The murders took place in Iowa in July and November 1993. His lawyers contended he had dementia and didnt know why he was being executed. Their primary target that day was Lori Duncans then-boyfriend, Greg Nicholson, who also lived at the home and was also killed. [2] Honken and Johnson were in a relationship at the time of the murders, and Johnson, who had a child from a previous marriage, was pregnant by Honken. Other security measures included fitting Honken with a stun belt under his clothes to prevent him from trying to escape. Investigators found the Nicholson and Duncan bodies only seven years after the killings, in 2000, after Johnson scrawled out a map showing a jailhouse informant where they were buried. Honken had physically and verbally abused his sister, Alyssa. The executions were scheduled after the Department of Justice announced last year that it would carry out capital punishments again after a 17-year hiatus, sayingthat defendants convicted of the most heinous crimes should be subject to a sentence of death.. Dustin switched to methamphetamine, enlisting the help of his best friend, Tim Cutkomp, and moved to Arizona to set up his drug empire. "They are people who have no future," referring to the inmates. Dustin Lee Honken (March 22, 1968 - July 17, 2020) and Angela Jane Johnson (born January 17, 1964) are American mass murderers convicted of the 1993 murders of five people in Iowa.. Michael Conroy/AP The death row convict had said that his first, second and final meal request should speak for itself," according to WTHI. Johnson admitted that she was involved in Honken's crimes, but blamed him for the murders and said he had manipulated her. Donations from readers like you are essential to sustaining this work. window.googletag.pubads().addEventListener('impressionViewable', function(event) { While the rest of the prison put everything on hold, officials prepped Leesentenced to death for killing Muellers father, his wife and her daughterfor the lethal injection, using some specially purchased medical supplies. [7] Another inmate said Honken killed "rats" and children "raised by rats". [7], Honken said he planned to plead guilty, and a hearing was scheduled for July 30, 1993. The District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., denied a stay request Thursday as well. Records providing details of the spending, which the American Civil Liberties Union estimates totaled nearly $4.7 million over two months, were released under the federal Freedom of Information Act. Dustin Lee Honken was born in Britt, Iowa, on March 22, 1968, and suffered from an abusive childhood. Upon learning that she had been tricked, Johnson attempted to hang herself. More: From meth to murder: How a small-town Iowa boy became the state's first death row inmate in 50 years. Honken told Cutkomp that he was worried about DeGeus turning on him. Read More:Angela Johnson: Where is Dustin Lee Honkens Girlfriend Now? [29], In June 2005, a federal jury condemned Johnson to death on four counts. [7], McNeese got Johnson to confess to the murders by claiming he could find another inmate who could take the blame. On death row, Honken befriended Lee and knew his execution was called off one hour, then was back on another hour, Donoghue said. They recruited two drug dealers Terry DeGeus and Greg Nicholson to sell their meth in northeast Iowa. Once he checked into the Holiday Inn, guards took him to restaurants in a special handicap rental van that cost $543.40. A second bank robbery would land himin prison, where he would regale his frequently visiting sons with tales of his criminal exploits. [19], A judge initially barred McNeese from testifying against Johnson during her trial on the grounds that he was acting as a federal agent. The day of Lees execution, Mueller and the other witnesses arrived at the prison in the afternoon. A Catholic priest, Honkens spiritual adviser, stood near him inside the death chamber. While awaiting trial, Honken was released on bond. }); Three death row convicts, Daniel Lewis Lee, Wesley Ira Purkey, and Dustin Honken were put to death last week in a series of first federal executions in 17 years in the United States. Johnson took Duncan's daughters, 10-year-old Kandace Duncan and 6-year-old Amber Duncan, telling them that they were going on a surprise trip. Their attraction was mutual, and she would shortly dump her current boyfriend, Honkens dealer,DeGeus, for the boss. Because of legal delays, they ended up spending more than 12 hours there. },false) I will be in touch shortly. 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. Attorney General William Barr relaunched executions this week for the first time since 2003. 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. [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. We believe the defendant was involved in this. 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. His final words were a reciting of the poem Heaven-Heaven by Gerard Manley Hopkins: "I have desired to go, where springs not fail, to fields where flies no sharp and sided hail, and a few lilies blow. 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. "[19] Without the deduction, Honken faced 27 to 33.75 years in prison. Reach her at ccrowder@dmreg.com or 515-284-8360. eventCategory: event.slot.getSlotElementId(), hitType: 'event', 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. The hotel was nice enough, and only a 10-minute drive from the federal execution chamber in Terre Haute where the man who killed Muellers father would take his last breath. [40] On June 29, 2020, the Supreme Court denied Honken's petition for review, with Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor dissenting.