Utah judge schedules execution by firing squad for a man with dementia
July 9, 2025
A Utah judge has set an execution date for a man with dementia who has been on death row for 37 years. Sixty-seven-year-old Ralph Leroy Menzies is set to be executed Sept. 5 for abducting and killing Utah mother of three Maurine Hunsaker in 1986. When given a choice decades ago, Menzies selected a firing squad as his method of execution. He would be only the sixth U.S. prisoner executed by firing squad since 1977. Menzies’ lawyers have petitioned the court to reconsider his competency for execution. Judge Matthew Bates signed the death warrant Wednesday but agreed to review the new competency petition.
