SALT LAKE CITY — A mental competency report ordered by the Utah Supreme Court has found that Ralph Leroy Menzies is incompetent to be executed by firing squad.
A copy of the report, filed with the courts and obtained by FOX 13 News on Friday, declared that Menzies' dementia is so bad that he cannot be restored to any competency to be put to death.
"This condition impacts Mr. Menzies' cognitive abilities such that he is unaware of the crime for which he is convicted, the parameters of the case (e.g., victim's identity, specifics acts he was found to have committed, etc.), the capital nature of the sentence he received, or how the punishment will be carried out," the Utah Department of Health & Human Services' evaluator, Dr. Michael Brooks, wrote.
"He also lacks a rational understanding that he is to be executed for the crime of murder, as he does not understand the State's rationale for levying this punishment in general or to him in particular. It is therefore my opinion that Mr. Menzies is not competent to be executed. Given that there is no effective treatment for his condition, I do not believe he has a substantial probability of restoration to competency."
The Utah Attorney General's Office said it had no comment when contacted by FOX 13 News.
Menzies was sentenced to die for the 1986 murder of Maurine Hunsaker. She was kidnapped from her job at a Kearns convenience store, taken to Big Cottonwood Canyon where she was tied to a tree and her throat was slit.
Updates on this breaking news story on FOX 13 News and fox13now.com as information becomes available.
