With the central veins you cant see or feel them, so you have to know the anatomy or use an ultrasound, said Dr. Joel Zivot, a lethal injection expert and intensive care doctor at Emory University who did not attend the execution but reviewed the documents later. Congressional Democrats have unveiled legislation this year to abolish the federal death penalty, a goal President-elect Joe Biden says he supports. [8], The defense did not have Rickert take the stand out of the fear that she might conclude Honken was a sociopath or had narcissistic personality disorder. Alyssa was unable to breathe and was scared that her brother would kill her, but he stopped, apologized, and started crying when he realized what he had done. Dustin Lee Honken is led Aug. 18, 2004, by federal marshals to a waiting car after the second day of jury selection in federal court in Sioux City. Honkens mother, brother and college-age daughter visited him in prison in recent days, she said. Ive made a lot of mistakes in my life, but Im not a murderer. An officer outside the the Federal Correctional Complex in Terre Haute, Indiana, where the federal government was preparing to execute Daniel Lewis Lee in July 2020. two more men to death this week before he leaves office, Christopher Vialva was executed in September. is a staff writer whose book, "Let the Lord Sort Them: The Rise and Fall of the Death Penalty," won the 2019 J. Anthony Lukas Work-In-Progress Book Award. [7], McNeese got Johnson to confess to the murders by claiming he could find another inmate who could take the blame. Terry also drove a truck for Bud Ranken and Bud Schrotter. He had been found guilty of murdering five people, including two. Twitter Around seven years later, the police found the Duncan family and Gregs bodies buried in a single hole, which was located in a wooded area outside Mason City in 2000. However, he told Johnson that she would need to say everything she knew. He graduated from West Hancock High School in 1980 a record holder in pole vaulting who enjoyed being a junior high wrestling team member. Acting on a tip that Johnson might be skipping town, authorities indicted her with aiding and abetting the murders of Nicholson, Duncan, Kandi, Amber and her ex-boyfriend DeGeus. When I get out, he's still dead." hitType: 'event', Department of. 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. 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. Honken told Cutkomp that he was worried about DeGeus turning on him. This sanitized murder really does not serve no purpose whatsoever.". Honken was involved in the manufacturing of methamphetamine, and one of his dealers was set to testify against him, so Honken and Johnson murdered him . Upon hearing the sentence, Honken seemed visibly disappointed. In 1990, Honken raped and threatened his girlfriend. On July 17, 2020, Honken was executed by lethal injection. "For years now, the government has made these terrible accusations against me," he said. ET Friday. Bumming around before starting at North Iowa, Honken fell into selling marijuana and cocaine, quickly building a list of customers who paid thousands for their fix. Two others were also put to death during the week after a hiatus of nearly 20 years, including Wesley Purkey. The Justice Department has executed Dustin Lee Honken in Terre Haute, Ind., the third federal inmate put to death by the government this week. But authoritiesneeded five things before they could begin to prove their case: the bodies. While in prison, Angela Johnson confessed to the murders to another prisoner who became an informant, supplying all the details and a hand-drawn map of the bodies location all handed over to the authorities. His execution is fast approaching and he is scheduled to die on July 17th at a prison in Terre Haute, Indiana. }); [25][26], Ron McIntosh said Honken told him he killed the children since they "wouldn't be quiet, or wouldn't shut up." [7], Honken said he planned to plead guilty, and a hearing was scheduled for July 30, 1993. He faced a minimum of 10 years in prison. On October 27, 2004, jurors recommended life sentences for Honken for killing the adult victims and death sentences for killing the children. document.querySelector("#google_image_div").addEventListener('click',function(){ eventAction: 'click_image_ads' Susan Negersmith was a 20 year-old woman from Carmel, New York. Johnson admitted that she was involved in Honken's crimes, but blamed him for the murders and said he had manipulated her. He never returned, and his body was found seven years later in a field outside Mason City in 2000. Upon learning that Nicholson had disappeared, the government turned to Honken's former dealer, DeGeus. [1], In April 2020, a divided panel of the D.C. His last words were, Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for me.. "[19] Without the deduction, Honken faced 27 to 33.75 years in prison. eventCategory: event.slot.getSlotElementId(), During the sentencing phase, the prosecution said Honken, who they described as an "evil mastermind", deserved to die since he had committed mass murder, killed children, killed a second time months after committing the four initial murders, showed no remorse, and had continued to try to escape prison and commit even more murders while in maximum security prisons. Its also not clear how many prison workers flew to Indiana or how many nights they stayed, but Mueller said at least a few guards were at the Holiday Inn with him and other witnesses in July. She is the organization's first formerly incarcerated reporter. On February 7, 1996, officers executed a search warrant on Honken's house and discovered his meth lab, chemicals, equipment, books, and notes, including ones on manufacturing drugs and how to bind and gag people. She told them about Honken's and Johnson's search for Nicholson and that she had seen the pistol used in the 1993 murders in Johnson's closet before it was destroyed. His final words were a reciting of the poem Heaven-Heaven by Gerard Manley Hopkins: "I have desired to go, where springs not fail, to fields where flies no sharp and sided hail, and a few lilies blow. The shackles were fitted with a chain so Honken could move normally without the shackles making noise. Dustin Honken, a convicted murderer of 5 people, sits on death row. [3] A few months later, the fifth victim, also a former dealer, was murdered.[3]. Prisoner Dustin Honken is scheduled to be put to death on Friday, July 17. [20][21], During his resentencing hearing in January 2000, Honken, asked for leniency, saying he had successfully participated in a drug rehabilitation program and taken educational programs. It was to show love, supportand respect to my daughter's father, Terry," read the short letter, "that weloved him until the end and still do.". Here's what Lee, Purkey, and Honken wished to eat for their final meals and the words they spoke as they left the world: Lee, a 47-year-old white supremacist, who tortured and killed an Arkansas family in 1996, was executed in Indiana early morning on Tuesday, June 14. Dustin Lee Honken was born in Britt, Iowa, on March 22, 1968, and suffered from an abusive childhood. Dustin Honken, 37, became the first person sentenced to death in Iowa in more than 40 years. pg.acq.push(function() { His lawyers contended he had dementia and didnt know why he was being executed. Honken and the other three plaintiffs in the case argued that the use of pentobarbital could violate the Federal Death Penalty Act of 1994. When the time of death was announced, Honken, 52, became the first Iowan in more than 50 years to be put to death in an Iowa case. The good-hearted Lori allowed a new friend, Greg Nicholson, to move into her home, knowing he had dealt drugs before but believing he was in rehab and willing to give him a chance in 1993. I am deeply sorry. Keith Dwayne Nelson, who kidnapped and raped a 10-year-old girl, is scheduled to be executed Aug. 28. The man they killed today was a human being, who could have spent the rest of his days helping others and further redeeming himself. Mueller uses a wheelchair, which he said can complicate the logistics of plane travel, so he decided to drive to Indiana from his home in Arkansas. "[8] When Cutkomp asked Honken if killing people bothered him, he replied "Nope. [6][10] Honken's defense presented testimony from his family, and pointed to his age and lack of prior violent convictions as mitigating factors. Your subscription makes work like this possible. But unlike the two executed earlier this week, Honken lacked headline-grabbing mitigating circumstances. Seconds later, officials announced the time of death. In addition, they discovered a note addressed to the neighbor, stating, Phyllis, we had to leave on short notice. [7], Honken and Johnson forced the family into a car at gunpoint and drove to a wooden area outside of the city. The victims were related to a drug trial against Honken. She offered a measure of apology at her first sentencing in 2005, saying she wanted to tell law enforcement about the killings, but feared for her life. [2] Honken and Johnson were in a relationship at the time of the murders, and Johnson, who had a child from a previous marriage, was pregnant by Honken. His biological father, Jim Honken, allegedly beat him, was an alcoholic, and served time in federal prison after committing multiple bank robberies. is a former staff writer whose work focuses on prisons and jails. Dustin Honken, 52, would become the first defendant in an Iowa case to be put to death since 1963 