},false) 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. 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. 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. I will be in touch shortly. As a result, Honken and Johnson were federally charged with all five murders. He plotted to murder Cutkomp and gave a fellow inmate directions to Cutkomp's house. eventCategory: event.slot.getSlotElementId(), [23], Honken and Johnson were tried separately. [25][26], Ron McIntosh said Honken told him he killed the children since they "wouldn't be quiet, or wouldn't shut up." The 68-year-old, who was reportedly suffering from dementia and Alzheimer's, before his execution, said: "I deeply regret the pain and suffering I caused to Jennifers family. "[19] Without the deduction, Honken faced 27 to 33.75 years in prison. We are one of the worlds fastest growing ", "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. Not only that, the police found Terry DeGeus body in a field a few miles from the crime scene. Donations from readers like you are essential to sustaining this work. Marge and her husband drove by later and let themselves in after feeling convinced something was wrong. Honken received the maximum sentence. Prisoner Dustin Honken is scheduled to be put to death on Friday, July 17. 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. Honken had physically and verbally abused his sister, Alyssa. (The records list only $33.11 for Dustin Lee Honkens dinner from Pizza Hut, and $0 spent when Keith Dwayne Nelson refused a meal.) 3d 937", "From meth to murder: How a small-town Iowa boy became the state's first death row inmate in 50 years", "FindLaw's United States Eighth Circuit case and opinions", "Witnesses Testify about Honken's Drug Operation", "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA vs. ANGELA JOHNSON", "184 F3d 961 United States of America v. Dustin Lee Honken", "Fred Tokars, lawyer who set up murder of his wife, dies in prison", "OPINION: Maybe wife-killer Fred Tokars got a fate worse than death", "Iowa meth kingpin is 3rd executed by US government this week", "Johnson v. United States, 860 F. Supp. The governments approach still stung months later: We feel that they go out of their way to not accommodate us.. For his last words, he turned to the writings of a Jesuit priest, Gerard Manley Hopkins, reciting lines from the poem Heaven-Haven. He is scheduled to be executed on Friday, July 17. As the trio was executed, they expressed their views for the final time, with one even maintaining his innocence till his last breath. Honkens mother, brother and college-age daughter visited him in prison in recent days, she said. The EKG would probably be to tell when hes died. 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.. 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. pg.acq.push(function() { [5] Cutkomp wore a wire while he was around Honken during their time on pretrial release. He reportedly wanted three last meals before his execution. Early Friday morning, a federal appeals court denied Honken's last-ditch request to block the execution. Dustin was a chemistry wizard during his community college days in the early 90's. 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. He was also ordered to serve five years of supervised release and fined $1,100. When Scott Mueller drove to Indiana in July to see Daniel Lewis Lee die, he stayed at a Holiday Inn. [3] The two then bound and gagged Nicholson and his new girlfriend, 37-year-old Lori Ann Duncan. She described Honken as a meth kingpin, who in 1993, "kidnapped, fatally shot, and buried Lori Duncan, a single, working mother, Duncan's two young daughters 10-year-old Kandi and 6-year-old Amber and Greg Nicholson, a government informant who testified against Honken on federal drug trafficking charges.". pg.acq.push(function() { More: Timeline of events in the infamous 1993 Iowa murders. On top of that, the staff hotel rooms cost at least $35,000a number that is likely far short of the total, since many of the hotel-related line items in the spending records dont specify whose bills they covered. Brown said that in order to visit her son and witness his execution, she took out a loan. Iowa abolished the death penalty in 1965, but Honken was convicted in federal court becausehe killed government witnesses, interfering with a federal case. 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. The victims were related to a drug trial against Honken. The single mother was a Navy veteran, an Elvis Presley fan, and tended to find the good in people. Soon, he would meet Angela Johnson, a woman who shared his ruthless worldview. [21], While in prison, Honken made plans to escape, and then murder witnesses, law enforcement officers, and the federal prosecutor. 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. 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. Dustin Honken, convicted of killing five people, will be executed July 17, 2020. 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. The two eventually located Nicholson. They took us anywhere we needed to go.. 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. An appellate court agreed, adding that "one can easily conclude from witnesses' testimony that appellee caused the disappearance of one or more persons, including prospective prosecution witnesses, in 1993. But the authorities could not find the bodies to prove they had been murdered. Circuit vacated District Judge Chutkan's injunction in a per curiam decision. And there are some potentially larger expenses, like whatever might be included in the 28 pages of records officials admitted to withholding. 