JUST IN: Dustin Lee Honken Executed — Killed 5 To Cover Drug Empire | Iowa Murder Case…

On July 17th, 2020, after spending more than 19 years on death row, Dustin Lee Honken was executed by lethal injection at the United States Penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana. He was 52 years old. In this video, we will talk about what happened, his last words, and his last meal.

 But, to uncover the events that led to his execution, we have to go back to the summer of 1993 and a series of murders in rural Iowa that would remain unsolved for 7 years. Dustin Lee Honken was born on March 22nd, 1968 in Britt, Iowa, a small rural town in the northern part of the state. Britt is the kind of place where everyone knows everyone, where farming [clears throat] is a way of life, and where opportunities for young people are limited.

Dustin grew up in this environment, the product of a broken home and a childhood marked by instability. His parents divorced when he was young, and Dustin bounced between family members, never finding a stable foundation. By the time he reached adolescence, Dustin had developed a reputation as a troublemaker.

 He was intelligent, far more intelligent than most of his peers, but he lacked direction and discipline. In high school, Dustin discovered chemistry. He excelled in science classes, showing a natural aptitude for understanding chemical reactions and formulas. His teachers noticed his potential, but they also noticed something darker.

Dustin was manipulative, controlling, and had a cruel streak that made people uncomfortable. He seemed to enjoy exerting power over others, and he had a temper that could explode without warning. After graduating from high school, Dustin drifted. He worked odd jobs, struggled to find purpose, and eventually discovered something that would change his life, methamphetamine.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, methamphetamine was beginning to spread through rural America. It was cheap to produce, highly addictive, and devastatingly profitable. Dustin Honken saw an opportunity. He had the chemistry knowledge, he had the intelligence, and he had the ambition. Dustin decided he was going to become a meth cook.

He started small, producing batches of methamphetamine in makeshift labs, selling to local users, building a customer base. But, Dustin wasn’t satisfied with being small-time. He wanted to build an empire. By the early 1990s, Dustin Honken had become one of the largest methamphetamine producers in Iowa. He was manufacturing high-quality meth in large quantities, distributing it across the state, and making enormous amounts of money.

 People in the drug trade began referring to him as Iowa’s Walter White, a reference to the fictional meth kingpin from the television show Breaking Bad. But, unlike Walter White, Dustin Honken was real, and he was far more dangerous. Dustin ran his operation with ruthless efficiency. He was paranoid about informants, obsessed with secrecy, and willing to do whatever it took to protect his business.

He recruited a network of dealers and distributors, including a woman named Angela Johnson, who would become his girlfriend and accomplice. Angela Johnson was born on September 15th, 1974, which made her 6 years younger than Dustin. She came from a troubled background marked by abuse and instability.

 Angela met Dustin in the early 1990s when she was still a teenager, and she was immediately drawn to him. Dustin was charismatic, intelligent, and powerful. He had money, status in the criminal underworld, and a confidence that Angela found irresistible. Angela moved in with Dustin and became deeply involved in his methamphetamine operation.

 She helped him cook meth, package it, and distribute it. She also became emotionally dependent on him, willing to do anything he asked without question. Dustin had complete control over Angela, and he used that control to manipulate her into participating in acts she would never have committed on her own. By 1993, Dustin Honken’s meth empire was thriving.

 He was making hundreds of thousands of dollars, living in relative luxury in rural Iowa, and seemed untouchable. But, the Drug Enforcement Administration was watching. The DEA had been investigating methamphetamine production in Iowa for years, and Dustin Honken’s name kept coming up. Agents began building a case against him, interviewing dealers, tracking shipments, and looking for someone close to Dustin who might be willing to cooperate.

 They found that person in Greg Nicholson. Greg Nicholson was a low-level methamphetamine dealer who had purchased drugs from Dustin Honken multiple times. Greg was in his early 30s, a small-time criminal who had gotten in over his head. When DEA agents approached Greg and offered him a deal, he took it. Greg agreed to cooperate with federal authorities in exchange for leniency.

