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SALT LAKE CITY (KTVX) – A Utah judge on Wednesday set the date for an execution for a man whose lawyers say he is suffering from an aggravation of dementia.
Ralph Leroy Menzies, 67, has been on death row since 1988 after being convicted in 1986 for acquitting and killing three Maurine Hunsaker’s Utah mother. If he was executed on September 5th, he would have been just the sixth US prisoner since 1977 to be executed by firing the squad.
Throughout the hearing, Judge Matthew Bates, who is the main side of the case, heard debate over whether to issue a Menzies’ execution warrant. Menzies’ legal team opposed signing the warrant and continued to argue that he was misconstrued as wrong in his ability to enforce.
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“He is dependent on oxygen, unable to walk without assistance and shows signs of dementia that are unfamiliar to those who care for their loved ones with this devastating illness,” said Lindsey Layer, Ralph Menzies’ lawyer, after Judge Bates’ decision. “We expect the court or generous committee to recognize the deep, inhuman humanity of performing men who have experienced sudden cognitive decline and serious memory loss.”
“It’s no longer a threat to anyone, and it’s neither justice nor human decency to take the life of a terminally ill person whose mind and identity have been driven out by dementia.”
Who is Ralph Menzies?
In 1988, a ju-dean in Utah discovered that Ralph Menzies had been found guilty of the aggravated murder and aggravated invitation of Maureen Hansaker, a Kerns gas station attendant. A few days after Hansaker’s loss of disappearance, she was found dead near the large Cottonwood Canyon Picnic Area.
Hunsaker was reportedly strangled to death, and her throat was cut off. The detective also notices a mark on his wrist and a scuff on a nearby tree, indicating that he has been tied to a tree for a while.
Menzies was linked to the murder after being put in prison on unrelated robbery charges. The officer reportedly interfered with the identification card belonging to Hansaker in the changing room while the officer took his property.
Following his trial, Menzies was placed in the death row.
Jasmine North, a federal public defense attorney, speaks to Ralph Leroy Menzies at a competency hearing at the 3rd District Court in West Jordan, Utah on November 18, 2024 (Rick Egan/Apa, Salt Lake Tribune via Pool and File)
A problem of ability
Currently 67, Menzies’ ability to execute has been questioned by his legal team. The defense attorneys say Menzies developed dementia, claiming they no longer understand why they were on death row inmates.
On June 6, 2025, Menzies was determined to be capable of execution. Judge Bates determined that Menzies had a “consistently and reasonably” understanding of why he was facing execution despite his recent cognitive decline.
Menzies’ attorney petitioned the court for a reevaluation, but Bates said Wednesday that the pending appeal was not a basis for stopping him from setting a date.
However, Bates scheduled a July 23 hearing to evaluate the new capacity petition.
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“I haven’t served justice yet.”
The U.S. Supreme Court has once spared dementia inmates from dementia, including a 2019 Alabama man who killed a police officer. If the defendants cannot understand why they are dead, the High Court said that enforcement has not carried out the retaliation that society seeks.
For Matt, the son of Hunsaker, who was 10 years old when his mother was killed, it was difficult to get justice “toove something that took him so long.”
“You are issuing a warrant today and starting the process for our families,” he told the judge on Wednesday. “It puts everyone on the clock. We’ve just introduced another generation of my mother, but we’re not serving justice yet.”
Menzies and other Utah death row inmates sentenced prior to May 2004 were given options between squad firing and deadly injections. For inmates sentenced in the state after that date, lethal injection is the default method, unless drugs are available.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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