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. Well never put our work behind a paywall, and well never put a limit on the number of articles you can read. But unlike the two executed earlier this week, Honken lacked headline-grabbing mitigating circumstances. 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. 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. 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. So, who were Dustins victims, and what happened to the drug kingpin? [7] Cutkomp recorded Honken talking about his plans to kill witnesses and implicitly referenced killing witnesses in 1993. He was formally sentenced to death on October 11, 2005. I am so blessed that people had compassion to do that, she said. }); 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. He can be rehabilitated. 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. The victims were related to a drug trial against Honken. 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. }); document.querySelector("#google_image_div").addEventListener('click',function(){ On July 24, Dustin and Angela broke into Loris home, forced Greg to record a statement claiming Dustin was innocent, and abducted him and the Duncan family at gunpoint. 'Stop it!' Nearly three decades after Dustin Honkens crime spree gripped Iowa, the small-town boy turned murderous meth kingpin was executed Friday at the Federal Correctional Complex. Other security measures included fitting Honken with a stun belt under his clothes to prevent him from trying to escape. His time of death was marked at 3:36 p.m.Central Daylight Time. A prison official in Terre Haute, Indiana, reportedly told the New York Post: "We will not be providing details of Mr. Lees last meal.". [33] Johnson is currently serving her sentence at FCI Waseca. 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. [1], In April 2020, a divided panel of the D.C. The spending records from July and August offer glimpses of not only the cost but the logistics of how the government puts prisoners to death. However, what he ultimately ate may remain a mystery. 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. The man they killed today was a human being, who could have spent the rest of his days helping others and further redeeming himself. The government announced they would seek death sentences for both Honken and Johnson. Read More:Angela Johnson: Where is Dustin Lee Honkens Girlfriend Now? Dustin Honken, 52, was sentenced to death for killing government informants and children in his effort to thwart his drug trafficking prosecution in 1993. Mueller uses a wheelchair, which he said can complicate the logistics of plane travel, so he decided to drive to Indiana from his home in Arkansas. He added: "There was no reason for the government to kill him, in haste or at all. Upon learning that Nicholson had disappeared, the government turned to Honken's former dealer, DeGeus. He also decided to switch to meth. [6], Honken, who was proficient in math, science, and writing, earned a scholarship to North Iowa Area Community College in 1991. There was no reason for the government to kill him, in haste or at all, Nolan said. The federal prison complex in Terre Haute, Ind., is shown, July 17, 2020. Prisoner Keith Nelson's execution is set to take place on August 28.] Lee remained strapped on a gurney for four hours after midnight as the Trump administration sought to lift a court-ordered stay on his death sentence. It was to show love, supportand respect to my daughter's father, Terry," read the short letter, "that weloved him until the end and still do.". While in jail, Honken confessed to fellow inmates that he'd killed witnesses from an earlier case. 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. eventCategory: event.slot.getSlotElementId(), if(document.querySelector("#google_image_div")){ Honken was considered so dangerous that the judge took the rare step of impaneling an anonymous jury. With no witnesses, the government dropped their drug case in 1995 and Honken went back to making meth. eventAction: 'click_ads' During her sentencing hearing, Johnson continued to blame Honken, but said "I regret I wasn't strong enough. 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.. Honken and Cutkomp were promptly arrested on federal drug-trafficking charges. [7], Honken was released on bond and searched for Nicholson's whereabouts. She could not breathe and swallowed water. It further cemented the idea that Lori and her children might have planned for a hasty getaway. In July 2000, Johnson was charged with five counts of murder in furtherance of a continuing criminal enterprise. [37][38], While in prison, Honken converted to Catholicism. Federal court appeals later described their relationship while dismissing claims that there was substantial mitigation in his upbringing: The movant's mother provided a stable, nurturing and loving environment, never abandoned him, did not fail to provide any sort of safe space or comfort to him, never neglected him, never failed to calm him or tell him that things were going to be okay, acted as a loving caretaker and facilitated the movant's attachment to her by making herself available to him. Dustin Honken, 52, would become the first Iowa defendant to be put to death since 1963 if he is executed as scheduled on Friday. Born into a life of uncertainty, Honken grew up in Britt, a small town west of Mason City in north central Iowa. } The attorneys of each convict tried to block their clients' executions in last-ditch attempts to save their lives, two of them nearly succeeded only for the Supreme Court to ultimately give the green light to the Trump administration to go ahead. 