He would testify against Dustin Honken in federal court, providing detailed information about Dustin’s meth operation, his distribution network, and his manufacturing methods. Greg’s cooperation gave the DEA everything they needed to indict Dustin Honken on federal drug trafficking charges. On July 9th, 1993, Dustin Honken was arrested and charged with conspiracy to manufacture and distribute methamphetamine.

 He was released on bond while awaiting trial, a decision that would have catastrophic consequences. Dustin knew Greg Nicholson had cooperated with the DEA. He knew Greg was going to testify against him in federal court, and Dustin knew exactly what he had to do. Greg Nicholson had to die. But, Dustin didn’t just want to kill Greg.

 He wanted to eliminate everyone who might testify against him. Everyone who knew too much, everyone who posed a threat to his freedom. Dustin Honken was about to commit a series of murders so cold-blooded and calculated that they would shock even seasoned law enforcement investigators. The first person Dustin decided to kill was not Greg Nicholson.

 It was a man named Terry De Juice. Terry was a former methamphetamine dealer who had worked with Dustin in the past, but had since stopped dealing drugs. Terry knew details about Dustin’s operation, and Dustin believed Terry might cooperate with authorities if pressured. In November 1993, just months after Dustin had been released on bond, he decided it was time to eliminate Terry De Juice.

Dustin convinced Terry to meet him under the pretense of discussing old business. Terry agreed, unaware that he was walking into a trap. Dustin brought Angela Johnson with him to the meeting, along with another associate. When Terry arrived, Dustin attacked him. He beat Terry with an aluminum baseball bat, striking him repeatedly in the head and body.

Terry tried to fight back, but Dustin was relentless. The beating continued until Terry was barely conscious, bloodied and broken. Then, [clears throat] Dustin pulled out a gun and shot Terry De Juice in the back of the head, execution style. Terry’s body was dragged to a pre-dug hole and buried.

 Dustin filled in the grave, covering all traces of the murder. Terry De Juice disappeared without a trace. His family reported him missing, but there were no leads, no witnesses, no body. Terry was gone, and Dustin Honken had gotten away with murder. But, Dustin wasn’t finished. The biggest threat to his freedom was still alive, Greg Nicholson.

Greg Nicholson knew he was in danger. After agreeing to cooperate with the DEA, Greg had been placed in protective custody and housed in a federal facility to keep him safe until trial. But, in early 1993, for reasons that remain unclear, Greg was released from protective custody and allowed to return to Mason City, Iowa.

 It was a catastrophic mistake by federal authorities. Greg moved in with his girlfriend, Lori Duncan, a single mother with two young daughters. Lori Duncan was 31 years old, a kind and loving mother who was trying to build a stable life for her children. Her daughters, Candy Duncan and Amber Duncan, were 10 and 6 years old, respectively.

Candy was a bright, energetic girl who loved school and had her whole life ahead of her. Amber was a sweet and playful child, adored by her mother and sister. Lori had no idea that by allowing Greg Nicholson to move into her home, she was putting herself and her daughters in mortal danger. Dustin Honken had been watching Greg.

 He knew where Greg was living. He knew about Lori and her daughters, and Dustin made a decision that would define him as one of the most ruthless killers in Iowa history. He was going to kill all of them. >> [clears throat] >> Dustin’s reasoning was cold and logical. Lori and her daughters had seen Greg. They knew he was alive.

They could potentially testify that Greg had been in contact with Dustin after his arrest. They were witnesses, and witnesses had to be eliminated. On the weekend of July 25th and 26th, 1993, four people disappeared from Mason City, Iowa without a trace. Greg Nicholson vanished. Lori Duncan vanished. 10-year-old Candy Duncan vanished.

6-year-old Amber Duncan vanished. Neighbors noticed the family was gone, but there were no signs of a struggle, no evidence of foul play, no indication of what had happened. The house was simply empty. Lori’s family reported them missing. Law enforcement began investigating, but there were no leads. It was as if Greg, Lori, Candy, and Amber had been erased from existence.

