KSL TV special: The planned execution of Taberon Honie
Aug 7, 2024, 7:35 PM | Updated: Aug 8, 2024, 12:22 am
SALT LAKE CITY — At the Utah State Prison, in the first moments of Aug. 8, Taberon Dave Honie is scheduled to be put to death.
It’s the first death-penalty execution in Utah in more than a decade. Honie, 48, was found guilty of the murder and sexual assault of Claudia Benn in 1998 in Cedar City. Honie was told by the judge at his sentencing that he earned his penalty.
Utah’s Department of Corrections said it has been meticulously planning the execution for several months. Honie reached the end of his legal appeals.
Honie was sentenced to death for killing Claudia Benn on July 10, 1998. He was at her home to see Brenn’s daughter, his ex-girlfriend. Benn was caring for three children, including Honie’s daughter, who was 2. Benn had a knife to defend herself from Honie who broke into the home and he used the knife as a murder weapon.
Honie has been on death row since 1999 when we was convicted of the killing. He was the first person to face execution and the new Utah State Correctional Facility that open in July, 2022. Utah last executed a man 14 years ago, Ronnie Lee Gardner in 2010.
Honie was moved to an observation cell Wednesday morning where he was given his last meal. He was allowed to meet with family and his legal team on his final day. He ordered a cheeseburger as a final meal, prepared inside the prison.
Honie said through prison officials that he preferred that his last meal be remembered as the one he shared with family previously. Visitors met with Honie only in pairs and through a barrier. He reportedly visited with his daughter and his parents, among others.
He also reportedly spoke with a spiritual adviser from the Hopi Reservation.
Prison and Department of Corrections officials held press conferences frequently hourly Wednesday afternoon and evening.
Protesters were outside, approximately a mile away from the prison. As a matter of routine, the prison in placed on lockdown on the day of the execution. A group filed a lawsuit claiming the ability to protest an execution from a mile away was too far.
