The avenues of clemency available to death row inmate Ralph Menzies have further narrowed. After two days of hearings the previous week, the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole has denied his commutation request.
Lawyers for the 67-year-old Menzies, who has vascular dementia, were seeking to reduce his death sentence to life in prison due to his illness. Attorneys for the state and Menzies, medical experts and the family of the victim, Maurine Hunsaker, all testified in front of the parole board.
His execution by firing squad remains scheduled for Sept. 5.
“After carefully reviewing all submitted information and considering all arguments from the parties, the Board does not find cause to commute Mr. Menzies' death sentence,” the board said in a statement.
In 1986, Menzies abducted Hunsaker from the gas station where she worked in Kearns. The body of the 26-year-old mother of three was later found tied to a tree in Big Cottonwood Canyon. Her throat was slit. Menzies was convicted of the brutal murder in 1988.
Prior to their commutation request before the board, Menzies’ attorneys also sought a new mental evaluation from the courts. Menzies was declared competent to face the firing squad in June by Judge Matthew Bates. Under Utah and federal law, the condemned must understand why they are being punished, right up to the execution. In the eyes of his lawyers, Menzies’ dementia precludes that since his condition has worsened.
Bates didn’t agree in June and also denied the request for a new evaluation last week.
“The changes since Menzies was last evaluated in the fall of 2024 are not substantial,” Bates wrote in his ruling.
Menzies’ defense has appealed to the Utah Supreme Court, where it will be heard Aug. 21.
Twenty-eight men have died by court-ordered execution so far this year in the U.S., and nine others are scheduled to be put to death in seven states — Alabama, Indiana, Missouri, Tennessee, Texas and Utah — during the rest of the year.
Menzies has been on death row for 37 years for abducting and killing Hunsaker. If his sentence is carried out, he would become the sixth U.S. prisoner executed by firing squad since 1977.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
