Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
- Death-row inmate Ralph Menzies appeals his competency ruling for execution, continuing to cite his dementia diagnosis.
- A district judge ruled Menzies understands his crime's severity and is competent, leading prosecutors to ask to move the execution process forward.
- A July 9 hearing was scheduled Monday to address the execution warrant.
WEST JORDAN — Shortly after a district judge decided death-row inmate Ralph Leroy Menzies is competent to be executed, his attorneys asked the Utah Supreme Court to review the decision.
The judge found Menzies competent to be executed, despite being diagnosed with vascular dementia, following a 16-month process where his mental capabilities were evaluated.
The judge ultimately determined Menzies is competent enough to understand why he is being executed, citing a lack of deterioration in family phone calls and evidence that he understands the severity of his crime.
"Although Menzies has shown he has vascular dementia, he has not shown by a preponderance of the evidence that his mental condition prevents him from reaching a rational understanding of his punishment or the state's reasons for it. Therefore, he has not met his burden to show he is incompetent to be executed," 3rd District Judge Matthew Bates wrote in his decision.
Menzies, 67, was found guilty of murdering Maurine Hunsaker, a 26-year-old mother of three who worked at a gas station in Kearns, in 1986. She called to tell her husband she had been abducted, and her body was found in Big Cottonwood Canyon two days later.
Prosecutors filed a motion to start the execution process in early 2024, but Menzies' attorneys asked for the process to be put on hold for a competency evaluation. On Monday, prosecutors asked the judge to remove the stay on the case and set a hearing on the state's application for an execution warrant to continue that process.
Bates scheduled a hearing on July 9 at 11 a.m. for a prosecutor's application for an execution warrant. He also issued an order that Menzies is not allowed to refuse to attend the hearing, and reasonable force can be used to encourage him to come.
The order states that Menzies is at the Salt Lake County Jail but will be returned to the Utah State Prison after the hearing.
The notice of the hearing said the judge would hear arguments on the application for an execution warrant and determine if there is any reason not to fulfill the execution sentence.
It is unknown whether the request for an appeal, filed shortly before the hearing notice and order to transport on Monday, will result in any delays for that hearing.
