Ralph Leroy Menzies (born April 21, 1958) is an American convicted murderer currently on death row in Utah for the 1986 murder of Maurine Hunsaker, a gas station attendant who was kidnapped and shot to death by Menzies. Menzies was convicted of the murder and sentenced to death on March 23, 1988, and he is currently awaiting to be executed by firing squad, with the state filing a motion to seek an approval of his execution.
Born in Utah, U.S. on April 21, 1958, Ralph Leroy Menzies came from a dysfunctional family background. Menzies was reportedly subjected to relentless child abuse by his stepfathers, and they had assaulted him, refused to give him food and forced him to sleep in a very small room with his sister for three years, and even prevented him from going to school. As a result of the abuse, the early death of his biological mother and his sister's need to take care of their younger brother (who was in poor health), Menzies grew up without a proper caretaker or parental figure. Menzies's school records showed that he had a poor track record of attendance.[1]
In 1976, Menzies was first convicted of aggravated robbery and sentenced to a term of five years to life in prison. Two years later, on July 6, 1978, Menzies and another prisoner Johnny Ray Sloan escaped from Utah State Prison,[2] and a week later, on July 17, 1978, Menzies robbed and shot a taxi driver with a shotgun, and for this crime, Menzies put on trial but his case was declared a mistrial after the jury deadlocked on the verdict in October 1978.[3] Subsequently, in February 1979, Menzies was given another five years to life prison term for aggravated robbery, in addition to a concurrent sentence of one to 15 years for escaping prison.[4] The ruling was upheld in 1980 after Menzies lost his appeal.[5]
Four years later, Menzies was paroled on October 9, 1984, and he was caught a year later in December 1985 for theft of Christmas decoration objects. Menzies pleaded guilty to attempted theft on February 10, 1986, and he was scheduled for sentencing on March 11, 1986. He was subsequently released on bail on February 20, 1986.[6]
Murder of Maurine Hunsaker
Disappearance and death of Hunsaker
On February 23, 1986, three days after he was released on bail, Ralph Menzies would commit the murder of a woman, which was his most serious and infamous offence so far.
On that day itself, a 26-year-old woman named Maurine Forschen Hunsaker (February 28, 1959 – February 24, 1986) went missing after she was last seen at a gas station in Kearns, Utah, where she worked as a gas station attendant. During the evening, Hunsaker's husband Jim Hunsaker called her but he did not get a reply. When Jim arrived at the workplace of Hunsaker that night, he found out that his wife and her purse (as well as US$116 from the cash register) were missing. Later, at around 11.05pm, Jim received a phone call from Hunsaker, who sounded upset and scared throughout the phone call. During the call itself, Hunsaker reportedly told her husband that she was kidnapped by someone who wanted to rob her, and she told her husband that she would be released soon. Similarly, an officer who accompanied Jim throughout the phone conversation heard from Hunsaker that she was robbed. However, the phone call was cut before both Jim and the officer could ask her any further questions.[1][7]
Two days later, on February 25, 1986, nearby the Storm Mountain picnic area in Big Cottonwood Canyon, a hiker discovered the body of Hunsaker, whose neck was slit and her wrists riddled with marks, suggesting she was tied up. It was presumed that she was tied to a nearby tree before her death, given that the bark of a nearby tree was scuffed. An autopsy report showed that Hunsaker died as a result of ligature strangulation, and the slit wound, caused by a knife, had a contributory effect on her death.[1][8]
Investigations and arrest of Menzies
Subsequently, the police investigations managed to link Ralph Menzies to the murder. Menzies, who was booked on unrelated burglary charges and detained on February 24, 1986 (a day before the body was found), was found to have four of Hunsaker's identification cards in his possession, after a jailer found them in a laundry hamper located in the changing room used by Menzies during the screening. Furthermore, two high-school students, Tim Larrabee and Beth Brown, saw two people at Storm Mountain on the morning of February 24 after Hunsaker's disappearance; one of these people matched the description of Hunsaker, and the other, whom Larrabee described as a "White male" with black curly hair and beard who aged 25 to 36, weighed approximately 170 pounds and also 6'1 tall, roughly fitted the description of Menzies.[1]
