Dustin Honken
Dustin Honken, 52, grew up in Britt, Iowa. His lawyer described him as a devout Catholic who cared for the people he met in prison, and Sister Betty Donoghue, a nun who visited him regularly, said he was at peace. He had been held on federal death row at the federal prison complex in Terre Haute, Indiana, since 2005, and the federal government executed him by lethal injection on July 17, 2020. The Bureau of Prisons said he was pronounced dead at 4:36 p.m. after the U.S. Supreme Court cleared the execution. His lawyers argued that he had dementia and did not understand why he was being executed, and they had asked for a stay on the grounds that the execution protocol was arbitrary and capricious.
Cause of death, as reported: Executed by the state. His lawyers argued he had dementia and did not understand why he was being executed.
Reported by: Bureau of Prisons (the agency that held him); Vigo County Coroner (medical examiner or coroner); his lawyers.