Ralph Leroy Menzies, Convicted Murderer of Maurine Hunsaker, Dies from Natural Causes on Death Row
Ralph Leroy Menzies, a death row inmate convicted of the 1986 aggravated murder of Maurine Hunsaker, has passed away due to natural causes, as confirmed by the Utah Department of Corrections (UDC). Menzies, who spent 37 years on death row, was scheduled for execution on September 5, 2025, but the Utah Supreme Court halted the process to reassess his competency. A final decision on his competency was pending a hearing in December. Menzies, aged 67, died at a local hospital around 1:45 p.m. on Wednesday, with UDC notifying his next of kin and Hunsaker's family before making the news public.
Maurine Hunsaker was abducted from the Gas-A-Mat convenience store and gas station in Kearns, Utah, where she worked, on February 23, 1986. Her husband discovered her disappearance when she failed to answer the phone or show up at home. Hunsaker had called her husband, informing him that she was kidnapped and robbed. Subsequently, a police officer spoke with her, and she mentioned that the kidnapper planned to release her. Tragically, Hunsaker's lifeless body was found by a hiker near a picnic area in Big Cottonwood Canyon on February 25, 1986. The medical examiner determined that she had been strangled and had her throat slit, with signs of being tied to a tree.
During the investigation, Menzies was arrested on an unrelated burglary charge and attempted to flee when officers searched his belongings. Identification cards belonging to Hunsaker were discovered in the changing room where Menzies had hidden. Witnesses linked Menzies to Hunsaker's disappearance and murder, with some recalling seeing them together on the night of the crime. In 1988, Menzies was convicted by a jury and sentenced to death for the heinous act.
The Utah Department of Corrections confirmed that Ralph Leroy Menzies, the death row inmate convicted of the 1986 murder of Maurine Hunsaker, has passed away from natural causes. Menzies spent 37 years on death row and was scheduled for execution in 2025 before the process was halted to assess his competency. His death occurred at a local hospital, with UDC notifying his next of kin and Hunsaker's family before making the news public.