The board, Menzies’ attorneys said, should let the illness run its course, rather than end his life with a firing squad.

“He’s confined to a wheelchair. He cannot walk more than a few steps without a walker. He’s tethered to an oxygen tank. He’s not presently, and will never be in the future, a threat to other inmates, prison staff or the public. The original rationale for the death penalty is therefore no longer a valid justification for execution,” said his attorney, Eric Zuckerman.

Menzies, 67, is scheduled to die on Sept. 5.

Wednesday marked the first day of his commutation hearing before the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole, where his attorneys argued his dementia, as well as issues with his sentencing and his “model” behavior as an inmate, warrant clemency.

But witnesses called by the Utah Attorney General’s Office, which included medical professionals and Department of Corrections staff, questioned the severity of Menzies’ cognitive impairment.

Menzies’ attorneys presented first on Wednesday morning. On Friday, the family of Maurine Hunsaker — who was murdered in 1986 by Menzies after being kidnapped and tied to a tree in Big Cottonwood Canyon — will speak to the board.

The Utah Board of Pardons and Parole can spare the life of death row inmates, instead imposing a sentence of life without the possibility of parole. The board, however, has never commuted a death sentence.

Commutation hearings are like a trial in some ways, and vastly different in others. There are no cross examinations or objections, meaning attorneys from both sides essentially have to let witnesses speak and cannot push back on their claims. Both sides often make legal arguments, but their overall presentations can include reasons that go beyond state or federal code.

That includes one of the key arguments presented Wednesday from Menzies’ attorneys — the 67-year-old has vascular dementia that will likely kill him.

“Mr. Menzies will die in this prison,” said Zuckerman. “The question before this board today is whether he will die as a result of his terminal vascular disease, or whether the state of Utah will hasten his death by shooting him.”

Expert witnesses testified to the extent of Menzies’ mental decline, a subject debated at length over the past year. Menzies underwent an evaluation to see if he meets the definition of “incompetent” — meaning he doesn’t understand why the state is executing him. A judge ruled that he does have dementia, but doesn’t meet the threshold to be deemed incompetent. His attorneys are appealing that ruling with the Utah Supreme Court, while also petitioning a lower court to launch another evaluation, claiming his dementia has worsened in the last year.

Health records referenced on Wednesday showed that, since 2018, Menzies has taken a number of falls where he hit his head and has suffered from incidents — one as recent as last week — where he had a shortness of breath, difficulty standing up, fraught balance and trouble with basic activities, like getting dressed or eating.

“It’s like if you have an irrigation system in your lawn and one of those pipes gets ruptured or blocked. That area of lawn that was going to get water by that irrigation system is going to die. The same thing happens when there’s blockage in a blood vessel,” said Thomas Hyde, a neuroscientist.

Other corrections staff testified that Menzies, during his nearly four decades in prison, has been a model inmate who has recently shown signs of decline.

“He was in my class for almost five months. Every lesson took him quite a bit longer than it took everyone else to do,” said Stephanie Callahan, a case manager for the Department of Corrections, who told the board she had numerous interactions where he wasn’t listening, couldn’t focus or pay attention, and “was just kind of starting off into space.”

Menzies also presents no threat to other prisoners or staff, said Lyle Richard Smith, a now retired, 20-year veteran with the Department of Corrections.

“I’ve never seen him act out, ever … I’ve never seen him raise his temper,” Smith said. “I don’t think he would ever strike out to anyone at this point.”

Menzies’ death sentence was also scrutinized on Wednesday, with attorneys focusing on a statement from Judge Raymond Uno, who presided over the trial. Uno, in a sworn affidavit signed in 2010, said he misapplied the aggravating factor that ultimately allowed for the death penalty, stating that there was no evidence of torture in the death of Maurine Hunsaker.

Plus, Menzies’ attorneys said, the trial was tainted by made up testimony from an inmate who knew Menzies. While awaiting trial at the Salt Lake County Jail, a fellow inmate claimed to hear Menzies bragging about the murder, telling him “it was one of the greatest thrills of my life.”

But in a sworn declaration signed years later, the inmate admitted to making up the statements in an attempt to strike a deal with federal authorities. “That statement was false,” the inmate said.

A conviction integrity unit — which reviews post-conviction claims of innocence — wrote that it was “fundamentally unfair” for the state to execute someone based on perjured testimony.

The same unit also pointed out that in 1988, when his trial occurred, Utah judges were not able to sentence inmates to life without the possibility of parole — the only two options for a capital case were death, and life with the possibility of parole.

“Mr. Menzies’ death sentence lacks integrity,” the unit wrote.

State doubts Menzies’ claim of incompetence

The state’s presentation was notably shorter than Menzies’ and focused on the claims of mental decline, painting the inmate as aging and suffering from some physical ailments, but not incompetent.

That includes corrections staff who interact with Menzies, who told the board he doesn’t struggle with using his prison-issued tablet, has no issues with hygiene, and that they did not observe any changes in his ability to communicate or go about daily activities.

“He’s very organized,” said Sgt. Joseph Torrence with the Utah Department of Corrections, when asked about Menzies’ job at the prison overseeing laundry. “He established a kind of organizational system for the socks, underwear, shoe sizes, jumpsuits.”

Dr. David Thompson, a clinical and forensic psychologist who met with Menzies, said that he found little evidence of cognitive decline during his evaluations.

Instead, he said any mental shortcomings could be a result of depression, made worse by the state ramping up its effort in the last year to execute him.

“I think he would have reason to be depressed,” he said. “Many of the cognitive changes that were reported are very consistent with an individual who’s experiencing depression.”

Dr. Ryan Green, a neuropsychologist and state witness who examined Menzies as part of last year’s competency review, pointed to phonecalls made by the death row inmate that suggest he is able to pay attention and concentrate.

“He still is very intelligent,” Green said. “I would say he’s probably had some cognitive decline, consistent with a neurodegenerative process, but not to the degree that is written about in the reports.”