A Utah judge signed Menzies’ death warrant last week, setting the date for the 67-year-old man with dementia to die by firing squad. That is, barring any other legal hurdles.

Capital punishment is “one of the most consequential duties any state agency or department is called upon to fulfill, and our department stands ready to do just that,” Jared Garcia, executive director of the Utah Department of Corrections, told reporters from the department’s training academy in Draper.

“We will carry out the statutory requirements in a professional and respectful manner,” Garcia said, adding that state officials have “now officially started” to prepare.

It’s been less than a year since Utah’s last execution, when state officials put death row inmate Taberon Honie to death by lethal injection on Aug. 7. Now, state officials are gearing up to do it again — but this time with .30 caliber rifles.

“Because we went through this last year, we’ve confirmed our processes at (the new state prison in Salt Lake City), and we feel very comfortable in being able to see this through in a very similar fashion,” Garcia said. “The method will be different, as this will be a firing squad execution as opposed to lethal injection, but again we are confident in our planning and process (from) last year, and we’ll be able to adjust the logistics.”

Menzies, when he was sentenced to death more than 40 years ago for the murder of Maurine Hunsaker, chose to die by firing squad. Menzies was convicted of the murder in 1988, after he kidnapped Hunsaker, a 26-year-old gas station clerk, and took her up Big Cottonwood Canyon where she was later found tied to a tree with her throat slashed.

Though a date has been set, Menzies’ attorneys are still pursuing appeals. A judge later this month will decide whether he should undergo another mental evaluation before the execution. Menzies’ attorneys argue his dementia has worsened since he was last evaluated about a year ago. Based on those reports, the judge determined last month that Menzies did have cognitive shortcomings but did not meet the high bar to be deemed incompetent.

Both state and federal law require that death row inmates have an understanding of why they’re being executed.

Menzies’ attorneys argue he can no longer articulate the state’s reasoning for pursuing the death penalty and even has trouble with basic tasks like getting his food, getting dressed and cleaning his cell. State attorneys, however, argue Menzies’ execution should be allowed to proceed. Daniel Boyer, who represented the state last week, told reporters he doesn’t think there’s enough in the Menzies’ petition to warrant another evaluation.

Last week, Menzies’ attorney Eric Zuckerman called the notion of executing his client “inhumane.”

“He’s tethered to a wheelchair and an oxygen tank. And he’s not competent. This has gotten worse over the past year and we remain hopeful that the courts or the clemency board will recognize the inhumanity of taking a man like him into the death chair, taking him out of his wheelchair, and executing him,” Zuckerman said outside the courtroom. “It’s wrong and Utah can do better.”

But Matt Hunsaker, Maurine’s son, applauded the judge’s decision to sign the death warrant Wednesday, telling reporters he was feeling “overwhelmed” and “very happy.”

“His life will be over in mere seconds,” Hunsaker said when asked how he’s preparing for the execution. “My mom, we don’t know how long she stood and suffered in that grove, how long she bled to death and how she felt.”

Why is Menzies set to be executed by firing squad?

In Utah, death row inmates sentenced before May 2004 had a choice between lethal injection or firing squad. Menzies, when he was sentenced to death, chose the firing squad. For those sentenced after 2004, the default method of execution is lethal injection, unless the necessary drugs are not available.

In the courtroom in 1988, when asked how he preferred to die after he was sentenced to death, the Deseret News reported: “Menzies replied loudly: ‘Shoot me.'”

Though it’s been less than 12 months since Utah’s last execution, it’s been more than 15 years since Utah officials carried out an execution by firing squad.

Ronnie Lee Gardner was the last inmate to be executed by firing squad in Utah, on June 18, 2010. Gardner was convicted of murder in 1985 for shooting Michael Burdell, an attorney, and wounding Nick Kirk, a bailiff, in a failed attempt to escape from court, where he was already facing another murder charge.

Randy Gardner was among about two dozen protesters who came to the “free speech zone” about two miles south of Utah’s prison last August when state officials executed Honie by lethal injection.