[40]. 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. }); }); Sep 25, 2004. While out on bond in his drugs case in July 1993, Honken and his girlfriend Angela Johnson kidnapped Lori Duncan and her two daughters from their Mason City, Iowa, home, then killed and buried them in a wooded area nearby. A judge later reduced her sentence to life behind bars. } Dustin was a chemistry wizard during his community college days in the early 90's. 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. Johnson, Honkens girlfriend, was convicted in a separate trial and sentenced to death. 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. Death-row inmate Dustin Lee Honken, who killed a family of four, including two children and another person, was executed on Friday, July 17, at 4 pm local time, marking the government's third federal execution in a month after 17 years. Purkey was put to death at the Federal Correctional Complex in Terre Haute, Indiana, at 8:19 a.m. local time. Early Friday morning, a federal appeals court denied Honken's last-ditch request to block the execution. 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. But the authorities could not find the bodies to prove they had been murdered. 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.. Dustin eventually released his sister. ga('ads.send', { The Supreme Court dismissed a . It amounted to a small fraction of the more than $107,000 the agency spent on hotels for the witnesses and staff who flocked to western Indiana last summer for the federal governments first executions in nearly two decades. 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. [9], Johnson was born in Forest City, Iowa. Dustin Honken, 37, became the first person sentenced to death in Iowa in more than 40 years. As the trio was executed, they expressed their views for the final time, with one even maintaining his innocence till his last breath. Using this evidence, and testimony from a collection of prisoners Honken told in not-so-subtle terms that he killed a handful of people in 1993, prosecutors brought murder charges against the former underworld honcho. While in jail, Honken confessed to fellow inmates that he'd killed witnesses from an earlier case. Dustin Lee Honken was formally sentenced to death on October 11, 2005. He worked for Holland Construction in Forest City and later drove a semi for Schmidt Trucking of Britt. Purkey, a 68-year-old on death row for rape and murders in 1998, was executed on Thursday, July 16, by lethal injection as the Trump administration carried out its second federal execution. Johnson was originally sentenced to death for her part in the crime but had her sentence reduced to life in prison. Never. "For years now, the government has made these terrible accusations against me," he said. [7], Honken enlisted his best friend, Tim Cutkomp, moved to Arizona, and borrowed $5,000 from his brother to buy chemicals and equipment. "[30] She called him a "sociopath who will never admit to what he has done. 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. In 2004, Dustin Lee Honken was . Iowa outlawed the death penalty 55 years ago. Their mother never got to see them having their first dance, first date or first walk down the aisle at their wedding., We will continue to live with their loss, it said. window.adsContainer = {"positionAfterTitle":{"code":"Article_Desktop_300x250_Middle5_Rel_Newrev","isOrganicUserAd":true,"max_width":336,"max_height":280},"position2":{"code":"Article_Desktop_300x250_After_Title_Rel_Newrev","max_width":336,"max_height":280},"position3":{"code":"Article_Desktop_300x250_Below_Next_Rel_Newrev","max_width":300,"max_height":250},"position4":{"code":"Article_Desktop_300x250_Middle_Rel_Newrev","max_width":300,"max_height":250},"position5":{"code":"Article_Desktop_300x250_Middle1_Rel_Newrev","max_width":300,"max_height":250},"position6":{"code":"Article_Desktop_300x250_Middle2_Rel_Newrev","max_width":336,"max_height":280},"position7":{"code":"Article_Desktop_300x250_Middle3_Rel_Newrev","max_width":300,"max_height":250},"position8":{"code":"Article_Desktop_300x250_Middle4_Rel_Newrev","max_width":300,"max_height":250},"position9":{"code":"Article_Desktop_300x250_Middle5_Rel_Newrev","max_width":336,"max_height":280},"position10":{"code":"Article_Desktop_300x250_Middle6_Rel_Newrev","max_width":336,"max_height":280},"position11":{"code":"Article_Desktop_300x250_Middle7_Rel_Newrev","max_width":336,"max_height":280},"position12":{"code":"Article_Desktop_300x250_Middle8_Rel_Newrev","max_width":336,"max_height":280},"position13":{"code":"Article_Desktop_300x250_Middle9_Rel_Newrev","max_width":336,"max_height":280},"position14":{"code":"Article_Desktop_300x250_Middle10_Rel_Newrev","max_width":336,"max_height":280},"position15":{"code":"Article_Desktop_300x250_Middle11_Rel_Newrev","max_width":336,"max_height":280},"position16":{"code":"Article_Desktop_300x250_Middle12_Rel_Newrev","max_width":336,"max_height":280},"positionTop":{"code":"Article_Desktop_970x250_Header_Rel","isOrganicUserAd":false,"max_width":970,"max_height":250},"positionBottom":{"code":"Article_Desktop_Sidebar_Bottom_Rel_Newrev","isOrganicUserAd":true,"max_width":300,"max_height":600},"positionBottomRight":{"code":"Article_Desktop_300x250_After_Title_Rel_Newrev","isOrganicUserAd":true,"max_width":336,"max_height":280}} She was visiting Wildwood, New