Terrys hobbies included playing pool, hanging out with his friends, and spending quality time with his children. Saying he knew a lifer who mighttake the rap for her and Honken, McNeese convinced her to tell him details about the crime only a participant would know and to draw him maps to the bodies. More: Iowa outlawed the death penalty 55 years ago. [8], Cutkomp decided to become an informant. 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. Honkens lawyer, Shawn Nolan, said his client was redeemed and had repented for his crimes. "They are people who have no future," referring to the inmates. And there are some potentially larger expenses, like whatever might be included in the 28 pages of records officials admitted to withholding. 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. "[17][18], In 1999, the prosecution appealed the sentencing deduction due to the severity of Honken's attempt to obstruct the investigation against him. Although Iowa abolished capital punishment in 1965, the crime was a federal case since it involved a continuing criminal enterprise. if(document.querySelector("#adunit")){ In Lewis Lees case, his victims family had requested his sentencebe reduced to life in prison; in Purkeys, his lawyers asserted that dementia and schizophrenia meant he was not competent to be executed. He'd apologized, saying "I wasn't expecting things to go this way. Sep 25, 2004. }); 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 along with his girlfriend and her two young daughters. Honken, the 35, was later convicted in the . Born into a life of uncertainty, Honken grew up in Britt, a small town west of Mason City in north central Iowa. [5] Cutkomp wore a wire while he was around Honken during their time on pretrial release. There was no reason for the government to kill him, in haste or at all.". 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. "[19] Without the deduction, Honken faced 27 to 33.75 years in prison. Terry also drove a truck for Bud Ranken and Bud Schrotter. Honken received the maximum sentence. } eventCategory: event.slot.getSlotElementId(), Anytime we needed anything, we were supposed to ask them, he said. eventAction: 'render' [23], Honken and Johnson were tried separately. They found no signs of a struggle inside no blood or furniture in disarray except for an unfinished dinner on the kitchen table. [39] Circuit Judges Gregory G. Katsas and Neomi Rao wrote concurring opinions concluding that Honken may be executed, but for different reasons. 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. NPR's Carrie Johnson contributed to this report. Johnson discussed the murders in detail, which McNeese secretly recorded. eventCategory: event.slot.getSlotElementId(), }) While studying legal documents, Dustin learned Greg had become an informant after being caught with almost 150 grams of pure meth inside his apartment. It further cemented the idea that Lori and her children might have planned for a hasty getaway. 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. This sanitized murder really does not serve no purpose whatsoever.". 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.. }) TERRE HAUTE, Ind. Upon hearing the sentence, Honken seemed visibly disappointed. 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. hide caption. Dustin Honken is led by federal marshals to a waiting car after the second day of jury selection in federal court in Sioux City, Iowa, on 2004. . However, he told Johnson that she would need to say everything she knew. He later said that he had initially planned to become a pharmaceutical lawyer. 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. What they pay for on our side is the shipping of the body of our loved ones, the embalming, a suit for them to wear and the casket, said Lisa Brown, whose son Christopher Vialva was executed in September for killing two youth ministers. I will be in touch shortly. Honken was pronounced dead after 30 minutes longer than the other two executions. 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. Some were shut in their cells and others were forced to spend the night in the gym, where they couldnt see the witnesses or the condemned man entering the death chamber. He was formally sentenced to death on October 11, 2005. Over the years he grew incredibly close to his family, becoming a true father, son, brother and friend. [7], Over the next few weeks, Nicholson became extremely paranoid. The guards told him theyd come in from out-of-state, he said, and records show the bureau spent roughly $3.1 million on unidentified costs associated with the staff it brought in from more than two dozen prisons across the country. 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. Honkens mother, brother and college-age daughter visited him in prison in recent days, she said. Notifications can be turned off anytime from browser settings. Dustin Honken, an Iowa meth kingpin who kidnapped and killed five people to thwart his prosecution for drug trafficking in . Dustin Honken, 37, became the first person sentenced to death in Iowa in more than 40 years. However this is a steptoward healing of broken hearts and shattered lives.". Ive made a lot of mistakes in my life, but Im not a murderer. } Her work has appeared in the Washington Post Magazine, the Houston Chronicle and The New York Times. [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. is a former staff writer whose work focuses on prisons and jails. She and Dustin were charged with the murders in 2001, with the latter being convicted of all 17 counts against him, including five counts of murder, on October 14, 2004. Dustin eventually released his sister. 0. Honken,a community college drop-out who created his meth empire in the early 1990s,was the third federal prisoner executed this week. The inmate known for his verbosity at hearings and for a rambling statement declaring his innocence at sentencing spoke only briefly, neither addressing victims family members nor saying he was sorry. 