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1993 Iowa murders

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Dustin Honken
Honken leaving a federal courthouse after being sentenced on October 11, 2005
Born
Dustin Lee Honken

(1968-03-22)March 22, 1968
Britt, Iowa, U.S.
DiedJuly 17, 2020(2020-07-17) (aged 52)
USP Terre Haute, Terre Haute, Indiana, U.S.
Cause of deathExecution by lethal injection
Criminal statusExecuted
MotiveEliminating witnesses
Conviction(s)Murder in furtherance of a continuing criminal enterprise (5 counts)
Conspiracy to commit murder in furtherance of a continuing criminal enterprise (5 counts)
Soliciting the murder of a witness
Conspiracy to tamper with witnesses and to solicit the murder of witnesses
Witness tampering resulting in death (5 counts)
Attempting to manufacture methamphetamine)
Conspiracy to manufacture and distribute methamphetamine)
Criminal penaltyDeath (October 11, 2005)
Details
Victims5
Span of crimes
July 24, 1993 – November 5, 1993
CountryUnited States
State(s)Iowa
Date apprehended
2001 (for the murders)
Angela Johnson
Mugshot from U.S. Attorney's office
Born
Angela Jane Johnson

(1964-01-17) January 17, 1964 (age 60)
Forest City, Iowa, U.S.
Criminal statusIncarcerated
MotiveEliminating witnesses
Conviction(s)Murder in furtherance of a continuing criminal enterprise (5 counts)
Criminal penaltyDeath; commuted to life imprisonment (December 17, 2014)
Details
Victims5 (as an accomplice)
Span of crimes
July 24, 1993 – November 5, 1993
CountryUnited States
State(s)Iowa
Date apprehended
2000
Imprisoned atFederal Correctional Institution, Waseca

Dustin Lee Honken (March 22, 1968 – July 17, 2020)[1] and Angela Jane Johnson (born January 17, 1964)[2] are American mass murderers convicted of the 1993 murders of five people in Iowa.

The victims were related to a drug trial against Honken. 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.[3] A few months later, the fifth victim, also a former dealer, was murdered.[3]

Although Iowa abolished capital punishment in 1965, the crime was a federal case since it involved a continuing criminal enterprise.

Honken was sentenced to death and executed by the federal government on July 17, 2020,[4] the first defendant from Iowa to be executed since 1963.[3] Johnson was also sentenced to death, the first woman sentenced to death by a United States federal jury since the 1950s, but the sentence was overturned in 2012,[5] and she was resentenced to life without parole in 2014.

Background

Honken grew up in Britt, Iowa.[3] His father, Jim Honken, was an alcoholic schemer who was allegedly neglectful. Jim once convinced his son to steal and copy a key to a bank. He committed two bank robberies before getting caught and sent to prison. Nevertheless, the two had a relatively healthy relationship. Honken's parents divorced when he was nine. Honken had a healthy relationship with his stepfather.[6]

Honken had a notably healthy relationship with his mother, who he described as perfect. Federal court appeals would later describe their relationship in dismissing claims that there was substantial mitigation in his upbringing:

The movant's mother provided a stable, nurturing and loving environment, never abandoned him, did not fail to provide any sort of safe space or comfort to him, never neglected him, never failed to calm him or tell him that things were going to be okay, acted as a loving caretaker and facilitated the movant's attachment to her by making herself available to him.[6]

Honken, who was proficient in math, science, and writing, earned a scholarship to North Iowa Area Community College in 1991. He later said that he had initially planned to become a pharmaceutical lawyer.[7]

During Honken's capital murder trial, his mitigation expert, Lisa Rickert, wrote to his lawyers that she could hardly find anything as far as mitigation went, and what she discovered only made Honken look even worse than how the government had presented him. The defense did not have her take the stand out of the fear that their own expert might conclude that Honken was a sociopath or had narcissistic personality disorder.[6]

