severe mental illness. If a defendant cannot
understand why they are dying, the Supreme Court said, then an
execution is not carrying out the retribution that society is
seeking.
Medical experts brought in by prosecutors during hearings into
Menzies' competency said he still has the mental capacity to
understand his situation. Experts brought in by the defense said he
does not.
Hunsaker was abducted from a store Feb. 23, 1986. She later called
her husband to say she had been robbed and kidnapped but that she
would be released by her abductor that night.
Two days later, a hiker found her body at a picnic area about 16
miles (25 kilometers) away in Big Cottonwood Canyon. Hunsaker had
been strangled, her throat slashed.
Utah’s last execution played out by lethal injection a year ago. The
state hasn’t used a firing squad since the 2010 execution of Ronnie
Lee Gardner. Earlier this year, South Carolina executed two
prisoners by firing squad.
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