SALT LAKE CITY — Ralph Menzies, a man on Utah’s death row since 1988, is competent enough to be executed, Judge Matthew Bates of Utah’s Third District Court, ruled on Friday.

In 2024, Menzies’ attorneys filed a petition with the court saying their client has dementia . They said he would not understand the meaning of being executed.

Menzies is on death row for for killing Maurine Hunsaker in 1986. He has previously requested death by firing squad .

Request for review

In January, 2024, lawyers for the state of Utah said they would go forward with requesting an execution date for Menzies.

But Menzies’ attorneys argued their client had dementia and would not be able to understand why he was sentenced to death and in February, 2024 , a judge ordered a report on Menzies’s mental competency

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