  • Honken physically and verbally abused his sister. He once held a pillow over Alyssa's face after she told one of his girlfriends that he had other girlfriends. Alyssa was unable to breathe and was scared that her brother would kill her, but he stopped, apologized and started crying when he realized what he had done. On another occasion, Honken tried to drown Alyssa in a hotel pool. She could not breathe and swallowed water. Dustin later stopped and helped her to the side. Due to Honken's abuse of Alyssa, she was scared of him and was always trying to please him. Alyssa would later plead with jurors to spare her brother from execution.
  • In 1984, Honken plotted a bank robbery in which the person who he would convince to commit the robbery for him would be killed and thrown into a pond.
  • In 1986, Honken schemed to kill one of his accomplices after stealing a car.
  • Between 1986 and 1989, Honken was involved in a conversation which mentioned the possibility of killing his brother's business partner to collect a million dollar life insurance policy.
  • In 1990, Honken raped and threatened his girlfriend. 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.

Johnson was born in Forest City, Iowa.[2] Honken and Johnson were in a relationship at the time of the murders, and Johnson, who had a child from a previous marriage, was pregnant by Honken.[8][9] 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. Johnson's mother was an abusive and neglectful alcoholic.[7] During Johnson's trial, it was revealed that she also had been molested as a child.[10]

Drug dealing

In the early 1990s, Honken started selling marijuana and cocaine. After finishing a year of community college chemistry with an A-minus, Honken, who now saw an opportunity to become both a drug manufacturer and a dealer with what he had learned, decided to switch to meth.[7]

Honken enlisted the help of his best friend from first grade, Tim Cutkomp, and moved to Arizona. He borrowed $5,000 from his brother to buy chemicals and equipment and started experimenting.[7] In less than a year, the two had moved to an isolated house south of Tucson and created an efficient cooking setup. The two produced several pounds of nearly pure meth which they sold in northeast Iowa, primarily through two dealers: Terry DeGeus, 32, and Greg Nicholson, 34. A number of drug runs earned Honken and Cutkomp hundreds of thousands of dollars. On one of his drug runs, Honken met Johnson, who was then dating DeGeus.[7] Johnson later told Honken that DeGeus was personally using too much of the meth and that they should deal with each other instead. The two started a romantic relationship and within six months, Johnson was pregnant with his child.[11]

Honken, wanting more, studied chemistry textbooks at the library, read science journals, kept extremely thorough records, made plans to expand his business to the Internet, and even considered writing his own book about how to make and sell meth in the United States.[7]

In March 1993, Honken and Cutkomp were arrested on federal drug trafficking charges. While he was preparing for his trial, Honken discovered through legal documents that Nicholson had turned on him, wearing a wire to a meeting and recording Honken making a future $3,000 deal. Authorities had found almost 150 grams of pure meth in Nicholson's house, and he had agreed to become an informant to avoid a long prison sentence.[7]

Over the next few weeks, Nicholson became extremely paranoid. His then-wife, Leslie Olson, said he prevented her from going outside or staying near windows for very long. The two ended their relationship shortly after Nicholson's arrest. Dustin had threatened Nicholson in the past, saying he could order a hit on him or anyone else if he wanted.[7]

Honken said he planned to plead guilty, and a hearing was scheduled for July 30, 1993.[7]

Murders

Honken was released on bond and, between June and July 1993, searched for Nicholson's whereabouts. Johnson bought a pistol on July 7, 1993, and the two eventually located Nicholson.[12]

On July 24, 1993, Johnson pretended to be a lost saleswoman to get into Nicholson’s home, where Honken and Johnson bound him and forced him to record a statement claiming that Honken was innocent.[3] Afterwards, the two bound and gagged Nicholson and his new girlfriend, 37-year-old Lori Ann Duncan. Johnson then took Duncan's daughters, 10-year-old Kandace Duncan and 6-year-old Amber Duncan, telling them that they were going on a surprise trip.[7]