What actually happened during that weekend would not be fully known for 7 years, but piecing together testimony from witnesses and evidence discovered later, investigators were able to reconstruct the horrific events. Dustin Honken, with the help of Angela Johnson, lured Greg Nicholson out of Lori Duncan’s house under some pretense.

Once Greg was away from the house and isolated, Dustin shot him in the back of the head, execution style, just as he had done to Terry DeGeus. Greg Nicholson died instantly, murdered by the man he had agreed to testify against. But Dustin knew he couldn’t leave Lori and her daughters alive.

 They had seen Greg leave with Dustin. They could identify him. They were loose ends. Dustin and Angela returned to Lori Duncan’s house. What happened next is almost too horrific to comprehend. Dustin forced Lori Duncan and her two young daughters out of the house. He drove them to a remote location in rural Iowa, a place where no one would hear screams or gunshots.

 And then one by one, Dustin Honken executed them. Lori Duncan was shot in the back of the head. 10-year-old Candy Duncan was shot in the back of the head. 6-year-old Amber Duncan was shot in the back of the head. Three innocent people, including two children, murdered to eliminate witnesses in a drug case. Their bodies were placed in pre-dug graves, buried in a rural field, and covered with dirt.

Dustin and Angela filled in the graves, smoothed over the ground, and left. Four people had been murdered in a single weekend. Four people buried in unmarked graves in the Iowa countryside. And Dustin Honken went home, cleaned up, and prepared for his federal drug trial as if nothing had happened. The disappearances of Greg Nicholson, Lori Duncan, and her daughters became a major investigation.

 Federal authorities knew Greg had been cooperating, and his disappearance was highly suspicious. But without bodies, without witnesses, without any physical evidence, there was nothing prosecutors could do. Dustin Honken’s federal drug trial moved forward, but without Greg Nicholson’s testimony, the case was significantly weaker.

 Prosecutors did their best with the evidence they had. And in December 1993, Dustin Honken was convicted on federal drug charges and sentenced to 27 years in prison. It was a substantial sentence, but it was not a death sentence. Dustin had avoided the worst possible outcome by eliminating the key witness against him.

 Angela Johnson, meanwhile, had not been charged with any crimes related to the murders. She had participated in the killings, helped Dustin bury the bodies, and kept his secrets. But law enforcement had no evidence linking her to the disappearances. Angela was free, and she remained loyal to Dustin even after he was sent to federal prison.

Dustin Honken was incarcerated at the United States Penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kansas, beginning his 27-year sentence for drug trafficking. And for 7 years, the bodies of Terry DeGeus, Greg Nicholson, Lori Duncan, Candy Duncan, and Amber Duncan remained buried in the Iowa countryside. Their families held out hope they might still be alive, that they might return someday.

 But as the years passed, hope faded. The disappearances remained unsolved, and Dustin Honken believed he had gotten away with murder. But in the year 2000, everything changed. A jailhouse informant came forward with information that would break the case wide open. The informant’s name was Robert McNeese, and he had been incarcerated with Dustin Honken at Leavenworth.

McNeese told federal authorities that Dustin had confessed to him about the murders. Dustin had bragged about killing five people, described how he had executed them, and revealed the general area where the bodies were buried. But McNeese’s information alone was not enough. Prosecutors needed more. They needed someone who had been there, someone who had participated in the murders. They needed Angela Johnson.

Federal investigators approached Angela and made it clear that she was in serious trouble. They had Robert McNeese’s testimony. They had evidence that she had been with Dustin during the time of the murders. And they had a choice for her. She could cooperate, tell them everything, and testify against Dustin in exchange for a plea deal.

Or she could remain silent and face the death penalty herself. Angela Johnson made her decision. She agreed to cooperate. Over the course of multiple interviews, Angela gave investigators a full confession. She admitted she had been present during the murders of Greg Nicholson, Lori Duncan, Candy Duncan, and Amber Duncan.

