Commutation hearing for Ralph Menzies, Utah’s inmate on death row for over 3 decades begins

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SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — The commutation hearing for Ralph Menzies, an inmate on death row for the last 37 years, began on Wednesday.

Menzies was convicted in 1988 for the 1986 aggravated murder, kidnapping, and robbery of

Maurine Hunsaker. Menzies’ attorneys cite “significant decline” in cognitive function and are asking the board for “mercy” to allow Menzies to pass away with his terminal illness and not be executed by a firing squad.

“The question is whether he will die by his disease or his terminal illness,” the defense attorneys said Wednesday morning. “He (Menzies) is tied to a wheelchair, an oxygen tank and is no threat to the prisoners at the facility.”

They continued their argument saying, “We are not asking you to state that his sentence or conviction should have not happened… but you are a board of mercy.”

The hearing is expected to continue until Friday where the board will hear testimonies from Medical doctors, the victim’s family and attorneys from both the sides of the argument.

Who is Ralph Menzies?

On February 23, 1986, Maurine Hunsaker was abducted from the Gas-A-Mat convenience store and gas station in Kearns, Utah, where she was employed. Her husband called the convenience store and went in person when she did not pick up. When he arrived, he found that Hunsaker was missing, along with her purse.

According to documents, Hunsaker called the home phone and told her husband that she had been instructed to tell him she was kidnapped and robbed. A police officer spoke with Hunsaker, and she indicated that the kidnapper intended to release her.

Days later, on February 25, 1986, a hiker found Hunsaker deceased near a picnic area in Big Cottonwood Canyon. She had been strangled to death, according to the medical examiner, and her throat was cut. Marks on her wrists and scuffing on a nearby tree indicated that she had been tied to it somehow.

During this time, Menzies was booked into jail on an unrelated burglary charge. When officers were taking his possessions, Menzies ran away and hid in a changing room. Later, identification cards were located in the changing room’s hamper, and an officer realized that they belonged to Hunsaker.

Witnesses further connected Menzies to the disappearance and murder of Maurine Hunsaker, and some had even seen him with her on the night of her murder. In 1988, a jury found Menzies guilty, and he was placed on death row for the serious and senseless crime.

Taberon Dave Honie and Ronnie Lee Gardner, the last two inmates to be executed, were also granted commutation hearings. The board ultimately rejected their arguments and both executions proceeded as scheduled.