Disclaimer: The article has mentions of killing and violence.
Whether Ralph LeRoy Menzies was lucky or not is up for debate, but the world sure is finally free from another killer who terrorized a vulnerable woman. Menzies was a Utah death row inmate for more than 37 years for kidnapping and murdering a young woman in 1986. One can’t help but wonder — if the victim had survived, would she have wanted her attacker to die of natural causes rather than face execution?
According to The Salt Lake Tribune, Ralph Menzies suffered from vascular dementia, and his health severely deteriorated in the last few years. At one point, his defense team used his condition to argue that he shouldn’t be executed. On Wednesday, prison officials confirmed that the violent killer died at an area hospital. He was 67 at the time.
We want to inform you that Ralph Menzies, one of Utah’s longest-serving inmates under a death sentence, died of presumed natural causes at a local hospital on November 26, 2025. More information is available on our website: https://t.co/P1RIi5IrAn pic.twitter.com/ISrm5j9xog
— Utah Department of Corrections (@UtahCorrections) November 26, 2025
At one point, he was scheduled to be executed by firing squad. His death on Wednesday has been confirmed to have been due to natural causes. His lawyers released an official statement on Wednesday. “Ralph Menzies was deeply loved by his family, friends, legal team, and by everyone who knew him well. In his later years, he devoted himself to helping others in every way he could. We’re grateful that Ralph passed naturally and maintained his spiritedness and dignity until the end,” they said.
Had he not died, Menzies would have attended a competency hearing in early December. According to his court records, at least one evaluator deemed him unfit to be legally executed. The Utah attorney general’s office was accordingly preparing to argue against it.
For those unversed, Ralph LeRoy Menzies was convicted of kidnapping and killing Maurine Hunsaker, 26, in 1986. According to his records, he held the young woman, who was also a mother, hostage in the Storm Mountain area of Big Cottonwood Canyon. Two days after she went missing, a hiker discovered her body. Authorities later revealed that the man strangled Maurine before cutting her throat.
The Utah Supreme Court has STAYED the September 5, 2025 execution date of Ralph Leroy Menzies, ordering a new Competency evaluation.
Meanwhile, Florida Governor Ron Desantis has set a September 30, 2025 execution date for Victor Tony Jones. pic.twitter.com/d9JrqqRVhf
— Friday-Justice-Obsessions (@death_row0506) August 30, 2025
Following Menzies’ death, the victim’s family released a statement. On Wednesday, they said that Hunsaker was “a vibrant and loving woman whose kindness and warmth touched everyone who knew her.”
“Her life was taken in a brutal, violent, and depraved act that shocked the Utah community nearly forty years ago. The pain of her loss remains deeply felt by her family and friends to this day,” said the family.
However, they said the killer’s death doesn’t bring them closure. “The Hunsaker family was denied the lawful and just execution that Utah courts ordered decades ago. At this time, the family asks for privacy as they process the news, reflect on their cherished memories of Maurine, and seek peace together,” said the statement by Maurine’s family.
