Media witnesses report Taberon Honie’s last words before death
Aug 8, 2024, 4:01 AM | Updated: 4:23 am
Members of the media, acting as witnesses, were able to step into the room where Taberon Honie was executed in the early morning of Aug. 8, 2024. (Derek Peterson, KSL TV)
(Derek Peterson, KSL TV)
SALT LAKE CITY — Taberon Dave Honie was pronounced dead at 12:25 a.m. Thursday, after two doses of lethal pentobarbital were put into his body through a medical IV.
Witnessing the execution were representatives of the woman he murdered, Claudia Benn, members of the media, and members of his own family that he expressed love for in his final moments of life, according to corrections officials.
The 7 media members who witnessed the execution were allowed into the chamber after it had been cleaned…
Full details on @KSL5TV starting at 430am… pic.twitter.com/2sSitKmIZc
— Derek Petersen (@Derek_Photog) August 8, 2024
Media witnesses were not allowed to make recordings of Honie’s final words but were allowed to take notes and report what they heard. After Honie was pronounced dead, media members — who said they had not spoken at all previously while in the witness room — compared their notes to construct the condemned man’s final words.
From the start, it’s been, if it needs to be done for them to heal, let’s do this. If they tell you you can’t change, don’t believe them. To all my brothers and sisters here, continue to change. I love you all, take care.
Ben Winslow spoke for the group of journalists, explaining what they witnessed but several others spoke as they were asked questions by gathered members of the media. The witnesses seemed to all agree that the events were relatively somber and relatively peaceful. Pat Reavy, a KSL.com reporter who has witnessed two previous executions, said the lethal-injection death was not like the firing squad death he witnessed.
“I don’t think there’s much similarity at all … this was far less traumatic. The firing-squad execution I witnessed was much more violent. It shakes you because it’s just so loud, and this was really like watching a person fall asleep and not wake up again,” Reavy said.
“If there’s a peaceful way to put somebody to death, that’s what this was.”
Witnesses didn’t see Honie until he was strapped down to a gurney and had an IV in each arm. Corrections officers reported that the medical professionals sent the lethal drugs from behind walls, unseen by witnesses, as law dictates.
Officers said Honie walked into the execution chamber on his own and was compliant with the procedures, placing himself on the gurney before he was fastened to the gurney with straps on his ankles, below his knees, and on his thighs.
Law enforcement officials were also present to witness the execution as were elected officials.
Department of Corrections officer Randall Honey, who is the director of prison operations, said Honie spoke to him and the prison’s warden during the execution process and thanked them for taking care of his family.
Members of the media, acting as witnesses, were able to step into the room where Taberon Honie was executed in the early morning of Aug. 8, 2024. (Derek Peterson, KSL TV)
“Then he raised up his head and looked to where his family was viewing and said, ‘I love you,’ ” Honey said.
Honie’s father and a cousin were allowed to perform a ritual in the room afterward that they believed would help Honie’s soul return back to the mesa. Honie is from the Hopi tribe.
Several media members reported feeling a duty to watch the state kill a person, exercising its most final power.