if he is executed as scheduled on Friday. Honken grew up in Britt, Iowa. }); However, Cobeen became a police informant. A judge later reduced her sentence to life behind bars. No matter what, you can always turn to The Marshall Project as a source of trustworthy journalism about the criminal justice system. Dustin Honken, a nerd turned drug kingpin, will become the only Iowan since 1963 to have the death sentence an Iowa jury imposed seen through on Friday, July 17, 2020. Courtney Crowder, the Register's Iowa Columnist, traverses the state's 99 counties telling Iowans' stories. Prisoner Keith Nelson's execution is set to take place on August 28.] Her lawyer said she was extremely relieved and grateful upon hearing of the decision. He compared the feeling of killing someone to a football game, saying, "Once you go a certain distance, there ain't no turning back. Attorney General William Barr relaunched executions this week for the first time since 2003. In 2005, Tokars stopped an attempted escape by Honken, in which he plotted to escape with the help of white supremacists and murder witnesses. The agency also fed the guards and some of the other law enforcement agencies that came to help with outside security, racking up a tab of more than $3,990 for snacks and light refreshments.. A federal judge who ordered two last-minute injunctions before other death row inmates were set to be killed this month declined to do so for Honken. [7] Cutkomp recorded Honken talking about his plans to kill witnesses and implicitly referenced killing witnesses in 1993. A review of the expenses for five executions in July and Augustincluding at least $9,376 for plane tickets and rental vans, more than $25,000 for kosher food and roughly $6,590 for tentspaints a stark and intimate picture of the practicalities of death, shedding light on a secretive process typically hidden from the public and shielded under law. So, who were Dustins victims, and what happened to the drug kingpin? "Nearly three decades after Honken coldly ended the lives of five people, including two young girls, all in an effort to protect himself and his criminal enterprise, he has finally faced justice," Kupec said in a statement. [13][31], In March 2012, federal judge Mark W. Bennett vacated Johnson's death sentence, citing a failure by her attorneys to introduce evidence about her mental state from an "alarmingly" dysfunctional defense team. The federal prison complex in Terre Haute, Ind., has been the site of three federal executions in a week, including Friday's of Dustin Lee Honken. Nearly three decades after Honken coldly ended the lives of five people all in an effort to protect himself and his criminal enterprise, he has finally faced justice, Kupec said. hitType: 'event', On behalf of the prosecution, Assistant U.S. Attorney Pat Reinert argued for a life sentence, spending hours making a case for sentencing enhancements on the grounds that Honken had something to do with the disappearances of Nicholson, Lori, Kandace, Amber, and DeGeus: "It appears that these people are dead. } With no witnesses, the government dropped their drug case in 1995 and Honken went back to making meth. We are one of the worlds fastest growing Honken's parents divorced when he was nine. Johnson discussed the murders in detail, which McNeese secretly recorded. eventCategory: event.slot.getSlotElementId(), After convincing Honken, then a recent high school graduate, to steal and copy the key to a local bank, his father robbed it. "[30] She called him a "sociopath who will never admit to what he has done. When the time of death was. I let down my family, my children most of all. The Dustin Honken they wanted to kill is long gone. May he rest in peace.". The murders took place in Iowa in July and November 1993. The two ended their relationship shortly after Nicholson's arrest. Honken, 52, was sentenced to die in October 2005 after being convicted of numerous offenses, including five counts of murder among them two small children during the course of a continuing. They found no signs of a struggle inside no blood or furniture in disarray except for an unfinished dinner on the kitchen table. His fingers gradually stopped twitching, and his breathing became shallower until it stopped. While awaiting trial, Honken was released on bond. "It sickens me to know what happened, she said, even more so not to tell anyone.. Born into a life of uncertainty, Honken grew up in Britt, a small town west of Mason City in north central Iowa. Using this evidence, and testimony from a collection of prisoners Honken told in not-so-subtle terms that he killed a handful of people in 1993, prosecutors brought murder charges against the former underworld honcho. Honken an Iowa meth kingpin who kidnapped and killed five