Revealed: Surprising Last Words of Death Row Killer Before First Execution in Utah Since 2010

The first Utah inmate executed since 2010 accepted his fate just before being given a lethal injection, insisting he had changed since killing his girlfriend’s mother 25 years ago.

Taberon Dave Honie, 48, was executed early Thursday morning at a Utah state prison for the 1998 murder of Claudia Benn.

“From the beginning it’s been like this, if it’s necessary to heal them, let’s do this,” he said before the injection. “If they tell you you can’t change, don’t listen to them. To all my brothers and sisters here, keep changing. I love you all. Take care of yourself.”

Honie was pronounced dead at 12:25 a.m. MST after approximately 17 minutes. He tapped his foot and muttered “I love you” to his family members, who were present in the witness room.

Honie’s last meal before his execution was a cheeseburger, fries and a milkshake, according to the Utah Department of Corrections. Honie spent the evening with his family before the execution.

Taberon Dave Honie, 48, was executed early Thursday morning in a Utah prison for the 1998 murder of Claudia Benn

“From the beginning it’s been like this, if it’s necessary to heal them, let’s do this,” he said before the injection. “If they tell you you can’t change, don’t listen to them. To all my brothers and sisters here, keep changing. I love you all. Take care of yourself.”

“Today our department fulfilled one of the most consequential responsibilities ever given to the Department of Corrections,” said Department Director Brian Redd. “No one involved today enjoys carrying out this responsibility, but we recognize it as one of our legal obligations and we take it seriously.”

Honie was the first person killed in the state since Ronnie Lee Gardner was executed by firing squad in 2010.

The 48-year-old woman was convicted of aggravated murder in connection with the July 1998 death of Claudia Benn, after he broke into her Cedar City home and repeatedly slashed and stabbed her while her grandchildren, including Honie’s then 2-year-old daughter, were home.

Officers, called by neighbours in the early hours of the next day, found him in Benn’s garage with her blood on his fingertips. He confessed during his arrest: ‘I stabbed her. I killed her with a knife.’

The 48-year-old was convicted of aggravated murder in the July 1998 death of Claudia Benn after he forced his way into her Cedar City home and repeatedly beat and stabbed her while her grandchildren, including Honie’s then 2-year-old daughter, were home.

Forensic investigators searching Benn’s Cedar City home found that Honie had slashed the tragic grandmother’s throat four times, from ear to ear, until the blade reached her spine.

They also discovered that he had stabbed her multiple times in and around her genitals and that he had sexually abused one of her grandchildren immediately after her death.

Although he admitted two days ago that he was “a monster” before the state parole board during his final appeal of the death penalty, he has spent a quarter-century trying to challenge the sentence, which was imposed in 1999.

The allegations of racially motivated prosecutors, the fact that his parents abused him and even the permanent brain damage he said he suffered after falling 30 feet from a ladder failed to convince appellate judges, including the state Supreme Court.

Honie was pronounced dead at 12:25 a.m. MST after approximately 17 minutes, tapping his foot and muttering “I love you” to his family members, who were in the witness room.

His final appeal, based on the claim that he needed to be alive to support his daughter, Tressa Honie, in any way given her troubled relationship with her mother, Benn’s daughter, was dismissed.

Her mother’s family did everything they could to ensure that Honie was executed.

Sarah China Azule, Benn’s cousin, said she was pleased with the board’s decision to proceed with Honie’s execution.

“He deserves an eye for an eye,” she said.

But Tressa told AP she always felt left out of her mother’s family.

“My mother’s side, they can heal together,” she said in an interview. “I’m glad you’re getting this closure, this justice, but where does that leave me? I feel like I have to heal on my own.”