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Dustin Lee Honken, 52, was put to death by lethal injection in Terre Haute penitentiary, Indiana
Johnson's former boyfriend, Dustin Honken, was convicted of five counts of Continuing Criminal Enterprisemurder. Although it was Honken who pulled the trigger, killing three adults and two children, Johnson received the death penalty for four of the victims, while Honken was sentenced to death for only the two children. The unanimous Eighth Circuit affirmed Honken's conviction and sentence in September 2008.
On July 25, 2019, United States Attorney GeneralWilliam Barr approved the use of the single drug pentobarbitalfor federal executions, and an execution date of January 15, 2020, was set for Honken. On November 20, 2019, U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan issued a preliminary injunction preventing the resumption of federal executions. Honken and the other three plaintiffs in the case argued that the use of pentobarbital may violate the Federal Death Penalty Act of 1994. On December 5, 2019, the Supreme Court denied a stay of Chutkan's injunction while the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit reviewed Chutkan's decision. Honken was imprisoned at the United States Penitentiary, Terre Haute.
While in prison Honken had converted to Catholicism. The Archbishop of Newark, Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin had written to president Donald Trump in early July 2020 asking him to commute Honken's sentence, claiming that he had witnessed Honken's "spiritual growth in faith and compassion".
In April 2020, a divided panel of the D.C. Circuit vacated District Judge Chutkan's injunction in a per curiam decision. Circuit Judges Gregory G. Katsas and Neomi Rao both wrote concurring opinions concluding that Honken may be executed, but for different reasons. Circuit Judge David S. Tatel dissented, arguing that the statute explicitly requires the federal government to follow state execution protocols. On June 29, 2020, the Supreme Court denied Honken's petition for review, with Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor dissenting.
On July 17, 2020, at 3:36 p.m. CST, Honken was executed by lethal injection. His final words were, "Hail Mary, Mother of God, pray for me."
Family of victims after Honken execution: 'step toward the healing of broken hearts and shattered lives'
He is the first defendant in an Iowa case to be put to death since 1963.
Posted: Jul 17, 2020 3:55 PM
Updated: Jul 18, 2020 8:23 AM
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (AP) — The U.S. government on Friday put to death an Iowa chemistry student-turned-meth kingpin convicted of killing five people, the third execution by the federal government in a week.
FILE - In this Oct. 11, 2005, file photo, Dustin Lee Honken is led by US Marshals into the Federal Courthouse in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, prior to his sentencing. AP photo
Dustin Honken, who prosecutors said killed key witnesses to stop them from testifying in his drugs case, received a lethal injection at the Federal Correctional Complex in Terre Haute, Indiana. Two others were also put to death during the week after a hiatus of nearly 20 years, including Kansan Wesley Purkey. His lawyers contended he had dementia and didn’t know why he was being executed.
The first in the spate federal executions happened Tuesday, when Daniel Lewis Lee was put to death for killing a family in the 1990s as part of a plot to build a whites-only nation. Lee’s execution, like Purkey’s, went ahead only after the U.S. Supreme Court gave it a green light in a 5-4 decision hours before.
Honken, of Britt, Iowa, had been on death row since 2005 and was the first Iowan with a death sentence imposed by Iowa jurors to be executed since 1963. Iowa struck the death penalty from state statutes in 1965, but Honken was eligible for the death penalty under U.S. law because he was tried in federal court.
Honken was pronounced dead at 4:36 p.m., the Bureau of Prisons said.
The inmate — known for his verbosity at trial and for making a long statement of his innocence at his sentencing — spoke only briefly, neither addressing victims’ family members nor saying he was sorry. His last words were, “Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for me.”
Honken's lawyer, Shawn Nolan, said his client was “redeemed” and had repented for his crimes. Honken was a devout Catholic who “cared for everyone he came into contact with” in prison, Nolan said.
“There was no reason for the government to kill him, in haste or at all. In any case, they failed. The Dustin Honken they wanted to kill is long gone,” Nolan said. "The man they killed today was a human being, who could have spent the rest of his days helping others and further redeeming himself. May he rest in peace.”
Honken, whose crimes struck at the foundation of the U.S. justice system, always seemed the least likely to win a reprieve from the courts.
Mark Bennett, the now-retired federal judge who oversaw Honken’s 2004 trial for the kidnappings and killings, said previously that he generally opposed the death penalty. But if anyone deserved it, he added, it was Honken.
While out on bond in his drugs case in July 1993, Honken and his girlfriend Angela Johnson kidnapped Lori Duncan and her two daughters from their Mason City, Iowa, home, then killed and buried them in a wooded area nearby. Ten-year-old Kandi and 6-year-old Amber were still in their swimsuits on the hot summer day when they were shot execution-style in the back of the head.
Their primary target that day was Lori Duncan’s then-boyfriend, Greg Nicholson, who also lived at the home and was also killed. He and Lori Duncan were bound and gagged and shot multiple times. Honken had recently learned Nicholson, a former drug-dealing associate, was cooperating with investigators and would likely testify against Honken at trial.
Lori Duncan didn’t know Nicholson was an informant and she wasn’t involved in drugs.
As the investigation into Honken continued, he killed another drug dealer working with him, Terry DeGeus, beating him with a bat and shooting him.