people, including two young girls, to thwart his prosecution for drug trafficking in 1993 is set to become the third federal inmate to be executed this week. The family of Terry DeGeus, one of two government witnesses Honken was convicted of killing, said attending Friday's execution was the "least they could do. Angela Johnson: Where is Dustin Lee Honkens Girlfriend Now. He can be rehabilitated. He killed five people, including two young girls, in 1993. A statement from the Duncan family said the execution provided a degree of justice and closure to the family. He plotted to murder Cutkomp and gave a fellow inmate directions to Cutkomp's house. He was due to be executed in January of 2020, however, that was delayed due to appeals based on the method of death and whether or not it caused unnecessary pain and suffering. Death-row inmate Dustin Lee Honken, who killed a family of four, including two children and another person, was executed on Friday, July 17, at 4 pm local time, marking the government's third federal execution in a month after 17 years. Lee remained strapped on a gurney for four hours after midnight as the Trump administration sought to lift a court-ordered stay on his death sentence. Honken, 52, was pronounced dead at 4:36 p.m. Eastern time after officials at the U.S. Penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana, administered a lethal dose of pentobarbital, according to the Des Moines Register, which had a reporter present. Theyre willing to go to extraordinary lengths in terms of spending our money and then hiding the footprints of it.. At his sentencing in 2005, Honken recognized the victims families had suffered a senseless destruction of human life in losing their loved ones, but also declared that their vengeance toward me is misguided.. ", "During his time in prison, he cared for everyone he came into contact with: guards, counselors, medical staff, his fellow inmates and his legal team. } Johnson bought a pistol on July 7, 1993. As the trio was executed, they expressed their views for the final time, with one even maintaining his innocence till his last breath. }); Honken was pronounced dead after 30 minutes longer than the other two executions. Iowa outlawed the death penalty 55 years ago. Never. Honken beat, shot, and buried DeGeus. The two made hundreds of thousands of dollars from several drug runs. },false) His last words were, "Holy Mary, mother of God . [34], Honken exhausted his appeals in 2014, but at the time, the U.S. federal government had a de facto moratorium on capital punishment. },false) DeGeus body was found a few miles from the wooded area. Honkens lawyer, Shawn Nolan, said his client was redeemed and had repented for his crimes. Honken would become the first defendant from Iowa to die from capital punishment since 1963 if his lethal injection takes place as scheduled on Friday, July 17, 2020 in Terre Haute, Ind. 3d 937", "From meth to murder: How a small-town Iowa boy became the state's first death row inmate in 50 years", "FindLaw's United States Eighth Circuit case and opinions", "Witnesses Testify about Honken's Drug Operation", "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA vs. ANGELA JOHNSON", "184 F3d 961 United States of America v. Dustin Lee Honken", "Fred Tokars, lawyer who set up murder of his wife, dies in prison", "OPINION: Maybe wife-killer Fred Tokars got a fate worse than death", "Iowa meth kingpin is 3rd executed by US government this week", "Johnson v. United States, 860 F. Supp. Like the other inmates put to death this week, Honken had appealed his sentence up until the last moments before his scheduled execution at 3 p.m.Central Daylight TimeFriday. But he soon startedselling marijuana and cocaine anddecided to become both a drug manufacturer and a dealer with his knowledge of chemistry. More: From meth to murder: How a small-town Iowa boy became the state's first death row inmate in 50 years. We owe it to the victims of these horrific crimes, and to the families left behind, to carry forward the sentence imposed by our justice system, Attorney General William P. Barr said in a statement. While preparing for his trial, Honken discovered through legal documents that Nicholson had turned witness. The prosecution said he had every reason to kill the victims and presented 65 witnesses against him. I have seen people get murdered here and being in a place like this makes the sentence I have now almost like a death sentence. Honken, who had been on death row since 2005, was pronounced dead at 4:36 p.m. Powered by WordPress.com VIP. The attorneys of each convict tried to block their clients' executions in last-ditch attempts to save their lives, two of them nearly succeeded only for the Supreme Court to ultimately give the green light to the