A Utah judge ruled that a convicted killer is competent enough to be put to death despite the 67-year-old inmate’s cognitive and health issues.
Ralph Leroy Menzies, 67, was convicted of killing a 26-year-old mother of three after abducting her from her workplace at a convenience store in 1988.
The killer spent nearly four decades on death row and developed dementia that caused him severe cognitive decline.
His lawyers said he was bound to a wheelchair and unable to understand why he would be executed.
“Ralph Menzies is a severely brain-damaged, wheelchair-bound, 67-year-old man with dementia and significant memory problems,” attorney Lindsey Layer said.
“It is deeply troubling that Utah plans to remove Mr. Menzies from his wheelchair and oxygen tank to strap him into an execution chair and shoot him to death.”
The Utah Attorney General’s Office will be filing a death warrant soon after Judge Matthew Bates found that Menzies “consistently and rationally understands” his crime and punishment.
The defense lawyers plan to appeal the judge’s ruling to the state Supreme Court.