Honken had earlier informed the judge in his drug case that he would plead guilty at the end of July. But days after the still-undiscovered killings of Nicholson and the Duncans, he told the court he would stick to his not guilty plea.
Investigators found the Nicholson and Duncan bodies only seven years later, in 2000, after Johnson scrawled out a map showing a jailhouse informant where they were buried. DeGeus’ body was found a few miles from the wooded area.
Honken was considered so dangerous that the judge took the rare step of impaneling an anonymous jury. Other security measures included fitting Honken with a stun belt under his clothes to prevent him from trying to escape.
Johnson, Honken’s girlfriend, was convicted in a separate trial and sentenced to death. Bennett later reduced her sentence to life behind bars.
Statement from the family of Terry DeGeus:
“The reason for us being present today was not to watch a man die. It was to show love, support, and respect to my daughter’s father, Terry. That we loved him until the end and still do. It was the least we could do."
Statement from the family of Lori, Kandace & Amber Duncan:
“To whom it may concern,”
“27 year ago two beautiful girls and their mother were taken from us by a violent criminal and his girlfriend. For 27 years we have grieved for them while their killers lived on.”
“Today, the little girls Kandace and Amber would be 37 and 33. They never had the chance to grow up and share in the joys and sorrows of life. Their mother never got to see them having a first dance, first date, or walk down the aisle at their wedding. There were no family reunions. No visits to grandparents’ house, no overnights at cousins. Their lives were snuffed out.”
“However, their killer has lived the years since then with a bed and meals provided for him.”
“Today, we gather to witness the execution of Dustin Honken, their murderer. It is a day we thought would never come. Finally, justice is being done. It will bring a sense of closure but we will continue to live with their loss. However, this is a step toward the healing of broken hearts and shattered lives.”
“We regret that so many members of our family have passed on and were never able to see this day.”
Over recent days, prison authorities permitted Honken to make his last calls to family and friends, according to Sister Betty Donoghue, a Catholic nun whom he called Wednesday.
On death row, Honken befriended Lee and knew his execution was called off one hour, then was back on another hour, Donoghue said.
“He was very upset with the way Danny died,” said Donoghue, who visited Honken regularly over the past decade.
Yet Donoghue, of the Sisters of Providence just outside Terre Haute, said she was startled by how calm Honken sounded over the phone.
“He was at peace. I was totally amazed,” she said. “He believed he would go to heaven. He is ready to meet his maker.”
At his sentencing in 2005, Honken denied killing anybody, but Donoghue said never heard him say he was innocent.
Honken’s mother, brother and college-aged daughter visited him in prison in recent days, she said.
Honken grew up in the northern Iowa town of Britt, the son of an alcoholic father with bank robbery convictions. But Hoken was regarded as bright and good at math. He went on to study chemistry at a community college, before dropping out to pursue a career dealing drugs instead.
He moved to Arizona and drew on his expertise in chemistry to produce highly purified meth in the hopes of getting rich. He and a friend distributed their product through dealers based in Mason City, Iowa.
At trial, Honken’s attorney, Alfredo Parrish, tried unsuccessfully to soften his client’s image, describing him to jurors as “basically a nerd” who became “infatuated with drug manufacturing.”
INTERNET SOURCE: https://www.kimt.com/content/news/North-Iowa-mass-murderer-Dustin-Honken-executed-571804801.html
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Daniel Lewis Lee (January 31, 1973 – July 14, 2020) was an American convicted murderer who was sentenced to death for the 1996 murders of William Mueller, Nancy Ann Mueller, and their daughter Sarah Elizabeth Powell. Lee and his accomplice, Chevie Kehoe, murdered gun dealer William Frederick Mueller, his wife, and his 8-year-old step-daughter, in Arkansas, on January 11, 1996. He was executed on July 14, 2020 at The Federal Correctional Institute, Terre Haute, Indiana. He was executed by lethal injection and pronounced dead at 8:07 a.m. EDT.
Kehoe was sentenced to three consecutive life sentences for the Mueller murders. Lee was also convicted for his role in the murders; he was sentenced to death by the United States federal government in spite of pleas for clemency from the Muellers' family members. Lee was scheduled to be executed on July 13, 2020, but on that date, a U.S. district judge blocked the execution, citing unresolved legal issues. In the early hours of July 14, the Supreme Court ruled that the execution could proceed. Following this ruling, Lee's execution was scheduled for 4:00 AM that same day. The execution took place later that morning, and Lee was declared dead at 8:07 AM on July 14, 2020. He was the first person to be executed by the federal government in 17 years.
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Kehoe was sentenced to three consecutive life sentences for the Mueller murders. Lee was also convicted for his role in the murders; he was sentenced to death by the United States federal government in spite of pleas for clemency from the Muellers' family members. Lee was scheduled to be executed on July 13, 2020, but on that date, a U.S. district judge blocked the execution, citing unresolved legal issues. In the early hours of July 14, the Supreme Court ruled that the execution could proceed. Following this ruling, Lee's execution was scheduled for 4:00 AM that same day. The execution took place later that morning, and Lee was declared dead at 8:07 AM on July 14, 2020. He was the first person to be executed by the federal government in 17 years.
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