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. She is the organization's first formerly incarcerated reporter. Purkey, the night before he was put to death, saw Bill Clinton on television and said that he intended to vote for him in November elections. 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. Its weirdly laughable. But days after the still-undiscovered killings of Nicholson and the Duncans, he told the court he would stick to his not guilty plea. [8], The defense did not have Rickert take the stand out of the fear that she might conclude Honken was a sociopath or had narcissistic personality disorder. let gads_event; The victims' family is expected to provide a written statement to the public at some point soon. 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. On July 17, 2020, Honken was executed by lethal injection. These are the stories that you need to know about capital punishment's past, as well as its uncertain future. His lawyers pointed to the lack of physical evidence linking him to the murders. [16], On June 2, 1997, Honken pleaded guilty to attempting to distribute meth and conspiring to manufacture and distribute meth. Dustin Honken is up for execution for the murder of five . 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. Starting just minutes after its scheduled time, Honken recited Jesuit priest Gerard Manley Hopkins' poem, "Heaven-Haven," before saying a Hail Mary, though he tagged on an additional line: "Hail Mary, Mother of God, pray for me.". Her memoir, "Corrections in Ink", came out in June 2022. More: From meth to murder: How a small-town Iowa boy became the state's first death row inmate in 50 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. He has scheduled another execution in late August. Dustin Honken is a convicted murderer - currently on death row in Illionois prison. I deeply regret the pain I caused to my daughter, who I love so very much. President Donald Trump has overseen more federal executions than any president in decades, and his Justice Department has asked courts to overturn a decision so it can put two more men to death this week before he leaves office. She was visiting Wildwood, New Jersey, on Memorial Day Weekend with friends in 1990. This page was last edited on 28 April 2023, at 10:41. Dustin switched to methamphetamine, enlisting the help of his best friend, Tim Cutkomp, and moved to Arizona to set up his drug empire. Honken took the adults out of the car, walked them into the woods, and executed them in front of a pre-dug shallow grave. In jail, Johnson made friends with Robert Bobby Gene McNeese, a career criminal doing a life sentence who was a prolific snitch. The two started a romantic relationship and Johnson soon became pregnant with Honken's child. Honken's execution was the last one in this weeklong spree. Here's what Lee, Purkey, and Honken wished to eat for their final meals and the words they spoke as they left the world: Lee, a 47-year-old white supremacist, who tortured and killed an Arkansas family in 1996, was executed in Indiana early morning on Tuesday, June 14. FILE - In this Aug. 18, 2004 file photo, 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. 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 . The Archbishop of Newark, Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin, had written to President Donald Trump in early July 2020 asking him to commute Honken's sentence, claiming that he had witnessed Honken's "spiritual growth in faith and compassion". 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. He wore a wire to a meeting and recorded Honken making a future $3,000 deal. }); [19], In 2000, Johnson's friend, Christi Gaubatz, decided to talk to the police. is a former staff writer whose work focuses on prisons and jails. Dustin eventually released his sister. }); MEAWW is an initialism for Media Entertainment Arts WorldWide. Keri Blakinger Honken had earlier informed the judge in his drug case that he would plead guilty at the end of July. }); Without any witnesses, the government was forced to drop its case against Honken. The Justice Department has executed Dustin Lee Honken in Terre Haute, Ind., the third federal inmate put to death by the government this week. [3] A few months later, the fifth victim, also a former dealer, was murdered.[3]. But he soon startedselling marijuana and cocaine anddecided to become both a drug manufacturer and a dealer with his knowledge of chemistry. Nearly three decades after Honken coldly ended the lives of five people all in an effort to protect himself and his criminal enterprise, he has finally faced justice, Kupec said. (Cliff Jette/The Gazette via AP, File), Connect with the definitive source for global and local news. However, Cobeen became a police informant. [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. "Their mother never got to see them having a first dance, first date or walk down the aisle at their wedding," the statement read. "[14], Honken was recorded calling Cobeen a "rat" and saying he would kill him no matter what. 