Dustin Honken | |
|---|---|
 Honken leaving a federal courthouse after being sentenced in 2005 | |
| Born | Dustin Lee Honken March 22, 1968 Britt, Iowa, U.S. |
| Died | July 17, 2020 (aged 52) USP Terre Haute, Indiana, U.S. |
| Cause of death | Execution by lethal injection |
| Motive | Witness elimination |
| 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 penalty | Death (October 11, 2005) |
| Details | |
| Victims | 5 |
Span of crimes | July 24 – November 5, 1993 |
| Country | United States |
| State(s) | Iowa |
Date apprehended | 2001 (for the murders) |
Angela Johnson | |
|---|---|
 Mugshot from U.S. Attorney's office | |
| Born | Angela Jane Johnson January 17, 1964 Forest City, Iowa, U.S. |
| Criminal status | Incarcerated |
| Motive | Witness elimination |
| Conviction(s) | Murder in furtherance of a continuing criminal enterprise (5 counts) |
| Criminal penalty | Death; commuted to life imprisonment (December 17, 2014) |
| Details | |
| Victims | 5 (as an accomplice) |
Span of crimes | July 24 – November 5, 1993 |
| Country | United States |
| State(s) | Iowa |
Date apprehended | 2000 |
| Imprisoned at | Federal Correctional Institution, Aliceville |
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 Cerro Gordo County, 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, on July 25.[3][4] A few months later, the fifth victim, also a former dealer, was murdered on November 4.[5] The killings all occurred in unincorporated woodland outside of Mason City.[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,[6] 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,[7] and she was resentenced to life without parole in 2014.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
CNNwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Hytrek, Nick. "Judge vacates Angela Johnson's death sentence ." Globe Gazette. March 23, 2012. Retrieved July 8, 2016.
- ^ a b c 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.
- ^ Crowder, Courtney. "'Hail Mary, Mother of God, pray for me': Iowan Dustin Honken says short prayer before being executed". The Des Moines Register.
- ^ Dvorak, Todd (May 6, 2004). "Feds seek anonymous jury in drug king's trial" (PDF). The Daily Iowan. p. 3.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Infamous Iowa murderer Dustin Honken to be executed in 2020". Des Moines Register. Associated Press. July 25, 2019. Retrieved July 26, 2019.