Honken and Johnson then forced the family into a car at gunpoint, and drove to a wooden area outside of the city. Honken took the adults out of the car, walked them into the woods, and executed them in front of a pre-dug shallow grave. He then did the same to the children.[7]

On July 30, 1993, Honken gave his attorney the recording of Nicholson saying he was innocent and told him that he was changing his plea. Upon learning that Nicholson had disappeared, the government turned to Honken’s former dealer, DeGeus. Honken told Cutkomp that he was worried about DeGeus turning on him.[12]

On November 5, 1993, DeGeus also disappeared. The night before his disappearance, he dropped his 10-year-old daughter off at his mother's house and said he was going to meet Johnson, his ex-girlfriend. Johnson lured DeGeus to a country club under the guise of wanting to rekindle their relationship, then drove to an abandoned house where Honken was waiting. Honken beat, shot, and buried DeGeus. With their witnesses gone, the government was forced to drop its case against Honken.[12]

In the winter of 1993 or 1994, Honken then went to Cutkomp with the pistol and told him he needed to destroy it. They used a blowtorch to cut and melt the gun into multiple pieces, which they discarded in ditches along a country road.[12]

In the fall of 1995, Honken recruited a man named Dan Cobeen to help him manufacture meth. However, Cobeen later became a police informant. On February 7, 1996, officers executed a search warrant on Honken's house and discovered his meth lab, chemicals, equipment, books and notes, including ones on manufacturing drugs and how to bind and gag people. Honken and Cutkomp were once more indicted on federal drug trafficking charges.[12]

While awaiting trial, Honken was released on bond and plotted to murder Cobeen and several police officers and chemists, and to destroy evidence against him.

Cutkomp decided to turn against Honken. He was fairly certain that Honken had killed Nicholson, his girlfriend and her daughters, and DeGeus and feared he being accused of murder himself.[5] Cutkomp wore a wire while he was around Honken during their time on pretrial release.[7] Cutkomp recorded Honken talking about his plans to kill witnesses and implicitly referenced killing witnesses in 1993. He compared the feeling of killing someone to a football game, saying "Once you go a certain distance, there ain't no turning back."[12] When Cutkomp asked Honken if killing people bothered him, he replied "Nope. Never think about it. Never. ... Never dream about it. Never nothing. ... Thought I'd have nightmares."[13]

Honken was recorded called Cobeen a "rat" and said he would kill him no matter what. "I've climbed far bigger hills than that little hill," he told Cutkomp. "Even if I'm in prison for…15 years, whatever. When I get out, he's still dead." When Cutkomp expressed concern over killing people, Honken said they forced his hand. "They made me choose between my family and them. I'm sorry, but that ain't no choice."[7][14]

After Cutkomp gave the recordings to federal investigators, Honken's bond was revoked. While in jail, Honken confessed to killing witnesses from an earlier case to fellow inmates, going into great detail about the murders. He also plotted to murder Cutkomp as well, giving an inmate directions to Cutkomp's house. Honken later 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. However, the plot was discovered and stopped by the guards.[12]

For his cooperation, Cutkomp was sentenced to 4.5 years in prison and has since been released.[15]

On June 2, 1997, Honken pleaded guilty to attempting to distribute meth and conspiring to manufacture and distribute meth. He faced a minimum of 10 years in prison. Honken's lawyer, Alfredo Parrish, hoping for a sentence of 10 to 15 years, attacked the government's handling of the evidence in the case. He also pointed to Honken's youth as a mitigating factor. "The court needs to consider his age. He can be rehabilitated. This is an intelligent young man." The prosecution 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.[16][17]

"It appears that these people are dead," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Pat Reinert. "We believe the defendant was involved in this. We believe that he was ready to take violent actions again. ... The maximum sentence sends a message to this defendant and other defendants who are thinking about taking things into their own hands ... that that conduct is unacceptable."