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. While Honken's execution is the last one in this weeklong spree, Keith Dwayne Nelson, who kidnapped and raped a 10-year-old girl, is scheduled to be executed Aug. 28. DeGeus body was found a few miles from the wooded area. "[20], Bennett resentenced Honken to 27 years in prison, saying the minimum sentence was sufficiently harsh. He later said that he had initially planned to become a pharmaceutical lawyer. He had been found guilty of murdering five people, including two. On behalf of the prosecution, Assistant U.S. Attorney Pat Reinert argued for a life sentence, spending hours making a case for sentencing enhancements on the grounds that Honken had something to do with the disappearances of Nicholson, Lori, Kandace, Amber, and DeGeus: "It appears that these people are dead. Then she learned that her Jewish congregation and her sons friends had pooled donations to pay for her gas and hotel room. [7][19], Honken was charged with the murders in 2001. 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. After convincing Honken, then a recent high school graduate, to steal and copy the key to a local bank, his father robbed it. 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. Honken had a healthy relationship with his stepfather.[6]. The murders took place in Iowa in July and November 1993. Honken had threatened Nicholson in the past, saying he could order a hit on him or anyone else if he wanted. As part of an agreement, she agreed to drop all of her appeals. ga('ads.send', { The shackles were fitted with a chain so Honken could move normally without the shackles making noise. "[17][18], In 1999, the prosecution appealed the sentencing deduction due to the severity of Honken's attempt to obstruct the investigation against him. 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 . Marges other grandchild, Amber, 6, was inside the house. His last words were, "Holy Mary, mother of God . 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. . window.googletag.cmd.push(function() { ga('ads.send', { "Nearly three decades after Honken coldly ended the lives of five people, including two young girls, all in an effort to protect himself and his criminal enterprise, he has finally faced justice," said department spokesperson Kerri Kupec. eventCategory: event.slot.getSlotElementId(), Dustin Lee Honken was born in Britt, Iowa, on March 22, 1968, and suffered from an abusive childhood. His execution is fast approaching and he is scheduled to die on July 17th at a prison in Terre Haute, Indiana. Twitter Jim committed two bank robberies before getting caught and sent to federal prison. Later, when the authorities learned Dustin had changed his plea and Greg was missing, they wanted Terry to become an informant. Two others were also put to death during the week after a hiatus of nearly 20 years, including Wesley Purkey. None of those sorts of funeral expenses are noted in records for the July and August executions provided to the ACLU. In 1990, Honken raped and threatened his girlfriend. 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. hitType: 'event', Dustin Lee Honken was born in Britt, Iowa, on March 22, 1968, and suffered from an abusive childhood. And I have asked to be, where no storms come, where the green swell is in the havens dumb, and out of the swing of the sea. Honken's parents divorced when he was nine. According to his attorneys, he recited a poem by a Jesuit priest in his final statement. McNeese gave the notes and map to the authorities, and the victims' bodies were recovered shortly after. Honken was tried first, with his trial starting in October 2004. But authoritiesneeded five things before they could begin to prove their case: the bodies. 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. Honken and the other three plaintiffs in the case argued that the use of pentobarbital could violate the Federal Death Penalty Act of 1994. 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. Email Upon hearing the sentence, Honken seemed visibly disappointed. }); On another occasion, Honken tried to drown Alyssa in a hotel pool. [34], Honken exhausted his appeals in 2014, but at the time, the U.S. federal government had a de facto moratorium on capital punishment. }); However, this is a step toward healing of broken hearts and shattered lives.. Upon appeal, Angela Johnson's death sentence was reduced to life in prison. Honken spoke on his back, strapped to a gurney under a pale-green sheet. is a staff writer whose book, "Let the Lord Sort Them: The Rise and Fall of the Death Penalty," won the 2019 J. Anthony Lukas Work-In-Progress Book Award. ROCHESTER, Minn. (KTTC) -- The secret of Jodi Huisentruit's disappearance could die with the execution of a notorious Iowa drug kingpin. window.googletag.pubads().addEventListener('slotRenderEnded', function(event) { Honkens lawyer, Shawn Nolan, said his client was redeemed and had repented for his crimes. Two others were also put to death during the week after a hiatus of nearly 20 years, including Wesley Purkey. The prosecution said he had every reason to kill the victims and presented 65 witnesses against him. 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. After a two-month-long trial, the jury found him guilty on all 17 counts. The SD memory cards to record videos of their activities cost $58.78. The execution of Dustin Lee Honken proceeded without any last-minute delays, unlike those of the two other federal inmates who had been put to death in previous days. [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. A coroner pronounced him dead by lethal injection at 4:36 p.m. However, the plot was discovered and stopped by guards. ga('ads.send', { Upon learning that she had been tricked, Johnson attempted to hang herself.
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