But authoritiesneeded five things before they could begin to prove their case: the bodies. On death row, Honken befriended Lee and knew his execution was called off one hour, then was back on another hour, Donoghue said. }); The night before his disappearance, he dropped his 10-year-old daughter off at his mother's house and said he was going to meet Johnson. [40] Circuit Judge David S. Tatel dissented, arguing the statute explicitly requires the federal government to follow state execution protocols. However, this decision was overturned since the government had never asked McNeese to cooperate in the case against Johnson. Honken received the maximum sentence. ", "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. 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. Just go in and check him., Its not clear how much the agency paid for lethal drugs themselves, a few grams of pentobarbital, and its not clear whats buried in the redacted expenditures marked confidential.. 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. Greg, Lori, and her daughters had all been shot at least once at close range, execution-style, in the back of the head. 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. Dustin was a chemistry wizard during his community college days in the early 90's. Honken's execution was the last one in this weeklong spree. He added: "There was no reason for the government to kill him, in haste or at all. I'm sorry, but that ain't no choice. 0. 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. Authorities had found almost 150 grams of pure meth in Nicholson's house, and he'd agreed to become an informant in exchange for leniency. At the time of his death, Honken had served more than 22 years in an Indiana prison. Other van rentals for shuttling around staff and witnesses totaled at least $4,500 over the five executions, while a bus rental cost $6,330. The two eventually located Nicholson. Honken has rarely spoken publicly since his sentencing, but until Friday's statement from his lawyer maintainedhis innocence. Honken reported in his pre-sentence investigation that his father struck him numerous times during his childhood, although he denied that his father was physically abusive and maintained that the emotional turmoil in his early life mostly stemmed from his father's alcoholism. MEAWW brings you the best content from its global team of "[30] She called him a "sociopath who will never admit to what he has done. But days after the still-undiscovered killings of Nicholson and the Duncans, he told the court he would stick to his not guilty plea. eventAction: 'load' Honkens mother, brother and college-age daughter visited him in prison in recent days, she said. He killed five people, including two young girls, in 1993. She was formally sentenced to death on December 19, 2005. While he did not offer an apology to his victims' families, his attorney, Shawn Nolan, said the former drug ring leader had repented for his crimes. After all appeals and injunctions were dismissed by various courts over the years, the 52-year-old was executed by lethal injection in the US Penitentiary in Terre Haute on July 17, 2020. The 52-year-old died by lethal injection at the Federal Correctional Institution in Terre Haute, Indiana, where he's been on death row since 2005. is a former staff writer whose work focuses on prisons and jails. Prison officials stated that Purkey owing to his mental illness lacked in understanding and put aside the pecan pie in his last meal for later. He reportedly did not understand that there wouldnt be any later, according to Kansascity.com. They discovered him staying at the home of a friend, Lori Duncan, a single mother with two children, Amber, 6, and Kandi, 10. He then did the same to the children. While awaiting trial, Honken was released on bond. 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. [7] He and Johnson passed notes through the food slot in his door about their lives in jail and their childhoods. The US government on Friday executed Dustin Lee Honken, the third federal inmate to receive the death penalty this week after the punishment was revived by the Trump administration following a 17 . Dustin Honken, 52, 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. We believe that he was ready to take violent actions again. According to court testimonies, Marge Milbrath last saw her daughter on July 25, 1993, while driving to the grocery store. Youre killing an innocent man, He had said. An Iowa drug kingpin was executed in Indiana on Friday, marking the third person to be killed on the death penalty in the United States this week. Moments before being sentenced Honken maintained his innocence, accusing the judge in his case of having a "death agenda." Honken was convicted in October 2004 of murder in the 1993 deaths of five North Iowans. Just before his death, Lee reportedly implored to the media at his execution to ask the judge about DNA evidence that was left out of his trial. While studying legal documents, Dustin learned Greg had become an informant after being caught with almost 150 grams of pure meth inside his apartment. Days before each cluster of executions last summer, the Bureau of Prisons shipped in dozens of extra staff for