U.S. District Judge Mark W. Bennett gave Honken a sentencing enhancement for attempting to obstruct justice, another sentencing enhancement for having a major role in the conspiracy, and a deduction for accepting responsibility for his actions. However, he declined to rule on whether Honken likely had a role in the 1993 disappearances. 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. Honken received the maximum sentence. He was also ordered to serve five years of supervised release and fined $1,100. Upon hearing the sentence, Honken seemed visibly disappointed. He'd previously apologized, saying "I wasn't expecting things to go this way. I let down my family, my children most of all. ... I wish there was some way to go back and start over, but obviously there isn't."[16][17]

In 1999, the prosecution appealed the sentencing deduction for Honken due to the severity of his attempt to obstruct the investigation against him. 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."[18] Without the deduction, Honken now faced 27 to 33.75 years in prison.[19][20]

During his resentencing hearing in January 2000, Honken, speaking from a maximum security prison in Florence, Colorado, asked for leniency, saying he had successfully participated in a drug rehabilitation program and taken educational programs. He claimed that he had nothing to do with the 1993 disappearances. "For years now, the government has made these terrible accusations against me," Honken said. "I didn't kill anyone and even though that hasn't been proven, the accusations have repeatedly been used against me. I realize I am here because of my own actions. I am sorry for what I have done, but I haven't done these heinous crimes the government accuses me of. 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."[19]

Bennett resentenced Honken to 27 years in prison, saying the minimum sentence was harsh enough on its own. Referring to the 1993 disappearances, Bennett stated that while the government had made a compelling case for Honken likely being a murderer, his view was that if the government believed Honken was a murderer, they should charge him with murder.[20]

While in prison, Honken made plans to call his associates to help him escape, and then murder witnesses, law enforcement officers, and the federal prosecutor. To prepare for their escape, Honken and his associates 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.[18]

Discovery of the murders and trial

In 2000, Johnson's friend, Christi Gaubatz decided to talk to the police. She told them about Honken's and Johnson's search for Nicholson and that she had seen the pistol used in the 1993 murders in Johnson's closet before it was destroyed. In July 2000, Johnson was charged with five counts of murder in furtherance of a continuing criminal enterprise. While she was in jail awaiting trial, she met Robert Gene McNeese, a career criminal and informant who was serving a life sentence .[7] He and Johnson passed notes through the food slot in his door, their lives in jail, and talked about their childhoods.[7]

McNeese baited a confession out of her by claiming that he could find another lifer who could take the blame for her. However, McNeese said that Johnson would need to say everything she knew first. Johnson fell for the bait and discussed the murders in detail. McNeese secretly recorded her words. Johnson also gave him written notes and a map revealing the locations of the victim's bodies. McNeese gave everything he had to the authorities, and the victims' bodies were recovered shortly after. Upon learning that she had been baited, Johnson attempted to hang herself.[7][18]

Honken was charged with the murders in 2001. The government announced they would seek death sentences for both Honken and Johnson.

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. To minimize potential prejudice against him, the court ordered for officers not to move Honken in the presence of the jury and that table skirts be placed on the counsel tables so the jury would be unable to see the shackles. The shackles were also fitted with a chain so Honken could move normally without the shackles making noise. The jury was also made anonymous.[18]

A judge initially barred McNeese from testifying against Johnson during her trial on the grounds that he was acting as a federal agent. However, this decision was overturned since the government had never asked McNeese to cooperate in the case against Johnson.[21] As a reward for his testimony, a judge reduced McNeese's sentence, and he was released from prison on November 14, 2017.

