Dustin Honken was executed on July 17th, 2020 at the United States Penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana. Cliff Jette/The Gazette
(Adam Pinsker)
Dustin Honken was convicted of murdering five people in Iowa in the 1990’s.
For the third time in five days, an inmate at the United States Federal Penitentiary in Terre Haute was put to death by lethal injection.
52-year-old Dustin Lee Honken was pronounced dead at 4:36 p.m. Friday afternoon.Chemicals were first injected into Honken at 4:06 p.m.
Unlike the previous executions in the facility this week, a doctor walked into the execution chamber to check Honken’s vitals at 4:35 p.m., shortly before a Bureau of Prisons official announced the time of death.
Honken ran a methamphetamine empire in Iowa during the 1990’s.He was convicted of killing 5 people, two of whom were government informants that threatened to bring down Honken’s drug empire.
“The reason for us being present today was not to watch a man die, it was to show love, support and respect to my father’s daughter Terry.That we loved him until the end and still do,” said the family of Terry DeGeus in a statement released after the execution.
DeGeus, according to the Des Moines Register, is one of the two witnesses murdered by Honken.
Honken was also convicted of killing a single mother, Lori Duncan, and her two children, 10-year-old-Kandace and 6-year-old Amber.Honken and an accomplice believed the three had knowledge of his drug empire.
10-year-old Kandace Duncan (left) and 6-year-old Amber Duncan were murdered by Dustin Honken in 1993.
“27 years ago, two beautiful girls and their mother were taken from us by a violent criminal and his girlfriend,” the Duncan family said in a statement.
“For 27 years we have grieved for them while their killers lived on.Today the little girls Kandace and Amber would be 37 and 33.They never had the chance to grow up and share in the joys and sorrows of their life.Their mother never got to see them have a first dance, first date or walk down the aisle at their weddings.Today we gather to witness the execution of Dustin Honken, their murderer.It was a day we never thought would come,” the statement read.
Honken reciting a poem and a Hail Mary as his last words after a Bureau of Prisons Official read him a list of the crimes he was convicted.
Following Honken’s statement, a U.S. Marshal picked up a black phone and asked the Department of Justice command center if the execution can proceed.When the marshal gave the go ahead, the BOP official signaled to the executioner in the next room to begin the execution.
Another BOP official and a priest were also present in the chamber.
The USP-Terre Haute Complex which houses the federal execution chamber.
“Dustin worked every day at the Catholic faith that was at the center of his life. 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,” Honken’s attorney Shawn Nolan said in a statement.
“There was no reason for the government to kill him, in haste or at all,” the statement said.
For 17 years the execution chamber at USP Terre Haute had remained dormant until Tuesday morning and Thursday morning when Daniel Lee and Wesley Purkey were put to death.Another man Keith Nelson is scheduled for execution August 28th.
Attorney General Bill Barr said federal executions would resume after a moratorium put in place by the Obama Administration was lifted last year.