Utah News Dispatch was among the media witnesses for Honie’s execution. The witnesses agreed the death was quiet, with no outward signs of suffering.

According to media witness accounts of Ronnie Lee Gardner’s execution, he was pronounced dead after one volley of bullets, two minutes after the shots were fired. In those two minutes, reporters said Ronnie Lee Gardner’s left hand clenched into a fist, leaving some media members to wonder briefly whether his execution would require a second volley, which it didn’t.

It’s been over 15 years since Utah’s last firing squad execution. Will the state be prepared?

Garcia said state officials “absolutely feel like we’re prepared to carry out this type of execution through a firing squad.”

“The logistics are just a little bit different on how we locate firing squad members, we’re just getting started with that process,” Garcia said.

He added that Menzies’ execution is set to take place in the same execution chamber where Honie was put to death, but the difference is rather than being strapped to a gurney for a lethal injection, Menzies will be tied down to a chair.

State officials say they plan to largely adhere to the same protocol as that 2010 execution, with the only difference being that it will take place at the execution chamber in the new Utah State Correctional Facility, located in Salt Lake City’s remote northwest corner. That facility replaced the now-demolished Utah State Prison in Draper in 2022.

For a firing squad execution, Utah law requires the executive director of the Utah Department of Corrections or a designee to select a “five-person firing squad of peace officers.”

When asked how those firing squad members will be recruited, Garcia said “that’s still yet to be determined. We’re still working through that.”

Pressed on whether state officials will be establishing a protocol for that, Garcia said, “Yes, we definitely want to make sure that they are people that are, first of all, mentally prepared to participate in this type of assignment.”

“As you can imagine, it shouldn’t be taken lightly,” he said, adding that state officials “want to make sure that they are skilled” marksmen.

“I want to make sure that this … goes through in a professional and dignified way, and that we do it right,” Garcia said.

Utah’s firing squad protocol

According to the Utah Department of Correction’s 2010 execution protocol, “persons selected for the firing squad shall be POST certified peace officers. Selected peace officers will be required to demonstrate proficiency with weapons designated to carry out the execution.”

Proficiency, the protocol says, must be shown by firing .30 caliber weapons “at a minimum of 21 feet, accurately hitting the target of the same dimension as that which will be attached to the condemned.”

The protocol calls for an “aiming point or target to be placed over the condemned inmate’s heart.”

“During the proficiency test, failure to accurately hit the specified target with one round from each weapon fired shall disqualify the officer,” the protocol says.

State officials will keep the shooters’ identities secret. The firing squad protocol requires that of the five weapons used for the execution, four will be loaded with two live rounds while one will be loaded with two blank rounds.

“Care shall be taken to preclude any knowledge by the members of the firing squad of who is issued the weapon with two blank cartridges,” the protocol says.

In addition to that five-person execution team, the protocol also requires that “two alternates and a team leader shall be chosen.” The alternates “shall be selected to replace any member(s) of the firing squad who are unable to discharge their required functions.”

The protocol also requires that a “minimum of three rehearsals and practices shall be conducted to carry out an execution in a timely fashion maintaining the necessary security.”

For the execution, the protocol requires “a designated execution team member” to “start a stopwatch once the first volley has been fired.” If, after the first rounds are fired, the death row inmate appears to be unconscious, the protocol requires the warden to “wait a maximum of three minutes after the first volley and then call for the physician to check the vital signs of the condemned.”

“If, after a maximum of 10 minutes from the first volley, the inmate is unconscious but alive, the Warden shall direct the physician to make a final check on the condemned vital signs,” the protocol says. If the inmate is found to still be alive, the protocol directs the executive director or a designee to order the firing squad team leader to ready the team for a second volley.

If, after the first round of bullets, the inmate “is obviously conscious,” the protocol requires the executive director to “instruct the firing squad team leader to immediately prepare the weapons to fire again.”

The protocol calls for those procedures to be repeated until “no vital signs are detected” and the physician certifies the death.