The witnesses against Honken

Honken and Johnson were tried separately. Honken was tried first, with his trial starting in October 2004. His lawyers pointed to the lack of physical evidence linking him to the murders. The prosecution said he had every reason to kill the victims and presented 65 witnesses against him. Among them were many of the inmates who Honken had confessed to the murders while in prison:

Fred Tokars, a crooked Atlanta lawyer who was serving life without parole for racketeering and money laundering. He later had his wife and the mother of his two young children murdered for knowing too much about his crimes. Tokars narrowly avoided a death sentence on a state murder conviction, and started crying upon learning he would not be executed.[22] During the trial, Tokars testified that Honken described strangling Lori Duncan and Greg Nicholson, and killed the children since "they could have been witnesses." In 2005, Tokars also stopped an attempted prison escape by Honken, in which he plotted to escape with the help of white supremacists and murder witnesses. Tokars died in prison in May 2020, at the age of 67.[23][24]

Ron McIntosh, who was serving time for air piracy, said Honken told him that he murdered the children since they "wouldn’t be quiet, or wouldn't shut up." Dennis Putzier, who'd stolen pigs, said that in 1996, Honken had bragged to him about murdering witnesses in 1993.[7]

Prosecutors also played a tape recorded by an inmate in which Honken said he liked killing people. "It's like getting high," he said.[25]

Another inmate said Honken killed "rats" and children "raised by rats."[7]

During cross-examination, a defense attorney questioned why someone smart like Honken would confide in "a couple of crackheads who steal hogs" for a living. "They are people who have no future," referring to the inmates. He said Honken was not a murderer, and instead just "a young man infatuated with drug manufacturing, basically a nerd.”[7]

Honken's sentencing and Johnson's trial

On October 14, 2004, Honken was convicted of all 17 counts against him, including five counts of murder in furtherance of a continuing criminal enterprise. During the sentencing phase, the prosecution said Honken, who they described as an "evil mastermind", deserved to die since he had committed mass murder, killed children, killed a second time months after committing the four initial murders, showed no remorse, and had continued to try to escape prison and commit even more murders while in maximum security prisons.[6][8] Honken's defense presented testimony from his family, and pointed to his age and lack of prior violent convictions as mitigating factors.

On October 27, 2004, jurors recommended life sentences for Honken for killing the adult victims and death sentences for killing the children. He was formally sentenced to death on October 11, 2005.[26]

In 2005, Johnson was found guilty of five counts of murder in furtherance of a continuing criminal enterprise. Prosecutors said she deserved to die since she had willingly participated in the murder of children and lacked remorse. Johnson's defense team pointed to her dysfunctional upbringing and argued that she did not know Honken was going to kill the victims. Johnson herself admitted that she was involved in Honken's crimes, but blamed him for the murders and said he had manipulated her.[27]

In June 2005, a federal jury condemned Johnson to death on four counts. She was formally sentenced to death on December 19, 2005. At her sentencing hearing, Johnson continued to blame Honken, but said "I regret I wasn't strong enough."[28] She called Honken a monster and sociopath "who will never admit to what he has done". Two sisters of DeGeus had differing feelings about Johnson's words. Ronda Stone called Johnson a "disgrace to women", while Brenda Stone thought Johnson seemed somewhat apologetic despite not fully admitting to what she had done.[29]

The presiding judge stated, "I am troubled by the lack of certainty in the record concerning the precise involvement of Angela Johnson in these crimes". However, under federal law, he was bound to the jury's verdict. 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.[11][29]

In March 2012, federal judge Mark W. Bennett vacated Johnson's death sentence, citing a failure by her attorneys to introduce evidence about her mental state from an "alarmingly" dysfunctional defense team.[30] In December 2014, federal prosecutors later announced they would not pursue a second death sentence for Johnson. Her lawyer said she was extremely relieved and grateful upon hearing of the decision. Later that month, she was re-sentenced to life in prison without parole. As part of an agreement, she agreed to drop all of her appeals.[31]

Johnson is currently serving her sentence at FCI Waseca.[32]

Honken's execution

Honken exhausted his appeals in 2014. At that point, he was only kept alive by the federal government's de-facto moratorium on capital punishment.[33]

