Attorneys for state of Utah ask parole board to keep death sentence for man convicted in 1998 murder

Associated Press

Attorneys for the state of Utah are expected to urge a parole board to deny a death row inmate’s request to spare his life ahead of his scheduled Aug. 8 execution. Representatives of the 49-year-old victim, Claudia Benn, were scheduled to testify Tuesday at the Utah State Correctional Facility in Salt Lake City. Inmate Taberon Dave Honie testified Monday that he wasn’t in his “right mind” when he killed his girlfriend’s mother in 1998 after a day of heavy drinking and drug use. He asked the five-member parole board to commute his sentence to life in prison.