Trump administration to go ahead. Dustin Lee Honken was born in Britt, Iowa, on March 22, 1968, and suffered from an abusive childhood. In 1984, Honken plotted a bank robbery in which the person he would convince to commit the robbery for him would then be killed and thrown into a pond. But as Honken'soperation grew, so too did his dependence on meth and his singular focus on success no matter the cost. After a two-month-long trial, the jury found him guilty on all 17 counts. Johnson was originally sentenced to death for her part in the crime but had her sentence reduced to life in prison. [7] Within a year, Honken and Cutkomp managed to produce several pounds of nearly pure meth, which they sold in northeast Iowa, primarily through two dealers: Terry DeGeus and Greg Nicholson. Investigators found the Nicholson and Duncan bodies only seven years after the killings, in 2000, after Johnson scrawled out a map showing a jailhouse informant where they were buried. Consequently, Honken's offense level under the United States Federal Sentencing Guidelines was set at 38, which called for a sentence of 235 to 293 months in prison. The single mother was a Navy veteran, an Elvis Presley fan, and tended to find the good in people. Two others were also put to death during the week after a hiatus of nearly 20 years, including Wesley Purkey. The victims' family is expected to provide a written statement to the public at some point soon. At the time of his death, Honken had served more than 22 years in an Indiana prison. While studying legal documents, Dustin learned Greg had become an informant after being caught with almost 150 grams of pure meth inside his apartment. She said goodbye to her friends in the evening. More: Timeline of events in the infamous 1993 Iowa murders. The portable restrooms cost $1,605. His time of death was marked at 3:36 p.m.Central Daylight Time. On October 14, 2004, Honken was convicted of all 17 counts against him, including five counts of murder in furtherance of a continuing criminal enterprise. Notifications can be turned off anytime from browser settings. He was pronounced dead at 3:36p.m. I deeply regret the pain I caused to my daughter, who I love so very much. Honken also murdered Terry DeGeus, another possible witness against him, by beating him with a bat and shooting him. There was the electrocardiogram machine ($1,459) and EKG tape ($81.24), a suture kit ($470.88), a heating pad ($18.46), assorted medical supplies ($374.67) and an ultrasound rental ($2,000), likely to help find a vein if the usual arm veins proved difficult. eventCategory: event.slot.getSlotElementId(), }); [8], Cutkomp decided to become an informant. Lees execution, like Purkeys, went ahead only after the U.S. Supreme Court gave it a green light in a 5-4 decision hours before. Yet Donoghue, of the Sisters of Providence just outside Terre Haute, said she was startled by how calm Honken sounded over the phone. ga('ads.send', { [7] Johnson told Honken that DeGeus was personally using too much meth which was supposed to be sold, and that they should deal with each other instead. Knowing that youre behind us means so much. 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.. They drove the hostages to a wooded area outside the city and shot them execution-style. ga('ads.send', { (The records list only $33.11 for Dustin Lee Honkens dinner from Pizza Hut, and $0 spent when Keith Dwayne Nelson refused a meal.) [19], A judge initially barred McNeese from testifying against Johnson during her trial on the grounds that he was acting as a federal agent. The federal death penalty against Dustin Lee Honken, now 51, is one of four executions put on hold late Wednesday by a judge who found that a proposal from U.S. Attorney General William Barr to . However this is a steptoward healing of broken hearts and shattered lives.". That stint was short-lived, however, as he was picked up on new drug charges when his garage was raided in 1996. if(document.querySelector("#adunit")){ He claimed he had nothing to do with the 1993 disappearances. He had a rare right-left brain combination that made him attractive enough to land a scholarship to North Iowa Area Community College in the early 1990s. Since many of the other witnesses didnt live close enough to drive, they flew in, and the bureau spent more than $4,310 on plane tickets for July and August. ", "The reason for us being present today was not to watch a man die. Dustin earned a scholarship to North Iowa Area Community College in 1991 and had initially planned to become a pharmaceutical lawyer. ga('ads.send', { A prison official in Terre Haute, Indiana, reportedly told the New York Post: "We will not be providing details of Mr. Lees last meal.".
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