Investigation Discoverys Murder in the Heartland: Invitation To Be Killed chronicles how a meth kingpin, Dustin Lee Honken, killed two informants and their loved ones to prevent them from testifying against him in his federal drug trial. 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. Marges other grandchild, Amber, 6, was inside the house. Ten-year-old Kandi and 6-year-old Amber were still in their swimsuits on the hot summer day when they were shot execution-style in the back of the head. Meth didnt enter the picture until 1991, after he had completed a year of community college chemistry, earning an A- average. Iowa abolished the death penalty in 1965, but federal. I deeply regret the pain I caused to my daughter, who I love so very much. 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. As part of an agreement, she agreed to drop all of her appeals. [8], For his cooperation, Cutkomp was sentenced to 4.5 years in prison. However, under federal law, he was bound to the jury's verdict. To prepare for his escape, Honken and fellow inmates practiced retrieving an officer's weapon, learning how to remove handcuffs with minimal tools, and training in martial arts scenarios centering around encounters with an armed escort. However this is a steptoward healing of broken hearts and shattered lives.". On the other hand, Greg and Lori were bound, gagged, and shot multiple times, including once in the head. The single mother was a Navy veteran, an Elvis Presley fan, and tended to find the good in people. Prison officials stated that Purkey owing to his mental illness lacked in understanding and put aside the pecan pie in his last meal for later. The Bureau of Prisons refused to comment on the payment records or to answer questions about the operations outlined in the documents. Iowa-licensed. After inadvertently learning that Nicholson had turned states witness, Honken and Johnson set out to find him and force him to recant his statements. However, she panicked when she drove by Loris apartment the following day, on July 26. 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. [39] Circuit Judges Gregory G. Katsas and Neomi Rao wrote concurring opinions concluding that Honken may be executed, but for different reasons. Honken, who had been on death row since 2005, was pronounced dead at 4:36 p.m. His execution is fast approaching and he is scheduled to die on July 17th at a prison in Terre Haute, Indiana. The two used a blowtorch to cut and melt the gun into multiple pieces, which they discarded in ditches along a country road. 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. Johnson was originally sentenced to death for her part in the crime but had her sentence reduced to life in prison. 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.. But nearly seven years after five people went missing, including witnesses scheduled to testify against Honken regarding his meth operation, a mobbed-up jailhouse informant would lead investigators to the victims bodies and a murder plot would unravel. [20][21], During his resentencing hearing in January 2000, Honken, asked for leniency, saying he had successfully participated in a drug rehabilitation program and taken educational programs. [7] Cutkomp recorded Honken talking about his plans to kill witnesses and implicitly referenced killing witnesses in 1993. Johnson bought a pistol on July 7, 1993. After several minutes his breathing became more labored. 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. Greg, Lori, and her daughters had all been shot at least once at close range, execution-style, in the back of the head. } 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. [28], In 2005, Johnson was found guilty of five counts of murder in furtherance of a continuing criminal enterprise. The portable restrooms cost $1,605. TERRE HAUTE, Ind. He claimed he had nothing to do with the 1993 disappearances. May he rest in peace.". We believe the defendant was involved in this. Honken was involved in the manufacturing of methamphetamine, and one of his dealers was set to testify against him, so Honken and Johnson murdered him along with his girlfriend and her two young daughters. The federal prison complex in Terre Haute, Ind., is shown, July 17, 2020. Prisoner Dustin Honken is scheduled to be put to death on Friday, July 17. His then-wife, Leslie Olson, said he prevented her from going outside or staying near windows for very long. Honken was tried first, with his trial starting in October 2004. She is the organization's first formerly incarcerated reporter. Brown said that in order to visit her son and witness his execution, she took out a loan. [7], McNeese got Johnson to confess to the murders by claiming he could find another inmate who could take the blame. Knowing that youre behind us means so much. He said Honken was "a young man infatuated with drug manufacturing, basically a nerd.[7]. The day of Lees execution, Mueller and the other witnesses arrived at the prison in the afternoon. 