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. 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. But the authorities could not find the bodies to prove they had been murdered. Theyre willing to go to extraordinary lengths in terms of spending our money and then hiding the footprints of it.. He faced a minimum of 10 years in prison. Jim once convinced his son to steal and copy a key to a bank. [3] Johnson was also sentenced to death, the first woman sentenced to death by a United States federal jury since the 1950s, but the sentence was overturned in 2012,[5] and she was resentenced to life without parole in 2014. Twitter Because of legal delays, they ended up spending more than 12 hours there. Lets find out. Michael Conroy/AP 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 . I let down my family, my children most of all. Never. When the time of death was. 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.. 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,. A Catholic priest, Honkens spiritual adviser, stood near him inside the death chamber. The two used a blowtorch to cut and melt the gun into multiple pieces, which they discarded in ditches along a country road. For Stubbs and the ACLU, the bureaus lack of forthrightness suggests there are still more costs it hasnt revealed. Dustin was a chemistry wizard during his community college days in the early 90's. The two young Duncan girls never had a chance to grow up and share in the joys and sorrows of their life, it said. His last words were, Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for me.. The SD memory cards to record videos of their activities cost $58.78. No matter what, you can always turn to The Marshall Project as a source of trustworthy journalism about the criminal justice system. He has scheduled another execution in late August. [36], 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. In 2004, Dustin Lee Honken was . Dustin's last meal was Pizza Hut his bill came to $33.11 Dustin Honken, was convicted of five counts of Continuing Criminal Enterprise murder. Susan Negersmith was a 20 year-old woman from Carmel, New York. },false) [6][10] Honken's defense presented testimony from his family, and pointed to his age and lack of prior violent convictions as mitigating factors. 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. It was announced on Thursday that Iowa drug kingpin Dustin Lee Honken, who killed five people in the early 90s, has been scheduled to be executed 15 years after receiving his [] His fingers gradually stopped twitching, and his breathing became shallower until it stopped. She said goodbye to her friends in the evening. 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. Her lawyer said she was extremely relieved and grateful upon hearing of the decision. Johnson, Honkens girlfriend, was convicted in a separate trial and sentenced to death. The government announced they would seek death sentences for both Honken and Johnson. Honken was sentenced to death and executed by the federal government on July 17, 2020,[4] the first defendant from Iowa to be executed since 1963. }); When I get out, he's still dead." Honken has rarely spoken publicly since his sentencing, but until Friday's statement from his lawyer maintainedhis innocence. There was no reason for the government to kill him, in haste or at all, Nolan said. Honken, who had been on death row since 2005, was pronounced dead at 4:36 p.m. [7] Another inmate said Honken killed "rats" and children "raised by rats". They discovered him staying at the home of a friend, Lori Duncan, a single mother with two children, Amber, 6, and Kandi, 10. When Scott Mueller drove to Indiana in July to see Daniel Lewis Lee die, he stayed at a Holiday Inn. [34], Honken exhausted his appeals in 2014, but at the time, the U.S. federal government had a de facto moratorium on capital punishment. According to his attorneys, he recited a poem by a Jesuit priest in his final statement. Attorney General William Barr relaunched executions this week for the first time since 2003. So, who were Dustins victims, and what happened to the drug kingpin? ga('create', 'UA-67136960-15', 'auto', 'ads'); Their primary target that day was Lori Duncans then-boyfriend, Greg Nicholson, who also lived at the home and was also killed. (The records list only $33.11 for Dustin Lee Honkens dinner from Pizza Hut, and $0 spent when Keith Dwayne Nelson refused a meal.) During her sentencing hearing, Johnson continued to blame Honken, but said "I regret I wasn't strong enough. Without any witnesses, the government was forced to drop its case against Honken. The man they killed today was a human being, who could have spent the rest of his days helping others and further redeeming himself. [] Thought I'd have nightmares. These are the stories that you need to know about capital punishment's past, as well as its uncertain future. Honkens execution was the last one in this weeklong spree. On November 5, 1993, he dropped off his daughter, Ashley DeGeus-Henken, then 10, at his mothers home and told her he would come to pick the child up shortly afterward. [3] His father, Jim Honken, was an alcoholic schemer who was allegedly neglectful. 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. Honken also murdered Terry DeGeus, another possible witness against him, by beating him with a bat and shooting him. At the time of his death, Honken had served more than 22 years in an Indiana prison. if(document.querySelector("#google_image_div")){ In 1990, Honken raped and threatened his girlfriend. [8], For his cooperation, Cutkomp was sentenced to 4.5 years in prison. Honken, who was known as "Iowa's Walter White", murdered government informants and two children days before he was set to enter a plea for drug charges in 1993. She told the jury how her 31-year-old daughter waved and smiled at her, and she also saw one of her granddaughters, 10-year-old Kandace, AKA Kandi, clad in her prized sundress. SIOUX CITY Dustin Honken and Angela Johnson strangled two little girls to keep them quiet after the pair now charged with five murders killed the girls' mother and her . She is the organization's first formerly incarcerated reporter. eventAction: 'view' In jail, Johnson made friends with Robert Bobby Gene McNeese, a career criminal doing a life sentence who was a prolific snitch. His father, Jim, a drunken schemer, held powerful sway over his two sons, Jeff and Dustin, Honkens sister, AlyssaNelson, said during her brothers murder trial. 