Rather than face a firing squad, attorneys for Ralph Menzies are trying to convince the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole that he should instead spend what remains of his life in prison. The 67-year-old has been on death row for nearly 40 years and now has vascular dementia.
A judge ruled in June that Menzies was competent and scheduled his execution for Sept. 5. That same judge is considering a petition for another mental evaluation.
In addressing the parole board, the severity of his disease was one of his attorneys’ main arguments for commuting his sentence.
“We are going to ask this board to grant mercy for Mr. Menzies by allowing him to die from his terminal illness and not from the firing squad,” federal public defense attorney Eric Zuckerman said on the first day of a multi-day commutation hearing.
In 1986, Menzies abducted Maurine Hunsaker, a 26-year-old mother of three, from the Kearns gas station where she worked. Her body was later found in Big Cottonwood Canyon, tied to a tree with her throat slit. He was convicted in 1988 of aggravated kidnapping and murder, as well as aggravated robbery.
Menzies did not address the board, nor did he give testimony on day one. He sat in his wheelchair, mainly staring straight ahead, occasionally turning to look at witnesses on the stand or to whisper to one of his attorneys.
‘There's so much more’ than dementia
Board-certified neuropsychologist Erin Bigler was called as a witness to provide context to the 2023 MRI brain scans displayed by Menzies’ attorneys. The images showed two bright white patches, which Bigler said indicate brain damage.
While the spots may look small to the untrained eye, Bigler said, “those are disruptive, and they're breaking down the neural network in this brain.”
The damage is not at all normal for someone of Menzies’ age, Bigler testified, but is consistent with his diagnosis. He said that kind of atrophy disrupts cognition, emotional regulation, focus, memory and decision making.
Another medical opinion was provided by Dr. Thomas Hyde, who said the evidence shows that Menzies’ brain is “wasting away.” Hyde was commissioned by Menzies’ legal defense and evaluated him three times since 2023. The most recent was in June of this year. He believes the atrophy is probably worse now than it was in the 2023 brain scan because, since then, Menzies has had hypoxic events. That severe lack of oxygen can accelerate the progression of dementia.
“It's particularly notable in his case that that shrinkage is primarily in the front part of the brain,” Hyde said. “Because the frontal lobe of the brain is your sort of conscious, sticky part of your brain.”
In addition to the hypoxia, there are also records of Menzies falling while in prison and hitting his head. He now uses a wheelchair and an oxygen tank.
Hyde said he witnessed Menzies’ decline over his three evaluations. Where he was once talkative, he now exhibited “very sparse verbal output.” Additionally, he said Menzies did worse on tests of his cognition and abstract reasoning and struggles more with balance and his motor skills.
While Menzies might sometimes appear to be doing better, Hyde said people with dementia have good and bad days based on factors like stress and sleep. But he added, “overall, they’re always in a deficit state.”
Prison case manager Stephanie Callahan also testified about the changes she’s seen in Menzies from within the prison. She taught a behavioral therapy class that he attended. Over the past several months, Callahan said she’s seen him become less physically able, quieter and more withdrawn. At times, he stared blankly during conversations. The decline, she said, reminded her of her grandparents, who had dementia.
Zuckerman, Menzies’ attorney, said his “dementia alone justifies mercy from this board, but there's so much more.”
When Menzies was sentenced to death, Zuckerman said there was no option in Utah law to sentence someone to life in prison without parole. Now, after legislative action, there is.
Additionally, Zuckerman pointed to the judge who sentenced him. In a 2010 affidavit, Judge Raymond Uno stated he misapplied the law when he sentenced Menzies to death. Uno, who died in 2024, wrote that because of the error, Menzies’ sentence should be reduced to life in prison.
And one of the original witnesses against Menzies, Walter Britton, later admitted to lying when he claimed that Menzies bragged about murdering Hunsaker, Zuckerman said. Britton was hoping to get leniency in his case by trying to help prosecutors. The state, he added, has never executed a person whose sentence was obtained through perjured testimony and whose sentencing judge believed they had made a mistake.