Additionally, Troy Denter, a friend of Menzies, told police that he loaned his car, a cream-colored 1974 Chevrolet, to Menzies on the day of the murder, and Larrabee saw a car resembling Denter's on the same date he witnessed both Hunsaker and Menzies together; Brown herself corroborated Larrabee's testimony after identifying the car as the one Menzies borrowed from Denter. When the police questioned Menzies after obtaining the witness testimonies, Menzies denied that he was involved in the murder of Hunsaker, and he replied that on the night he borrowed Denter's car, he picked up a woman (whom Menzies implied to be Hunsaker) on State Street and then picked up his girlfriend, Nicole Arnold. Menzies claimed he drove around with both women in the car until they began to fight. Menzies said he dropped off Arnold first before he stopped at somewhere around 7200 West and 2400 South to drop the other woman off. Menzies stated that he returned home in the end to talk to Arnold.[1]
The police later on searched Menzies's apartment, and they recovered Hunsaker's purse and some of the money missing from the cash register of Hunsaker's workplace. A buck knife was retrieved as well, and it was found capable to inflict the cut wounds on Hunsaker's neck after being compared to the injuries. A DNA test later confirmed that Denter's car contained the fingerprint of Hunsaker.[1]
With the evidence obtained so far, Menzies was arrested and charged with the murder of Maurine Hunsaker. Sometime after Menzies was charged, more evidence linking him to the murder emerged. A cellmate of Menzies, Walter Britton, contacted the police and told them that Menzies admitted to killing Hunsaker during a conversation with him, and Menzies allegedly claimed that slitting Hunsaker's throat gave him a huge thrill of his life. On top of that, the father of Menzies's girlfriend also discovered Hunsaker's social security card in his daughter's possession.[1][9]
Murder trial
Ralph Menzies eventually stood trial before a jury on February 18, 1988.[10] Menzies faced one count of murder and one count of kidnapping, and for the most serious charge of murder in the first degree, Menzies potentially faced the death penalty under Utah state law. Jury selection commenced on February 4, 1988.[11]
During the trial, the prosecution argued that Menzies had kidnapped and murdered Maurine Hunsaker from her workplace and held her hostage at Big Cottonwood Canyon overnight, before he strangled Hunsaker and slit her throat, and sought a conviction of first degree murder, but the defence argued that Menzies should be convicted of second degree murder, a lesser charge that did not carry the death penalty, after they made arguments to dispute the elements of the charge, where the existence of a robbery or kidnapping during the course of murder was required to make it a capital crime.[12]
On March 8, 1988, following a month-long trial, the jury found Menzies guilty of first degree murder and aggravated kidnapping. Prior to his sentencing, Menzies waived his right to be sentenced by a jury, and allowed a judge to decide on his sentence instead.[13] The defence argued that Menzies should be spared the death penalty and handed a life sentence instead as he suffered from mental disorders and had an abusive childhood, and he should be given judicial mercy on humanitarian grounds. However, the prosecution sought the death penalty for Menzies, stating that it was appropriate for Menzies since he had a long criminal history and there was little to no rehabilitative effect in Menzies during his previous prison stints, and he continued to commit robbery even after being harshly dealt with by the law, and it culminated to the cold-blooded murder of Hunsaker.[14][15][16]
On March 23, 1988, Judge Raymond Uno sentenced Menzies to death by firing squad for murdering Hunsaker. His execution date was scheduled for May 20, 1988, but it was stayed pending mandatory review by the Utah Supreme Court.[17][18]
Post-conviction legal process
After his sentencing in 1988, Ralph Menzies remained on death row for more than three decades, and throughout these years, Menzies filed multiple appeals against his death sentence, which had been scheduled to be carried out at least twice before it was delayed due to his appeals.