Jersey, on Memorial Day Weekend with friends in 1990. Anytime we needed anything, we were supposed to ask them, he said. We owe it to the victims of these horrific crimes, and to the families left behind, to carry forward the sentence imposed by our justice system, Attorney General William P. Barr said in a statement. hitType: 'event', She said goodbye to her friends in the evening. Honken spoke on his back, strapped to a gurney under a pale-green sheet. His execution is fast approaching and he is scheduled to die on July 17th at a prison in Terre Haute, Indiana. Without any witnesses, the government was forced to drop its case against Honken. MEAWW brings you the best content from its global team of "He recognized and repented for the crimes he had committed, and spent his time in prison atoning for them," Nolan said in a statement. The two-night hotel stay cost around $200, and the tab was picked up by the Federal Bureau of Prisons. [22] As a reward for his testimony, a judge reduced McNeese's sentence, and he was released from prison on November 14, 2017. For Stubbs and the ACLU, the bureaus lack of forthrightness suggests there are still more costs it hasnt revealed. Federal Government Executes 1st Prisoner In 17 Years After Overnight Court Rulings, Federal Government Executes 2nd Man After Supreme Court Denies Appeals. Honken has rarely spoken publicly since his sentencing, but until Friday's statement from his lawyer maintainedhis innocence. Honken took the adults out of the car, walked them into the woods, and executed them in front of a pre-dug shallow grave. He had worn a wire, recorded him making drug deals, and handed the recordings to the authorities in exchange for a lenient prison term. Notifications can be turned off anytime from browser settings. Her lawyer said she was extremely relieved and grateful upon hearing of the decision. I am sorry for what I have done, but I haven't done these heinous crimes the government accuses me of. Terry was lying face down in a shallow hole with a severely fragmented skull, having been shot one or more times. Honken would become the first defendant from Iowa to die from capital punishment since 1963 if his lethal injection takes place as scheduled on Friday, July 17, 2020 in Terre Haute, Ind. Dustin Honken was convicted of killing a family . [21], While in prison, Honken made plans to escape, and then murder witnesses, law enforcement officers, and the federal prosecutor. [39] Circuit Judges Gregory G. Katsas and Neomi Rao wrote concurring opinions concluding that Honken may be executed, but for different reasons. Later, when the authorities learned Dustin had changed his plea and Greg was missing, they wanted Terry to become an informant. [34], Honken exhausted his appeals in 2014, but at the time, the U.S. federal government had a de facto moratorium on capital punishment. They sentenced him to death specifically for the brutality and senselessness of the childrens killings. While in prison, Angela Johnson confessed to the murders to another prisoner who became an informant, supplying all the details and a hand-drawn map of the bodies location all handed over to the authorities. Honkens lawyer, Shawn Nolan, said his client was redeemed and had repented for his crimes. [3] A few months later, the fifth victim, also a former dealer, was murdered.[3]. Honken and the other three plaintiffs in the case argued that the use of pentobarbital could violate the Federal Death Penalty Act of 1994. Never think about it. [] Never dream about it. He claimed he had nothing to do with the 1993 disappearances. However, Cobeen became a police informant. [32] In December 2014, federal prosecutors later announced they would not pursue a second death sentence for Johnson. TERRE HAUTE, Ind. Honkens execution was the last one in this weeklong spree. He was formally sentenced to death on October 11, 2005. [1], In April 2020, a divided panel of the D.C. window.googletag.cmd.push(function() { None of those sorts of funeral expenses are noted in records for the July and August executions provided to the ACLU. },false) Termed Iowas Walter White due to the startling similarities with the popular TV character, he was arrested when his recruits and partner double-crossed him. Congressional Democrats have unveiled legislation this year to abolish the federal death penalty, a goal President-elect Joe Biden says he supports. Email Whoopi Goldberg interrupts 'The View' live segment, raises her voice and hits co-host, Demi Moore has not left Bruce Willis's side and is doing everything to make his 'last moments happy', 'Liza took a final breath and sighed': Liza Burke, 21, dies 6 weeks after stage 4 cancer diagnosis, Baywatch star Jeremy Jacksons ex-wife Loni Willison spotted looking for food in LA waste, 'Go for a size bigger': Honey Boo Boo slammed for flaunting 'tight' prom dress with boyfriend Dralin Carswell. 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. In jail, Johnson made friends with Robert Bobby Gene McNeese, a career criminal doing a life sentence who was a prolific snitch. His last words were, Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for me.. The two made hundreds of thousands of dollars from several drug runs. Yet, Marge knew foul play was involved as she never heard from her daughter or grandchildren again. In addition, they discovered a note addressed to the neighbor, stating, Phyllis, we had to leave on short notice. [] Thought I'd have nightmares. eventCategory: event.slot.getSlotElementId(), The two used a blowtorch to cut and melt the gun into multiple pieces, which they discarded in ditches along a country road. A statement from relatives of Lori, Amber and Kandace Duncan the 31-year-old mother and her 6- and 10-year-old daughters whomHonken also killed lamented that their lives were "taken" while Honken's continued for 27 more years. During one of their drug runs, Dustin met Angela Johnson, Terrys erstwhile girlfriend, and the two struck up a business relationship that soon evolved into a romantic one. Honken is set to die by a lethal. 