SALT LAKE CITY — Shortly after midnight Thursday morning, Utah executed its first inmate since 2010. Inmate Taberon Honie was executed by lethal injection for the brutal murder of his ex-girlfriend Claudia Benn’s mother in 1998 in Cedar City.
The weeks leading up to Thursday’s execution have been filled with questions about the state’s plans, a change in the drug used and last-minute appeals. It is part of what could be a wide-ranging internal investigation.
Starting Friday morning, the Utah Department of Corrections plans to thoroughly review its handling of Honie’s execution.
At the Utah State Prison, death row inmate Taberon Honie said his final goodbyes this morning shortly after midnight.
“He lifted his head and looked over at his family who were looking at it and just said ‘I love you,'” said Chief Randall Honey, head of the prison division.
Honie was executed by lethal injection in front of the media and other witnesses.
KSL TV Special: The Planned Execution of Taberon Honie
“And it was really like watching someone fall asleep and never wake up. So if there was a peaceful way to execute someone, this was it,” said Pat Reavy, a KSL reporter who has attended other executions.
The state of Utah had originally planned to use a three-drug combination that had not been tested before. His lawyer filed suit, claiming that this would have violated his constitutional rights, so the state switched to a more expensive and proven more lethal drug: pentobarbital. The procedure was appealed several times, all of which ultimately failed. But now the state plans to review the procedure in detail.
“We will look back at this from the inside out and analyze exactly what we did, how the planning went and what we can potentially learn from the future,” said Glen Mills, director of communications and government relations for the prison.
It won’t be long before planning for another execution can begin. The next Utah death row inmate who may be executed is Ralph Menzies, who was convicted of kidnapping and murder in 1988. His execution will look very different than before.
“It would be a significant difference because he chose the firing squad as his method of execution,” Mills said.
The state will now look at how it handled Honie’s execution to ensure Menzies’ death does not raise any problems.
Menzies’ execution will depend on the outcome of his competency hearing in November.
Menzies can be executed by firing squad because his case is protected under Utah’s old law, which dates back to the time before the state introduced lethal injection as its first method of execution.
