Utah News Dispatch
‘Time is ticking’: Judge to decide whether Ralph Menzies should get another review before execution
Death row inmate Ralph Menzies appears in 3rd District Court on Wednesday, July 9, 2025. (Pool photo by Francisco Kjolseth/The Salt Lake Tribune)
A judge will soon decide whether Ralph Menzies, the death row inmate with dementia sentenced to die by firing squad on Sept. 5, will get another evaluation to determine whether he’s mentally competent to be executed.
Utah’s 3rd District Judge Matthew Bates heard arguments for and against granting Menzies another evaluation on Wednesday — after about 45 minutes, Bates said he was taking the issue under advisement and would issue a ruling “as quickly as possible.”
“I know time is ticking,” Bates said.
If Bates grants Menzies another review, it could kick off a 60-day process where a medical professional examines the inmate and compiles a report for the court — depending on the report’s findings, Menzies could be found incompetent, and spared from execution.
Menzies is 67 years old and has been on death row since 1988, after being convicted of kidnapping and murdering Maurine Hunsaker. But the question of whether his dementia makes him mentally incompetent to be executed has proven to be a hurdle for Utah prosecutors.
Both state and federal law require that death row inmates have an understanding of why they’re being executed.
Utah corrections officials say they’ll be ready to execute Ralph Menzies by firing squad
So far, the state has mostly cleared that hurdle — after a competency hearing that began in November, Bates ruled in June that Menzies does have dementia, but is still competent.
Now, Menzies’ attorneys are arguing that his dementia has worsened since the evaluations that Bates used to make his ruling, which were performed last year. In a petition filed on July 7, they asked the court to grant Menzies another evaluation from a Utah Department of Health and Human Services doctor.
Expert evaluations commissioned by his attorneys have shown Menzies’ cognitive abilities are in decline and he’s lost his ability to “engage in relatively coherent and adult conversations,” and he now speaks in “simplistic and immature terms,” according to court documents.
“Most important before this court is the declaration of his case manager who said, ‘look, I’ve seen a big change.’ If that alone does not raise the question whether a further evaluation is warranted, then what can?” said Eric Zuckerman, Menzies’ attorney, who noted that his case manager is a Utah Department of Corrections employee.
“She’s the person that talks to him the most. She’s his case manager. That’s her job. And she says, ‘I’ve seen a substantial decline. I talk to him and he’s not really there,’” Zuckerman said.
State code would give the doctor 60 days to compile a report.
“Set a hearing for the 61st day and bring it in, let’s hear the testimony on it. If the court finds him competent, then issue (an execution) warrant,” Zuckerman said.
Daniel Boyer with the Utah Attorney General’s Office said the petition for another evaluation was “inadequate.”
A petition should point to a change in circumstances and raise “significant” questions about Menzies’ competency, Boyer told the court Wednesday — the petition, he said, relies on “mere allegations.”
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“I think we need more context to really fully understand,” Boyer said.
Boyer also said the state is in possession of 13 phone calls made by Menzies since May that challenge the argument that he’s mentally incompetent.
“They are highly relevant to this determination, and only further confirm our belief that he cannot raise a significant issue,” Boyer said.
Matt Hunsaker, Maurine’s son, addressed the court on Wednesday and questioned the sincerity of Menzies’ claim of incompetency.
“Is this just all a game?” he said. “This man, we’ve got to remember, is educated. He’s not stupid. … Let’s just get this over with.”
Menzies was convicted of murder in 1988 after he kidnapped Hunsaker, a 26-year-old gas station clerk, and took her up Big Cottonwood Canyon where she was later found tied to a tree with her throat slashed.
Menzies has spent decades on death row, and in recent years his health has deteriorated. After falling several times in prison he was diagnosed with vascular dementia, caused when the brain’s blood flow is disrupted, leading to memory loss and declining cognitive function, according to court testimony. An MRI exam showed Menzies’ brain tissue is deteriorating.
Last week, the Utah Department of Corrections said it will be ready to carry out the execution, which is set for Sept 5.
In Utah, death row inmates sentenced before May 2004 had a choice between lethal injection or firing squad. Menzies, when he was sentenced in 1988, chose the firing squad. For those sentenced after 2004, the default method of execution is lethal injection, unless the necessary drugs are not available.