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. Honken was considered so dangerous that the judge took the rare step of impaneling an anonymous jury. Jim once convinced his son to steal and copy a key to a bank. },false) Department of. On February 7, 1996, officers executed a search warrant on Honken's house and discovered his meth lab, chemicals, equipment, books, and notes, including ones on manufacturing drugs and how to bind and gag people. In 1990, Honken raped and threatened his girlfriend. document.querySelector("#adunit").addEventListener('click',function(){ Acting on a tip that Johnson might be skipping town, authorities indicted her with aiding and abetting the murders of Nicholson, Duncan, Kandi, Amber and her ex-boyfriend DeGeus. "Their mother never got to see them having a first dance, first date or walk down the aisle at their wedding," the statement read. "[17][18], In 1999, the prosecution appealed the sentencing deduction due to the severity of Honken's attempt to obstruct the investigation against him. [8], In the winter of 1993 or 1994, Honken went to Cutkomp and said he needed to destroy a pistol. 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. let gads_event; Two others were also put to death during the week after a hiatus of nearly 20 years, including Wesley Purkey. eventCategory: event.slot.getSlotElementId(), There are some small expenses that appear to be absent, such as last meals for three of the prisoners. Honken received the maximum sentence. He later said that he had initially planned to become a pharmaceutical lawyer. [3] His father, Jim Honken, was an alcoholic schemer who was allegedly neglectful. Johnson lured DeGeus to a country club under the guise of wanting to rekindle their relationship, then drove to an abandoned house where Honken was waiting. Youre killing an innocent man, He had said. eventCategory: event.slot.getSlotElementId(), As a result, Honken and Johnson were federally charged with all five murders. We believe that he was ready to take violent actions again. During that first execution and those that followed, the prisoners ate sack lunches and box meals after the mess hall closed for the lockdown. Angela Johnson: Where is Dustin Lee Honkens Girlfriend Now. Lee was injected with a lethal dose of pentobarbital at 8:07 AM, just hours after the Supreme Court gave a go-ahead to the Trump administration. The victims' family is expected to provide a written statement to the public at some point soon. I had just returned to my cell from a hospital stay when I first learned that Lee, and three othersWesley Purkey, Dustin Honken and Keith Nelson had been given execution dates. [7] Cutkomp recorded Honken talking about his plans to kill witnesses and implicitly referenced killing witnesses in 1993. His last words were, "Holy Mary, mother of God . I realize I am here because of my own actions. A statement from the Department of Justice echoed the Duncans' sentiment that due process had been seen through. Dustin Honken, Iowa born and bred, inmate #06951-029, was executed in July at the federal penitentiary in Terre Haute, Ind. "I've climbed far bigger hills than that little hill. They discovered him staying at the home of a friend, Lori Duncan, a single mother with two children, Amber, 6, and Kandi, 10. Between 1986 and 1989, Honken was involved in a conversation which mentioned the possibility of killing his brother's business partner to collect a million dollar life insurance policy. [7], Honken and Johnson forced the family into a car at gunpoint and drove to a wooden area outside of the city. "I didn't kill anyone and even though that hasn't been proven, the accusations have repeatedly been used against me. His time of death was marked at 3:36 p.m.Central Daylight Time. [41][42], Honken leaving a federal courthouse after being sentenced on October 11, 2005, Guilty plea to manufacturing and distributing meth, Johnson's trial, sentencing, and commutation, Murder in furtherance of a continuing criminal enterprise, Conspiracy to commit murder in furtherance of a continuing criminal enterprise, Conspiracy to tamper with witnesses and to solicit the murder of witnesses, Attempting to manufacture methamphetamine, Conspiracy to manufacture and distribute methamphetamine, United States Federal Sentencing Guidelines, United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, Capital punishment by the United States federal government, List of people executed by the United States federal government, List of people executed in the United States in 2020, List of serial killers in the United States, "Dustin Lee Honken: US government executes 3rd federal inmate this week", Judge vacates Angela Johnson's death sentence, "Iowa Drug Kingpin Who Killed 5 People in 1993 to Be Executed", "July execution scheduled for Iowa native Dustin Lee Honken, convicted in 2004 of murdering 5", "Infamous Iowa murderer Dustin Honken to be executed in 2020", "Honken v. United States, 42 F. Supp.
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