Taberon Honie’s request to avoid death penalty denied as state moves forward with execution plan

Death row inmate Taberon Honie arrives for a Utah Board of Pardons commutation hearing Tuesday, July 23, 2024, at the Utah State Correctional Facility, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, Pool)

Taberon Honie’s request to have his death sentence commuted and instead serve the rest of his life in prison was denied on Friday. 

His execution by lethal injection, planned for Aug. 8 just after midnight, will continue as scheduled, the state said. 

The decision comes on the heels of Honie’s commutation hearing earlier this week, where witnesses and experts testified for and against executing 48-year-old Honie, who was sentenced to death in 1999 for the sexual assault and murder of Claudia Benn, his ex-girlfriend’s mother. 

Benn’s three grandchildren were inside the home when the murder occurred — two children had blood on them and court testimony would later reveal Honie admitted to molesting one of them. 

In a news release, the board said it “carefully considered the testimony of Mr. Honie, as well as Mr. Honie’s expert witnesses, and the testimony of Mr. Honie’s family members. The Board also heard and thoughtfully considered testimony from four victim representatives.” 

Ultimately, the board did not find “sufficient cause” for commuting Honie’s sentence. In a statement, the Utah Department of Corrections said the hearing was “part of the process we were watching.”

“We continue to move forward with the plan to carry out our statutory obligation on August 8th,” the statement reads. 

During his hearing, Honie told the board he was a changed man, comparing himself to fertilizer “helping things grow” in the prison. Over 26 years of incarceration, Honie earned his diploma and the trust of prison staff, while supporting his daughter as she struggled with addiction, he said. 

“I’ve shown you that I can exist in prison. I’m not a threat to the public, I’m not a threat to anyone,” Honie told the board.

He told the board several times that he didn’t want to make excuses, but also argued that the crime happened because he was intoxicated. According to witness testimony, Honie had struggled with addiction for years and the day he murdered Benn, he had been drinking and using drugs. 

“The only thing I know 100% is this would have never happened if I was in my right mind,” he said. 

But Benn’s relatives, who spoke in favor of his execution, struck a much different tone, calling for an “eye for an eye.” 

“Where could we have been if she had survived?” We could have accelerated as a tribe, individuals and family, but it was torn apart that dreadful day,” said Benn’s cousin Betsy China. 

 “The best thing for me, my choice, would be the death penalty. Let’s get this over,” she told the board. 

The department plans to execute Honie with a dose of pentobarbital, which has been used in federal executions and is authorized in 10 other states. The state had previously planned to use an untested cocktail of ketamine, fentanyl and potassium chloride.

That prompted Honie to sue prison officials, arguing the untested cocktail posed an “unconstitutional” risk of pain and suffering. Now that the state has obtained pentobarbital, much of his original lawsuit has been dismissed. 

Honie’s attorneys have also been given a way to communicate with a judge during the execution if something goes awry, which was also a part of the original complaint. 

A hearing is still scheduled for next Tuesday in Utah’s 3rd District Court, where a judge will hear arguments on whether the department’s execution protocol is up to date and if officials followed proper procedures when they switched to pentobarbital.