Death row inmate Ralph Menzies, whose execution by firing squad was put on hold in August so he could have a new competency hearing, has died of natural causes.

The Utah Department of Corrections issued a prepared statement Wednesday afternoon that Menzies, 67, “passed away from presumed natural causes at a local hospital at 1:45 p.m. today.”

Corrections officials say they made the announcement after Menzies’ next of kin were notified as well as the family of Maurine Hunsaker, the woman he was convicted of kidnapping and brutally murdering in 1986. View Comments

This story will be updated.

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