On March 11, 1992, the Utah Supreme Court rejected Menzies's appeal for a re-trial, after they found that the transcription errors caused by a reporter covering his trial did not provide sufficient grounds to reopen his case.[19]
On March 29, 1994, the Utah Supreme Court dismissed Menzies's appeal and upheld his conviction and sentence.[20][21]
A year later, Menzies received his death warrant, scheduling his death sentence to be carried out via firing squad on June 2, 1995, but on May 4, 1995, Menzies managed to obtain a stay of execution due to pending appeals, and according to the parents of Maurine Hunsaker, they were disappointed that Menzies would not be executed for the time being over the death of their daughter.[22]
On May 16, 1996, Menzies's request for federal defence lawyers was rejected by U.S. Magistrate Ronald Boyce since his state appeals were not yet exhausted at this point.[23]
Menzies was originally scheduled to be executed on November 10, 2003,[24] but after Menzies appealed for a stay of execution,[25] the execution date was ultimately staved off due to legal reasons.[26] Another appeal by Menzies was subsequently rejected on February 27, 2004.[27] Menzies's legal motion requesting for DNA testing was rejected in October 2004.[28] In response to the repeated delays of Menzies's execution, Hunsaker's oldest son Matt, who was ten when his mother died, lamented the long period of time that lapsed since his mother's murder and wanted justice to be served.[29]
On April 2, 2012, Menzies's appeal over the alleged ineffective representation by legal counsel was turned down by the 3rd District Judge Bruce C. Lubeck.[30]
On September 23, 2014, the Utah Supreme Court rejected Menzies's appeal.[1][31]
On January 12, 2019, U.S. District Judge Claire Eagan rejected an appeal by Menzies against his death sentence.[32][33][34]
On October 18, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to allow Menzies's appeal and hence confirmed Menzies's death sentence.[36]
On December 23, 2023, the lawsuit filed by Menzies and another four condemned prisoners against Utah's death penalty laws was dismissed by Judge Coral Sanchez of Utah's 3rd Circuit Court.[37]
Death warrant and competency hearing in 2024
On January 17, 2024, the state lawyers of Utah announced that they were seeking an execution date for Ralph Menzies, who had selected to die by firing squad. Since Menzies was sentenced to death before May 2004, he was allowed to make a choice between lethal injection and firing squad.[38][39] It was the third time the state sought to execute Menzies, who by then had exhausted all avenues of appeal against his death sentence.[40]
In response, Menzies's defence counsel argued that he should not be executed for he was mentally incompetent to undergo the death penalty. Menzies reportedly suffered from dementia and he did not fully comprehend why he should be put to death for his crime.[41][42][43] An official hearing to approve Menzies's death warrant was originally supposed to commence on February 23, 2024, but ten days before the hearing, a judge cancelled the hearing and directed the state to seek an independent report on Menzies's mental competency for execution.[44]
In response to the pending death warrant of Menzies, Matt Hunsaker, whose mother was killed by Menzies, continued to seek justice for his mother and stated he wanted closure. Matt added that his maternal grandmother – Hunsaker's mother – died in 2021 before she could get to see her daughter's killer executed, and he inherited his grandmother's wish to continue the pursuit for justice and fought to keep his memories of his mother alive even after 38 years since Hunsaker was murdered.[45] Matt also urged the courts to ensure a speedy process to determine the fate of Menzies and his mental state.[46]
On August 7, 2024, the eve of Taberon Honie's execution (the first in Utah since 2010), Menzies was scheduled to undergo a competency hearing on August 12, 2024, and he also underwent psychiatric evaluation to determine whether he was mentally competent to be executed.[47]
An evidential hearing was later scheduled to take place on November 18, 2024. On October 18, 2024, weeks before the hearing, Third District Judge Matthew Bates reserved his decision on whether to disqualify the prosecution in charge of Menzies's competency hearing.[48][49] Subsequently, on November 1, 2024, Bates denied the motion of Menzies's lawyers to disqualify the prosecution from Menzies's competency hearing.[50]
On November 18, 2024, Menzies's competency hearing took place and it was slated to last for about a week.[51] 3rd District Court Judge Matthew Bates presided the hearing. The state medical experts, neurologist Ryan Green and forensic psychologist Michael Brooks of the Utah Department of Health and Human Services, submitted that Ralph Menzies was competent to be executed, but his lawyers disagreed and said that he should not be executed.[52] The five-day hearing concluded on November 22, 2024, and the ruling is set to be given on a date to be decided.[53]
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