Family of murder victim speaks on final day of Ralph Menzies commutation hearing

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — The commutation hearing for Ralph Menzies, an inmate on death row for the last 37 years, comes to a close today, Aug. 15.

Menzies was convicted in 1988 for the 1986 aggravated murder, kidnapping, and robbery of Maurine Hunsaker. Today, the board heard victim impact statements.

Hunsaker’s oldest sister said, “Tell me that fear is not trauma…He never intended for her to go home. He told her, ‘Do what I say and I will let you go home.’ It never happened.”

Hunsaker’s son, Matt, talked about how Menzies has received mercy in the past. He said his family received no mercy.

“You’re going to put myself and my family through hell again,” Matt said. “You guys didn’t have to grant him a commutation hearing, you choose to do this.”

“He tied my mom to a tree. He strangled her,” he said. “He unmercifully took a knife out and slit her throat from ear to ear.”

He recounted how two kids saw Menzies in that meadow where his mother was murdered.

“He doesn’t even have the decency to admit what he did,” Matt said. “Not one court in this country has ever overturned his conviction.”

Matt went on to detail the events he suffered through as a 10-year-old child. Emotions were high.

“My life was shattered. It was destroyed… 10 years old,” he said.

Matt made it clear he did not have an obligation to be nice. He expressed his pain and lack of closure as he waits for the day that Menzies is executed.

Menzies’ defense discussed his mental ability, his non-violence and good behavior in prison, and his age as reasons for mercy. They said Menzies has tried hard to reform, to better himself while in prison, “even during his decline.”

“Life in prison is not a good life,” the defense said. “He did everything that was asked of him. Maybe it’s not enough for this board to spare his life, but it means something.”

The defense also acknowledged the pain suffered by Hunsaker’s family.

“It’s horrifying. It is,” the defense said.

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.

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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.

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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.