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 . While preparing for his trial, Honken discovered through legal documents that Nicholson had turned witness. It will bring a sense of closure, but we will continue to live with their loss. I had just returned to my cell from a hospital stay when I first learned that Lee, and three othersWesley Purkey, Dustin Honken and Keith Nelson had been given execution dates. eventCategory: event.slot.getSlotElementId(), Michael Conroy/AP Bumming around before starting at North Iowa, Honken fell into selling marijuana and cocaine, quickly building a list of customers who paid thousands for their fix. ga('ads.send', { "[17][18], U.S. District Judge Mark W. Bennett imposed sentencing enhancements on Honken for attempting to obstruct justice and having a major role in the conspiracy, and granted a deduction for Honken accepting responsibility. Since many of the other witnesses didnt live close enough to drive, they flew in, and the bureau spent more than $4,310 on plane tickets for July and August. In any case, they failed. Consequently, Honken's offense level under the United States Federal Sentencing Guidelines was set at 38, which called for a sentence of 235 to 293 months in prison. By 1992, their multi-state ring was netting hundreds of thousands of dollars. Honken was pronounced dead after 30 minutes longer than the other two executions. 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. Later, when the authorities learned Dustin had changed his plea and Greg was missing, they wanted Terry to become an informant. 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. Johnson discussed the murders in detail, which McNeese secretly recorded. [40] Circuit Judge David S. Tatel dissented, arguing the statute explicitly requires the federal government to follow state execution protocols. Iowa abolished the death penalty in 1965, but federal prosecutors sought to execute Honken for killing government informants and children. While studying legal documents, Dustin learned Greg had become an informant after being caught with almost 150 grams of pure meth inside his apartment. [3] His father, Jim Honken, was an alcoholic schemer who was allegedly neglectful. Never think about it. Can we count on your support today? [19], A judge initially barred McNeese from testifying against Johnson during her trial on the grounds that he was acting as a federal agent. Email He had worn a wire, recorded him making drug deals, and handed the recordings to the authorities in exchange for a lenient prison term. They discovered him staying at the home of a friend, Lori Duncan, a single mother with two children, Amber, 6, and Kandi, 10. 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. Dustin Honken, a convicted murderer of 5 people, sits on death row. 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 Supreme Court dismissed a . "It sickens me to know what happened, she said, even more so not to tell anyone.. Sep 25, 2004. Inside, 2,600 prisoners in the two-prison complex were locked down. hitType: 'event', Honken and Cutkomp were indicted on federal drug trafficking charges. [] Thought I'd have nightmares. He once held a pillow over Alyssa's face after she told one of his girlfriends that he had other girlfriends. hide caption. 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. [10][11] Johnson was raised by extremely religious grandparents who would hold her down, wave Bibles over her head, and speak in tongues in an attempt to exorcise demons from her. "Their mother never got to see them having a first dance, first date or walk down the aisle at their wedding," the statement read. [23], Honken and Johnson were tried separately. document.querySelector("#google_image_div").addEventListener('click',function(){ 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. He and Lori Duncan were bound and gagged and shot multiple times. None of those sorts of funeral expenses are noted in records for the July and August executions provided to the ACLU. 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. Honken, 52, was sentenced to die in October 2005 after being convicted of numerous offenses, including five counts of murder among them two small children during the course of a continuing criminal enterprise. Susan Negersmith was a 20 year-old woman from Carmel, New York. He later threatened to lock her in the basement and wondered how long it would take for her to be found, and how deep someone would need to be buried for them not to be plowed up by farm machinery. "I've climbed far bigger hills than that little hill. ET Friday. I have seen people get murdered here and being in a place like this makes the sentence I have now almost like a death sentence. Reach her at ccrowder@dmreg.com or 515-284-8360. Honken,a community college drop-out who created his meth empire in the early 1990s,was the third federal prisoner executed this week. Dustin was a chemistry wizard during his community college days in the early 90's. Honken's execution was the last one in this weeklong spree. But unlike the two executed earlier this week, Honken lacked headline-grabbing mitigating circumstances. After officials began administering the lethal injection, Honken began blinking his eyes, his fingers twitching and his lips quivering. 