training in preparation for the event, as it is elliptically referred to in records. Jim once convinced his son to steal and copy a key to a bank. eventAction: 'click_adunit' Over the years he grew incredibly close to his family, becoming a true father, son, brother and friend. As a result, Honken and Johnson were federally charged with all five murders. Here's why it probably isn't coming back. [27], During cross-examination, a defense attorney questioned why someone like Honken would confide in "a couple of crackheads who steal hogs" for a living. Later, after learning DeGeus also agreed to cooperate with authorities, Johnson tricked him into taking her to a vacant farm where Honken beat and killed him. [7] Prosecutors played a tape in which Honken was recorded saying that he liked killing people and compared the feeling to getting high on drug. Honken had a healthy relationship with his stepfather.[6]. 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. His fingers gradually stopped twitching, and his breathing became shallower until it stopped. Other security measures included fitting Honken with a stun belt under his clothes to prevent him from trying to escape. A former Fulbright and H.F. Guggenheim fellow, he has reported on a range of criminal justice subjects, including jail conditions, sheriffs, wrongful convictions, and art by incarcerated people. Within a year, Honken and his childhood friend, Tim Cutkomp, had moved to Arizona, built a sophisticated methamphetamine cooking setup and all but perfected a recipe for pure meth, which they sold mainly through two dealers in northeast Iowa: DeGeus, 32, and Greg Nicholson, 34. Lawyers for Honken requested in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia a stay of execution. He also decided to switch to meth. However, under federal law, he was bound to the jury's verdict. Although details of his last meal were not revealed, Honken, in his last words, recited a poem by an English poet Gerard Manley Hopkins, SJ called Heaven-Heaven. In any case, they failed. }); TERRE HAUTE, Ind. eventCategory: event.slot.getSlotElementId(), ga('ads.send', { An execution date of January 15, 2020, was set for Honken. But his lawyer, Shawn Nolan, countered, saying that Honken had been "redeemed" and that he "recognized and repented for the crimes he had committed. (The records list only $33.11 for Dustin Lee Honkens dinner from Pizza Hut, and $0 spent when Keith Dwayne Nelson refused a meal.) A Catholic priest, Honkens spiritual adviser, stood near him inside the death chamber. However, he told Johnson that she would need to say everything she knew. He had been found guilty of murdering five people, including two. document.querySelector("#adunit").addEventListener('click',function(){ Outside the facility, protesters held press conferences, waved signs and live-tweeted every court development. [6][10] Honken's defense presented testimony from his family, and pointed to his age and lack of prior violent convictions as mitigating factors. Well never put our work behind a paywall, and well never put a limit on the number of articles you can read. Investigators were sure Honken was involved with the earlier missing people;the coincidences were too great, but they were no closer to finding the bodies. Moreover, Terry informed his mother that he was meeting his former girlfriend, Angela Johnson. The victims were related to a drug trial against Honken. The Bureau of Prisons said Dustin Honken, 52, was pronounced dead at 4:36 p.m. Their attraction was mutual, and she would shortly dump her current boyfriend, Honkens dealer,DeGeus, for the boss. Dennis Putzier said Honken had bragged about murdering witnesses in 1993. [7], On July 30, 1993, Honken gave his attorney the recording and said he was changing his plea. He graduated from West Hancock High School in 1980 a record holder in pole vaulting who enjoyed being a junior high wrestling team member. Dustin Honken, an Iowa meth kingpin who kidnapped and killed five people to thwart his prosecution for drug trafficking in . 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. The prison food during executions cost more than $77,000 over the course of the summer. During that first execution and those that followed, the prisoners ate sack lunches and box meals after the mess hall closed for the lockdown. "For years now, the government has made these terrible accusations against me," he said. While preparing for his trial, Honken discovered through legal documents that Nicholson had turned witness. [19], In 2000, Johnson's friend, Christi Gaubatz, decided to talk to the police. [5] On November 20, 2019, U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan issued a preliminary injunction preventing the resumption of federal executions. Johnson and Honken drove the four to a wooded area north of Mason City where Honken first took Duncan and Nicholson to an already dug grave and shot them execution-style. Honken's lawyer, Alfredo Parrish, requesting a sentence of 10 to 15 years, attacked the government's handling of the evidence in the case. [9], Johnson was born in Forest City, Iowa. [29], In June 2005, a federal jury condemned Johnson to death on four counts.
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