SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Aug. 19, 2025 (Gephardt Daily) — The Utah Board of Pardons and Parole on Tuesday denied the commutation request of convicted murderer Ralph Leroy Menzies.
Menzies is facing execution by firing squad for the 1986 murder of Maurine Hunsaker, who was kidnapped from her job as a cashier at a Kearns gas station and tied to a tree before her throat was cut.
Hunsaker was 26 at the time of her death. Menzies was on parole at the time of the murder.
Menzies was sentenced in 1988 to death. Years of appeals and legal maneuvers followed.
Recently, attorneys for Menzies had argued that his current level of dementia would qualify his execution as cruel and unusual punishment, prohibited by the Eighth Amendment.
A lower court judge ruled Menzies is competent enough to be executed.
Maurine Hunsaker. Photo: Obituary
The Board’s Tuesday decision reads as follows:
“The Board heard and carefully considered the testimony of witnesses called by both Mr. Menzies and the State,” the statement says. “The Board also heard and thoughtfully considered testimony from 10 victim representatives.
“After carefully reviewing all submitted information and considering all arguments from the parties, the Board does not find cause to commute Mr. Menzies’ death sentence. The Board hereby denies Mr. Menzies’ Commutation Petition and makes no change to the sentence imposed in case 031102598.”