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. 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. An official with a stethoscope walked into the small death chamber, put his fingers on Honkens neck to check for a pulse, listened for a heartbeat, then exited. He had a rare right-left brain combination that made him attractive enough to land a scholarship to North Iowa Area Community College in the early 1990s. Honken, who was known as "Iowa's Walter White", murdered government informants and two children days before he was set to enter a plea for drug charges in 1993. Terry Scott DeGeus was born to Edward and JoAnn DeGeus in Charles City in Floyd County, Iowa, on November 19, 1960. 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. Because of legal delays, they ended up spending more than 12 hours there. In 1984, Honken plotted a bank robbery in which the person he would convince to commit the robbery for him would then be killed and thrown into a pond. Youre killing an innocent man, He had said. Your subscription makes work like this possible. Follow her on Twitter @courtneycare. Referring to the 1993 disappearances, Bennett said that while the government had made a compelling case for Honken likely being responsible, his view was that if the government believed Honken was a murderer, they should charge him with murder. if(document.querySelector("#ads")){ 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. 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. But what Honken didnt know in early 1993 was that Nicholson had decided to cooperate with federal investigators, wearing a wire toa meet and recordingHonken makinga $3,000 deal for a future meth pickup. During the summer of 2020, Dustin Honken Moreover, Terry informed his mother that he was meeting his former girlfriend, Angela Johnson. "For years now, the government has made these terrible accusations against me," he said. [35], On July 25, 2019, United States Attorney General William Barr announced that the moratorium on federal executions would be lifted after approving the use of the single drug pentobarbital for federal executions. Well never put our work behind a paywall, and well never put a limit on the number of articles you can read. [16], On June 2, 1997, Honken pleaded guilty to attempting to distribute meth and conspiring to manufacture and distribute meth. Dustin Honken, convicted of killing five people, will be executed July 17, 2020. 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 shackles were fitted with a chain so Honken could move normally without the shackles making noise. While out on bond in his drugs case in July 1993, Honken and his girlfriend Angela Johnson kidnapped Lori Duncan and her two daughters from their Mason City, Iowa, home, then killed and buried them in a wooded area nearby. Honken conspired with another inmate to escape from jail by breaking a hole in the wall of his cell and having Johnson deliver a hacksaw and a rope. "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," Kupec said in a statement. On October 27, 2004, jurors recommended life sentences for Honken for killing the adult victims and death sentences for killing the children. The government paid for snacks, drinks and pizza. window.googletag.cmd.push(function() { 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. He plotted to murder Cutkomp and gave a fellow inmate directions to Cutkomp's house. Honken took the adults out of the car, walked them into the woods, and executed them in front of a pre-dug shallow grave. [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. However, he and Tim were arrested on federal drug trafficking charges in March 1993. There was no reason for the government to kill him, in haste or at all, Nolan said. [32] In December 2014, federal prosecutors later announced they would not pursue a second death sentence for Johnson. [8], In the fall of 1995, Honken recruited a man named Dan Cobeen to help him manufacture meth. These are the stories that you need to know about capital punishment's past, as well as its uncertain future. 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. Dustin Honken, Iowa born and bred, inmate #06951-029, was executed in July at the federal penitentiary in Terre Haute, Ind. At his sentencing in 2005, Honken recognized the victims families had suffered a senseless destruction of human life in losing their loved ones, but also declared that their vengeance toward me is misguided.. Courtney Crowder, the Register's Iowa Columnist, traverses the state's 99 counties telling Iowans' stories. In July 2000, Johnson was charged with five counts of murder in furtherance of a continuing criminal enterprise. He never returned, and his body was found seven years later in a field outside Mason City in 2000. Love, Lori.. 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.". In July 2007, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit upheld the conviction, finding sufficient evidence to conclude that Johnson had participated in the murders.