Brother of last man put to death in Utah protesting upcoming execution of Taberon Honie

SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — Utah's next execution is days away, when convicted murderer and death row inmate Taberon Honie will died by lethal injection at the state prison.

Honie was sentenced to die for the murder of Claudia Benn, his ex-girlfriend's mother, in the mid '90s.

Leading up to Thursday, when Honie's sentence is scheduled to be carried out at 12:01 a.m., a group opposing capital punishment is holding a series of events that began Friday at the Cathedral of the Madeleine in Salt Lake City.

Randy Gardner was among the Death Penalty Action advocates, distributing anti-capital punishment signs and shirts in preparation for the Aug. 8 demonstration.

"Most of the civilized countries don't even have (the death penalty) anymore," he said, noting that list of countries that still practice capital punishment include Iran, China, and Saudi Arabia.

He said his opinion on capital punishment was a simple: it doesn't make sense.

Gardner recounted a demonstration he attended leading up to a pivotal event in his life, when was wearing a shirt that stated, "Why do we kill people who kill people that show that killing is wrong?"

He said his daughter, who was 6 years old at the time, looked at the shirt and asked him a question.

"'Why do we dad?'" Gardner said, recalling his daughter's words. "'That don't make sense.'"

"And," he added, "it's as simple as that for me."

Personal Connection to Capital Punishment

Gardner knows all too well how the death penalty process plays out. The event where his daughter asked about the death penalty was the execution of Randy Gardner's little brother, Ronnie.

Ronnie Lee Gardner, who was convicted for the murders of Melvyn Otterstrom in 1984 and Michael Burdell in 1985, died in June 2010 by firing squad.

He was also the last person to be executed in Utah, an event that kicked off his older brother's advocacy against capital punishment.

In the years following his brother's death, Randy Gardner became a public voice against the death penalty, and was once escorted out of the Utah Capitol Building when he shouted at lawmakers over a doomed bill that would have ended it in Utah.

Randy Gardner said his involvement with DPA and other groups has opened his eyes to the number of people who've been on death row and were exonerated before their sentences were carried out.

Gardner has met many of them during his advocacy.

"There's almost 200 people since 1973 that's been exonerated that's been on death row," he said. "Probably 50 of them I know personally."

According to the Innocence Project, about 4% of people who have been sentenced to death are actually innocent.

However, the death penalty Gardner is protesting is not a case where the death row inmate claims innocence. Honie admitted to killing Benn since his arrest.

'Give Back To Society'

Taberon Honie has not denied he killed Claudia Benn. He spoke about it at his recent commutation hearing, as well, telling the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole about his remorse.

Gardner said those people can be contribute during a life sentence

"There's stuff they can do to give back to society, I believe," he said, noting that decades behind bars can change a person. "... Two wrongs don't make a right," he said.

He used his brother's own commutation hearing as an example, where Ronnie Lee Gardner

"He said in his commutation hearing that he'd be good at giving people advice," he said. "He said he was a mean little bugger growing up, and he was. But in the end, he wasn't that same person, either. He changed. People change. "

Ronnie Lee Gardner told the Utah Board of Pardons & Parole specifically that he wanted to give his advice to troubled youth in attempt to sway their futures.

"I don't want to live for the sake of living," Ronnie Lee Gardner told the board 10 days before his execution. "... It's a ridiculous thought to me just to live for the sake of living," Gardner said. "If I could help somebody and be a positive role model, I'm good with that."

That request was not granted, though. Just over a week later, a firing squad "fired a volley of bullets into the murderer's chest, where a target was pinned over his heart," according to a CBS report that day, and he was pronounced dead at 12:17 a.m., June 18, 2010.

Against the Death Penalty

It was just after his little brother was sentenced that Randy Gardner became involved in advocacy.

"I didn't even know there was an anti-death penalty establishment before that," he said.

Randy Gardner in a previous interview with KUTV 2News called the firing squad "inhumane" and "outdated."

Ahead of Honie's death, Gardner still decried the death penalty, but added that he was glad the execution wouldn't be carried out in the same manner as his brother's.

What Would It Take In Utah?

DPA on Sunday, along with anti-capital punishment group Journey of Hope ... From Violence to Healing, conducted a conversation on the death penalty at Blessed Sacrament Parish Center in Sandy.

Gardner was among the featured speakers, which included DPA co-founder Abraham Bonowitz and Journey of Hope founding board member SueZann Bosler.

He spoke to a small crowd about what it would take to get death eliminated as punishment in Utah.

"I think the (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) right now is neutral on it," he said about the church's stance on capital punishment. "I think what we're waiting for is for them to have a revelation from God to change it. They did it with Black people coming into the priesthood years ago."

The Church's stance on capital punishment is just as Gardner described, according to an official statement from the faith.

"The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints regards the question of whether and in what circumstances the state should impose capital punishment as a matter to be decided solely by the prescribed processes of civil law," the statement reads. "We neither promote nor oppose capital punishment."

Gardner at the discussion mused on what would happen if the state's major religion did take a stance.

"We know if the Mormon Church made a statement to their members, we wouldn't have the death penalty here in Utah," he said.

"I'm LDS," he added, "non-active. But I'm going to use that down the road for something good."

What's Next?

DPA will be holding a press conference Wednesday morning, where organizers will be submitting a petition to Gov. Spencer Cox's office.

Cox, unlike governors of most states, does not have the power to commute a death row inmate. That power lies with the Board of Pardons & Parole, which heard and denied Honie's plea to be spared the death penalty.

Twelve hours later, the group will meet outside the state prison, where they will remain until Honie's death.

Source: kutv.com, Matthew Jacobson, August 5, 2024

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