On July 25, 2019, United States Attorney General William Barr announced that the moratorium would be lifted after approving the use of the single drug pentobarbital for federal executions. An execution date of January 15, 2020, was set for Honken.[5] On November 20, 2019, U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan issued a preliminary injunction preventing the resumption of federal executions. Honken and the other three plaintiffs in the case argued that the use of pentobarbital could violate the Federal Death Penalty Act of 1994.[34]

On December 5, 2019, the Supreme Court denied a stay of Chutkan's injunction, while the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit reviewed Chutkan's decision.[35][36]

While in prison, Honken, who never admitted to the murders and continued to maintain his innocence, converted to Catholicism. The Archbishop of Newark, Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin, had written to President Donald Trump in early July 2020 asking him to commute Honken's sentence, claiming that he had witnessed Honken's "spiritual growth in faith and compassion".[1]

In April 2020, a divided panel of the D.C. Circuit vacated District Judge Chutkan's injunction in a per curiam decision.[37] Circuit Judges Gregory G. Katsas and Neomi Rao wrote concurring opinions concluding that Honken may be executed, but for different reasons.[38] Circuit Judge David S. Tatel dissented, arguing the statute explicitly requires the federal government to follow state execution protocols.[38] On June 29, 2020, the Supreme Court denied Honken's petition for review, with Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor dissenting.[38]

On July 17, 2020, Honken was executed by lethal injection. His final words were a reciting of the poem Heaven-Heaven by Gerard Manley Hopkins:

"I have desired to go, where springs not fail, to fields where flies no sharp and sided hail, and a few lilies blow. 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."

