The Utah Supreme Court has upheld the conviction of death-row inmate Ralph LeRoy Menzies for the 1986 murder of gas station attendant Maurine Hunsaker.
In a 4-1 decision released Wednesday, the court upheld the 1988 conviction and death penalty despite an array of reasons Menzies gave for a new trial.This is the second time the Supreme Court has upheld Menzies' conviction and death penalty. The court upheld the conviction this time despite Menzies' claim that a mistrial occurred because of surprise testimony at the trial, five jurors should have been dismissed, the court used an incorrect standard in sentencing him to death and testimony about the impact of the victim's death was inappropriately allowed during the penalty phase. The court also rejected Menzies' appeal in 1992.
Menzies kidnapped Hun-saker from a Kearns gas station on Feb. 23, 1986. Her body was found two days later in Big Cottonwood Canyon. She had been strangled.