“This board can and should preserve that precedent. Above all, you can ensure that Mr. Menzies’ death does not become the unwilling legacy of Judge Uno,” Zuckerman said.
Zuckerman noted that Uno wasn’t the only prominent voice saying Menzies should be taken off death row. The Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Conviction Integrity Unit reviews closed cases and includes former Utah Supreme Court Chief Justice Christine Durham. After looking at Menzies’ case, the panel concluded the death sentence “lacked integrity,” according to Zuckerman, and should be changed to life without parole.
The original rationale for the death penalty was that Uno believed Menzies posed a threat to others. But Zuckerman said Menzies is not a threat now and will not be one in the future.
Lyle Richard Smith, a retired Utah correctional captain, testified that he never had any trouble with Menzies. He said he was friendly with other inmates and respectful to staff. If Menzies spent the rest of his life in prison, Smith said he felt confident he would not pose any risk to others in prison.
“I don't think he would ever strike out at anybody at this point,” Smith said.
The state’s rebuttal
Aiming to portray Menzies as more mentally competent, the state called two correctional officers who interact with the inmate. They testified to his perceived mental acuity.
Officer Hayden Kay said he has had no difficulties communicating with Menzies, and he has not noticed problems with his hygiene. Kay said Menzies once mentioned a prison policy that was a decade old. He also remembers and anticipates when he has visitors.
Sgt. Joseph Torrence testified that Menzies seemed competent and able to communicate with him as well as other inmates. In observing Menzies in his work assignment in the laundry room in 2024, Torrence said he was organized and established a cataloging system.
David Thompson, a forensic psychologist hired by the state, examined Menzies in person in 2024. He told the board that at the time, he believed Menzies was competent to be executed. He showed awareness of his impending execution and the state’s reason for pursuing the death penalty. Thompson said he has not been allowed by Menzies and his legal team to evaluate him again in recent months. But based on reviewing the reports of the defense’s experts, Thompson said he found little evidence of cognitive decline since his last evaluation.
Instead, he attributes some of the mental and behavioral changes to depression.
“An individual who's been notified that his death warrant has been issued, I think he would have reason to be depressed,” Thompson said.
Audio of Menzies’ recent phone calls was also reviewed by Thompson. He said they contained examples of abstract thinking and evidence that his long-term memory worked. The calls are under a protective order and were not shared publicly.
Another neuropsychologist hired by the state, Ryan Green, who is board-certified in clinical psychology, echoed Thompson’s assessment based on available evidence. Green thought the audio of Menzies’ phone calls was particularly telling because he said it showed an ability to communicate, both speaking and responding appropriately.
Green conceded that Menzies probably has had some cognitive decline over the past year. But he does not think it is to the degree that Hyde testified. He critiqued reports from experts hired by Menzies’ defense team as being too narrow and focusing too heavily on the dementia process, not adequately showing Menzies’ complexities.
Zuckerman, Menzies’ attorney, discounted the credibility of the state’s experts, neither of whom is board certified in neuropsychology, a neurologist or a medical doctor. Thompson’s private practice focuses on working with children.
Next steps
The commutation hearings were originally scheduled to span three days. Both sides, however, gave their presentations faster than expected, and the board cancelled the Aug. 14 hearing.
Maurine Hunsaker’s family will have an opportunity to testify on Friday, Aug. 15. The murder victim’s son, Matt Hunsaker, has previously said he wants the execution to move forward.
After that, both the state and Menzies’ team will give closing arguments.
In addition to requesting clemency, Menzies’ attorneys have asked a Utah judge for a new evaluation of Menzies’ mental competency, which, if granted, would delay his execution. The judge has not ruled yet.
His attorneys also appealed to the Utah Supreme Court, which is scheduled to hear the case Aug. 21.