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. [10][11] Johnson was raised by extremely religious grandparents who would hold her down, wave Bibles over her head, and speak in tongues in an attempt to exorcise demons from her. Honken had a notably healthy relationship with his mother, who he described as perfect. Soon, he would meet Angela Johnson, a woman who shared his ruthless worldview. While preparing for his trial, Honken discovered through legal documents that Nicholson had turned witness. The agency refused to answer any questions about the money, procedures or details of what happened. Honken conspired with another inmate to escape from jail by breaking a hole in the wall of his cell and having Johnson deliver a hacksaw and a rope. hitType: 'event', Can we count on your support today? His lawyers pointed to the lack of physical evidence linking him to the murders. On top of that, the bureau spent $6,594 on bottled water, $6,480 on single-serving bags of potato chips and $12,998 on disposable trays and baggies to deliver it all. Dustin Honken was convicted of killing a family . Johnson bought a pistol on July 7, 1993. Seconds later, officials announced the time of death. 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. After several minutes his breathing became more labored. [25][26], Ron McIntosh said Honken told him he killed the children since they "wouldn't be quiet, or wouldn't shut up." Even as it paid for tents and memory cards and planes and pizza, the agencys largesse did not extend to the families of the condemned, who had to pay for their own travel and accommodations. But nearly seven years after five people went missing, including witnesses scheduled to testify against Honken regarding his meth operation, a mobbed-up jailhouse informant would lead investigators to the victims bodies and a murder plot would unravel. In 2005, Tokars stopped an attempted escape by Honken, in which he plotted to escape with the help of white supremacists and murder witnesses. He didnt look toward witnesses behind a glass barrier, keeping his eyes firmly fixed on the ceiling. The victims' family is expected to provide a written statement to the public at some point soon. 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 . His execution is fast approaching and he is scheduled to die on July 17th at a prison in Terre Haute, Indiana. The Bureau of Prisons said Dustin Honken, 52, was pronounced dead at 4:36 p.m. 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. I was totally amazed, she said. window.googletag.cmd.push(function() { This page was last edited on 28 April 2023, at 10:41. Later that month, she was re-sentenced to life in prison without parole. 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. The federal prison complex in Terre Haute, Ind., is shown, July 17, 2020. The two eventually located Nicholson. He later threatened to lock her in the basement and wondered how long it would take for her to be found, and how deep someone would need to be buried for them not to be plowed up by farm machinery. 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. After a court found that Honken posed an extreme security risk due to his history of escape attempts and threatening witnesses, he was ordered to wear a stun belt and be shackled and bolted to the floor during his trial. Law enforcement had enough evidence to believe Johnson had something to do with the murders, though Honken remained their suspected triggerman. From meth to murder: How a small-town Iowa boy became the state's first death row inmate in 50 years, Timeline of events in the infamous 1993 Iowa murders, Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. Honken beat, shot, and buried DeGeus. However, Cobeen became a police informant. Here's why it probably isn't coming back. "Their mother never got to see them having a first dance, first date or walk down the aisle at their wedding," the statement read. Iowa outlawed the death penalty 55 years ago. The governments approach still stung months later: We feel that they go out of their way to not accommodate us.. A prison official in Terre Haute, Indiana, reportedly told the New York Post: "We will not be providing details of Mr. Lees last meal.". 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. 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. [7] During Johnson's trial, it was revealed that she had been molested as a child. 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. 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. May he rest in peace.". We have real reasons to question whether or not this number now is complete either, Stubbs said. (The records list only $33.11 for Dustin Lee Honken' s dinner from Pizza Hut, and $0 spent when Keith Dwayne Nelson refused a meal .) His time of death was marked at 3:36 p.m.Central Daylight Time. Des Moines Register From. He also pointed to Honken's youth, saying, "The court needs to consider his age. I am sorry for what I have done, but I haven't done these heinous crimes the government accuses me of. After officials began administering the lethal injection, Honken began blinking his eyes, his fingers twitching and his lips quivering. ET Friday. 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. 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. He graduated from West Hancock High School in 1980 a record holder in pole vaulting who enjoyed being a junior high wrestling team member. 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.
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