Salt Lake City • A federal judge has denied an appeal by a man who has been on Utah’s death row for 30 years.
The ruling Friday by U.S. District Judge Claire Eagan denies a petition by Ralph Leroy Menzies, who was sentenced to die for the killing of Maurine Hunsaker in 1986.
The victim was abducted from a Kearns convenience store where she worked. She was later found strangled and her throat cut in a Big Cottonwood Canyon picnic area.
Menzies had Hunsaker’s wallet and several other belongings when he was jailed on unrelated matters.
He was convicted in 1988 of first-degree murder and other crimes, and Eagan’s ruling says Menzies’ conviction and sentence don’t violate the U.S. Constitution.
Menzies can next appeal to the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.