Court rules that convicted killer with dementia is competent to be executed

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — The man who has been on death row for nearly 40 years after being convicted of killing a mother of three was found competent to be executed in court Friday, despite having dementia.

The judge ordered that Ralph Leroy Menzies (67) failed to prove that his vascular dementia prevents him from understanding his punishment or the state’s reasons for it, and because of that, he is competent to be executed, according to court documents obtained by ABC4.com.

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Menzies’ attorney provided a statement to ABC4.com about the ruling, which you can read below.

“We respectfully disagree with the Court’s order and plan to appeal to the Utah Supreme Court. Ralph Menzies is a severely brain-damaged, wheelchair-bound, 67-year-old man with dementia and significant memory problems. He cannot understand the State’s reasons for his execution. His dementia is progressive and he is not going to get better. It is deeply troubling that Utah plans to remove Mr. Menzies from his wheelchair and oxygen tank to strap him into an execution chair and shoot him to death.”

–Lindsey Layer, Attorney for Ralph Menzies

The Office of the Utah Attorney General also offered a statement to ABC4, saying, “Our hearts today are with the family of Maurine Hunsaker and we are committed to seeking justice for her.”

Menzies was sentenced to death in 1988 for killing Maurine Hunsaker, a mother of three. Over the nearly 40 years he has been on death row, his attorneys have been appealing his sentencing.

In late 2023, Menzies exhausted his direct and post-conviction appeals, and in January 2024, a hearing to issue a death warrant for Menzies was scheduled.

However, Menzies asserted that he is incompetent to be executed. If someone is incompetent to be executed, that means that they are unable to rationally understand the reason why the state is executing them. In Menzies case, he claimed he was incompetent due to his dementia.

The purpose of the hearing that took place on May 7 was not to determine whether he had dementia; all parties agreed that there was evidence that showed that he does have vascular dementia that impairs his daily life and thought, court documents said.

Menzies’ attorneys argued that his functioning had significantly declined since his last evaluation in 2010, but the state argued that Menzies had been able to recite the facts of the case, identify the victim as Maurine Hunsaker, and knew he had received a capital sentence and would be executed.

Menzies is not the first person on death row to develop dementia. According to the AP, the U.S. Supreme Court blocked the execution of a man with dementia in 2019 in Alabama.

Menzies’ attorney told ABC4.com that she intends to appeal this decision to the Utah Supreme Court, so there will be additional hearings in the future.

If a death warrant is issued for Menzies, he will be executed by firing squad. According to the AP, he selected the method of execution in 2004, before it was removed as an available method by the Utah State Legislature.