Honken then said "Hail Mary, Mother of God, pray for me." He was pronounced dead at 3:36 p.m. CST.[39][40]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Schneider, Jessica; Shortell, David; Duster, Chandelis (July 17, 2020). "Dustin Lee Honken: US government executes 3rd federal inmate this week". CNN. Retrieved July 17, 2020.
  2. ^ a b Hytrek, Nick. "Judge vacates Angela Johnson's death sentence ." Globe Gazette. March 23, 2012. Retrieved July 8, 2016.
  3. ^ a b c d e Associated Press (July 16, 2020). "Iowa Drug Kingpin Who Killed 5 People in 1993 to Be Executed". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 16, 2020.
  4. ^ Sahouri, Andrea (June 15, 2020). "July execution scheduled for Iowa native Dustin Lee Honken, convicted in 2004 of murdering 5". Iowa City Press-Citizen. Des Moines Register. Retrieved June 16, 2020.
  5. ^ a b c "Infamous Iowa murderer Dustin Honken to be executed in 2020". Des Moines Register. Associated Press. July 25, 2019. Retrieved July 26, 2019.
  6. ^ a b c d "Honken v. United States, 42 F. Supp. 3d 937 | Casetext Search + Citator". casetext.com. Retrieved May 7, 2022.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s "From meth to murder: How a small-town Iowa boy became the state's first death row inmate in 50 years". www.desmoinesregister.com. Retrieved May 7, 2022.
  8. ^ a b United States v. Honken, 541 F.3d 1146 (8th Cir. 2008).
  9. ^ "Witnesses Testify about Honken's Drug Operation". The Courier. September 14, 2004. Retrieved March 10, 2017.
  10. ^ "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA vs. ANGELA JOHNSON" (PDF).
  11. ^ a b United States v. Johnson (2007), 495 F.3d 951 (8th Cir. 2007).
  12. ^ a b c d e f g "FindLaw's United States Eighth Circuit case and opinions". Findlaw. Retrieved April 4, 2022.
  13. ^ "Clipped From Globe-Gazette". Globe-Gazette. July 10, 1997. p. 2. Retrieved May 7, 2022.
  14. ^ "Clipped From Globe-Gazette". Globe-Gazette. July 10, 1997. p. 1. Retrieved April 4, 2022.
  15. ^ "Clipped From The Des Moines Register". The Des Moines Register. July 17, 1997. p. 16. Retrieved May 7, 2022.
  16. ^ a b "Honken". Globe-Gazette. February 25, 1998. p. 1. Retrieved April 4, 2022.
  17. ^ a b "Clipped From Globe-Gazette". Globe-Gazette. February 25, 1998. p. 2. Retrieved April 4, 2022.
  18. ^ a b c d Appeals, U. S. Court of; Circuit, Eighth (August 9, 1999). "184 F3d 961 United States of America v. Dustin Lee Honken". F3d (184): 961. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  19. ^ a b "Honken resentenced". Globe-Gazette. January 26, 2000. p. 1. Retrieved May 7, 2022.
  20. ^ a b "Honken resentenced 2". Globe-Gazette. January 26, 2000. p. 2. Retrieved May 7, 2022.
  21. ^ "Johnson". The Des Moines Register. August 1, 2003. p. 12. Retrieved May 7, 2022.
  22. ^ "Tokars". Anderson Independent-Mail. March 13, 1997. p. 11. Retrieved May 7, 2022.
  23. ^ Torpy, Bill. "Fred Tokars, lawyer who set up murder of his wife, dies in prison". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. ISSN 1539-7459. Retrieved May 7, 2022.
  24. ^ Torpy, Bill. "OPINION: Maybe wife-killer Fred Tokars got a fate worse than death". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. ISSN 1539-7459. Retrieved May 7, 2022.
  25. ^ "Murder in Iowa". December 31, 2012. Retrieved May 7, 2022.
  26. ^ "Iowa meth kingpin is 3rd executed by US government this week". AP NEWS. April 20, 2021. Retrieved May 7, 2022.
  27. ^ "Angela Johnson sentencing". Argus-Leader. June 21, 2005. p. 9. Retrieved May 7, 2022.
  28. ^ "Johnson v. United States, 860 F. Supp. 2d 663 | Casetext Search + Citator". casetext.com. Retrieved May 7, 2022.
  29. ^ a b "Woman sentenced to death". Associated Press. December 21, 2005. Retrieved June 5, 2008.
  30. ^ "Judge removes Iowa woman from death row". www.thegazette.com. Retrieved May 7, 2022.
  31. ^ "Johnson". Sioux City Journal. December 18, 2014. pp. A1. Retrieved May 7, 2022.
  32. ^ "Angela Johnson Archived October 10, 2013, at the Wayback Machine." Federal Bureau of Prisons. Retrieved October 14, 2010.
  33. ^ "Dustin Lee Honken - Federal Execution - July 17, 2020". Crime and Capital Punishment Forum. Retrieved May 7, 2022.
  34. ^ Long, Colleen (November 21, 2019). "Judge temporarily stops execution of north Iowa mass murderer Dustin Honken". KIMT News. Associated Press. Retrieved December 7, 2019.
  35. ^ Sherman, Mark (December 6, 2019). "Supreme Court keeps federal executions, including that of Iowa murderer Dustin Lee Honken, on hold". Des Moines Register. Associated Press. Retrieved December 7, 2019.
  36. ^ "Administration seeks resumption of federal executions". Minnesota Lawyer. Bloomberg News. December 5, 2019. Retrieved December 7, 2019.
  37. ^ In re Fed. Bureau of Prisons' Execution Protocol Cases, No. 19-5322 (D.C. Cir. April 7, 2020).
  38. ^ a b c Liptak, Adam (June 29, 2020). "Federal Executions Can Restart After Supreme Court Declines a Case". The New York Times. Retrieved July 9, 2020.
  39. ^ Tyler, Davis (July 17, 2020). "Higher courts rebuff late legal efforts, Iowan Dustin Honken put to death". Des Moines Register. Retrieved July 17, 2020.
  40. ^ Crowder, Courtney. "'Hail Mary, Mother of God, pray for me': Iowan Dustin Honken says short prayer before being executed". Des Moines Register. Retrieved April 4, 2022.
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