Is Ralph Menzies too incompetent for Utah’s death penalty? His execution is on hold until a court finds out.

Ryan Bittan
·2 min read

SALT LAKE COUNTY, Utah (ABC4) — Ralph Menzies has been on Utah’s death row for more than 35 years. A judge had scheduled a hearing in February to decide whether he would be executed by firing squad, but it’s now on hold over claims of mental incompetency.

3rd District Court Judge Matthew Bates ordered Menzies to appear in person for a hearing on Feb. 23 in West Jordan. However, Menzies’ attorney filed a petition to stay further hearings in the matter until a final evaluation can be undertaken.

“The Petition articulates facts, observations, and conversations that led Menzies to seek neurological and neuropsychological testing to evaluate his competency to be executed,” the order from the 3rd District Court states.

The petition includes a written evaluation from Dr. Lynette M. Abrams-Silva, who says that Menzies suffers from “vascular dementia,” and “lacks the ability to form a rational understanding of the reasons why the State seeks to execute him.”

The judge’s order states the Department of Health and Human Services will appoint two examiners not involved in Menzies’ current treatment to perform the evaluation, and all proceedings must be videoed. The examiners have been ordered by the court to address the following points:

  • Menzies’ awareness of the fact of the inmate’s impending execution.

  • Menzies’ understanding that he is to be executed for the crime of murder.

  • The nature of Menzies’ mental disorder, if any, and its relationship to the factors 
    relevant to his competency.

  • Whether psychoactive medication is necessary to maintain or restore Menzies’ competency.

  • Whether Menzies has a rational understanding of why the State seeks to execute 
    him.

PREVIOUSLY: Judge sets death warrant hearing for Ralph Menzies

Menzies was convicted in 1988 of first-degree murder in the kidnapping and killing of Maurine Hunsaker. If an execution warrant is signed, Menzies will face a firing squad.

Hunsaker, a young mother, was abducted from the Kearns gas station where she worked, and her body was later found in a Big Cottonwood Canyon picnic area. She’d been tied to a tree, her throat cut.

Last year, Menzies exhausted all the appeals available to him, state prosecutors said. Additionally, in December, a 3rd District Court judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by Menzies and four others on death row that sought to overturn Utah’s death penalty.

“Time has nearly run out for Menzies,” wrote the Utah Attorney General’s Office, in November, “and his sentence will be carried out: death by firing squad.”

Now, the court will set a competency hearing within 15 days of when it receives reports from the examiners’ clinical findings and opinions.

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