Judge to decide whether Ralph Menzies is competent enough to be executed
Nov 18, 2024, 2:02 PM | Updated: 6:36 pm
WEST JORDAN — A longtime death row inmate, Ralph Leroy Menzies was present at a hearing Monday, where a judge will decide whether he is competent enough to be executed.
Menzies was found guilty of murdering a Utah woman and sentenced to die in 1988. Two years before, his victim, Maurine Hunsaker, was working at a gas station in Kearns. She disappeared, and her body was found in Big Cottonwood Canyon two days later.
Throughout the morning, prosecutors and Menzies’ defense attorneys gave their case in the courtroom as to why Menzies should or shouldn’t be considered competent enough to be executed.
Both sides were previously ordered by a judge to perform an evaluation on Menzies’ mental state. Utah law says a person cannot be executed if they are incompetent enough to not understand what is happening to them or going on around them.
“This is unusual,” said Greg Skordas, Attorney and KSL Legal Analyst. “But because (this is) a case that takes so long in Utah and other states, a lot can happen to a defendant while incarcerated. They can suffer from mental health issues, lack of competency, things like that.”
In Monday’s hearing, one of the arguments heard included a criminal psychologist who showed the court scans of Menzies’ brain and its deterioration over time.
Hunsaker’s children said Menzies was manipulating the defense’s doctors and the court to avoid execution.
“What he did to my mom, is by no means what anybody should do to any human being out there. She should never have been tied to the tree and killed the way that she was and for him to sit in there and act like he doesn’t know what he did – he knows what he did,” said Matt Hunsaker, Maurine Hunsaker’s son.
At the time Menzies was sentenced to death in Utah, there was a law that allowed a defendant to choose which method of execution they preferred by lethal injection or firing squad. Fast forward to 2024, Utah no longer has one.
“Since he chose that, the state almost certainly has to honor that and they will have to convene a firing squad if in fact the judge decides that he’s competent to proceed,” Skordas said.
If the judge decides he is competent, Skordas said an execution date will be set, likely in the next 90 days.
“We’ve come to the realization that this is the end. This decision will determine whether he is going to be executed or not.” Matt Hunsaker said. “If the judge comes back and says he is incompetent to be executed, that’s the end. We’re not going to fight anymore. It’s just, I think the state will be done as well.”
If Menzies is found competent, however, Matt Hunsaker said he expects another battle in the form of an appeal.
