Callum Jones
The lawyers of a death row inmate set to be killed by a gruelling execution method have objected the ruling for one specific reason.
Back in 1986, Ralph Leroy Menzies abducted 26-year-old Maurine Hunsaker from the Salt Lake City convenience store she worked in at the time.
Officials later found the mother-of-three had been strangled and her throat cut roughly 15 miles away from the Kearns shop at a picnic area in Big Cottonwood Canyon.
Police discovered Hunsaker's wallet and several other belongings on Menzies at the time, leading to the now 67-year-old being convicted of first-degree murder and other crimes in 1988 and put on death row.
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Menzies selected a firing squad as his method of execution decades ago, but lawyers for the killer have filed multiple appeals that delayed his death sentence.
Despite that, a judge in Utah has ordered for Menzies to be killed by firing squad on September 5 this year.
Menzies' lawyers claim his dementia means he cannot understand his case and that his condition is worsening all the time.
Both state and federal law in the US rules death row inmates must have an understanding of why they are being executed.
However, Judge Matthew Bates ruled in June that Menzies 'consistently and rationally' understands why he is set to be executed despite his apparent health decline.
"Menzies has not shown by a preponderance of the evidence that his understanding of his specific crime and punishment has fluctuated or declined in a way that offends the Eighth Amendment," Bates, who signed Menzies' death warrant, said.
While the decision may have been made, Judge Bates confirmed earlier this week that the competency petition would be looked into on July 23.
Lindsey Layer, a lawyer for Menzies, said: "We remain hopeful that the courts or the clemency board will recognise the profound inhumanity of executing a man who is experiencing steep cognitive decline and significant memory loss.
"Taking the life of someone with a terminal illness who is no longer a threat to anyone and whose mind and identity have been overtaken by dementia serves neither justice nor human decency."
Hunsaker's adult son Matt, who was just 10 years old when his mother was killed, feels justice won't be served unless Menzies is executed.
He said: "You issue the warrant today, you start a process for our family. It puts everybody on the clock. We've now introduced another generation of my mom, and we still don't have justice served."