SALT LAKE CITY — Utah's Department of Corrections said it has secured a new drug to execute condemned killer Taberon Honie.
In court papers filed early Saturday and obtained by FOX 13 News, the state announced it would obtain a dose of pentobarbital in time for the August 8 execution. That means Utah will no longer use the untested combination of ketamine, fentanyl and potassium chloride that Honie's lawyers were suing over.
"Honie no longer needs an order from this Court preventing Defendants from using the three-drug combination because Defendants have voluntarily chosen to use a single dose of pentobarbital, which Plaintiff has identified as a safer, more effective and constitutionally sound method of execution," assistant Utah Attorney General Keith Barlow wrote.
It was Honie's lawyers who suggested pentobarbital in their lawsuit challenging the unique drug cocktail Utah's Department of Corrections was originally intending to use. Ketamine was designed to act as an anesthetic, fentanyl numbs pain and potassium chloride would stop the heart. But it has never been used before, and Honie's attorneys sued over it.
The Utah Department of Corrections said in court papers it will have obtained a dose of pentobarbital within three days of his execution. The Utah Attorney General's Office has asked a judge to cancel upcoming hearings over the three-drug cocktail with the new lethal injection drug being obtained.
Honie is facing execution for the 1998 murder of Claudia Benn. Iron County prosecutors said Honie broke into her home, slit her throat and sexually assaulted her with a knife. Her grandchildren were in the home at the time. He has exhausted most of his appeals.
The Utah Board of Pardons & Parole has scheduled a commutation hearing for Honie next week. The board has the sole authority in Utah to decide whether to convert his death sentence to life in prison.
