Free Republic

Department of Justice Spokesperson Kerri Kupec has issued the following statement:“Today, Dustin Lee Honken was executed at USP Terre Haute in accordance with the death sentence imposed by a federal district court in 2004.  Honken was pronounced dead at 4:36 p.m. EDT by the Vigo County Coroner.In 1993, Honken, a meth kingpin, kidnapped, fatally shot, and buried Lori Duncan, a single, working mother, Duncan’s two young daughters — 10-year-old Kandi and 6-year-old Amber — and Greg Nicholson, a government informant who testified against Honken on federal drug trafficking charges.  Honken also murdered Terry DeGeus, who Honken thought might also...

The secret of Jodi Huisentruit's disappearance could die with the execution of a notorious Iowa drug kingpin. Dustin Honken is up for execution for the murder of five people in the 1990s -- and supposedly knows who abducted the television news anchor back in June of 1995. Steve Ridge is an investigative journalist who's dedicated the last 19 months looking into Jodi's case. Ridge says an accomplice of Honken's, Angela Johnson -- who is also serving time in prison for her part in the murders-- claims that Honken knows who abducted Jodi. Honken was set to be executed in January,...

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) - A drug kingpin was convicted Thursday of murdering five people in a scheme to silence two former dealers turned informants, a verdict that could make him the first person sentenced to death in Iowa in more than 40 years. The 15-member federal jury deliberated for 15 hours before convicting Dustin Honken, who already is serving a 27-year prison term on a federal drug conviction. The penalty phase of the trial was set to begin Monday. Honken's attorneys argued that the government's case lacked critical physical evidence tying Honken to the 1993 murders, such as blood...