 She described how Dustin had lured Greg away from the house, how Dustin had shot him, and how they had returned for Lori and her daughters. Angela revealed the approximate locations where the bodies had been buried. And in exchange for her cooperation, prosecutors agreed not to seek the death penalty against her. Angela Johnson would plead guilty to multiple counts of murder and would be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

But her testimony would be used to send Dustin Honken to death row. Armed with Angela’s confession and Robert McNeese’s testimony, investigators returned to the rural areas of Iowa where Angela said the bodies were buried. In the fall of 2000, 7 years after the murders, search teams began excavating fields near Mason City.

 On November 1st, 2000, investigators made a grim discovery. They found the remains of Lori Duncan and her two daughters, Candy and Amber, buried in a shallow grave in a field. The bodies had been there for 7 years, decomposed and skeletal, but forensic analysis confirmed their identities. All three had been shot in the back of the head, execution style.

Days later, on November 5th, 2000, investigators found the remains of Greg Nicholson buried in another field. He had also been shot in the back of the head. And on November 7th, 2000, the body of Terry DeGeus was discovered buried in yet another location. All five victims, missing for 7 years, had finally been found.

The families of the victims were devastated. For 7 years, they had held out hope that their loved ones might still be alive. Now they had confirmation that Greg, Lori, Candy, Amber, and Terry had been murdered and buried like garbage in rural Iowa. The discovery of the bodies gave prosecutors everything they needed.

On March 14th, 2001, a federal grand jury indicted Dustin Honken on charges of murdering five people to prevent them from testifying in a federal drug case. Honken was also charged with continuing a criminal enterprise, conspiracy, and multiple firearms offenses. If convicted, he would face the federal death penalty.

 Dustin Honken’s trial began on October 7th, 2004 in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Iowa. The trial was presided over by Judge Mark W. Bennett, a federal judge known for his meticulous attention to detail and his commitment to ensuring a fair trial. The prosecution was led by Assistant United States Attorneys, and the defense was led by court-appointed attorneys who faced the monumental task of defending a man accused of murdering five people, including two children.

 The trial lasted several weeks, and the evidence presented was overwhelming. The prosecution called Robert McNeese, the jailhouse informant, who testified that Dustin Honken had confessed to him about the murders. McNeese described how Dustin had bragged about killing Greg Nicholson and the Duncan family. How he had described shooting them execution style.

And how he had expressed no remorse for the murders. The prosecution then called Angela Johnson, Dustin’s former girlfriend and accomplice. Angela took the stand and testified in detail about the murders. She described how Dustin had lured Greg Nicholson away from Lori Duncan’s house, how Dustin had shot Greg in the back of the head, and how they had buried his body.

She described how Dustin had returned to Lori’s house, forced Lori and her daughters into a vehicle, and driven them to a remote location. Angela testified that Dustin had ordered Lori and the girls out of the vehicle, lined them up, and shot them one by one in the back of the head. She described how Candy, the 10-year-old, had begged for her life before Dustin killed her.

And she described how 6-year-old Amber had cried before Dustin shot her. The courtroom was silent as Angela Johnson gave her testimony. Jurors listened in horror. Family members of the victims wept. And Dustin Honken sat at the defense table showing no emotion. Angela also testified about the murder of Terry DeGeus, describing how Dustin had beaten him with a baseball bat and then shot him.

 She admitted she had helped Dustin bury all five bodies and had kept his secrets for years. The defense tried to discredit Angela’s testimony, arguing that she was a convicted murderer who had made a deal with prosecutors to save her own life. They argued that she was lying to reduce her own sentence and that her testimony could not be trusted.

But Angela’s testimony was corroborated by physical evidence. The bodies had been found exactly where she said they would be. All five victims had been shot in the back of the head, just as Angela described, and Robert McNeese’s testimony supported her account. The prosecution also presented forensic evidence, including ballistics reports showing that the same gun had been used to kill multiple victims.

They presented testimony from family members who described the victims as loving, innocent people who had been murdered for no reason other than being in the wrong place at the wrong time. The defense presented mitigating evidence, arguing that Dustin had a troubled childhood, that he had been abused, and that his actions were the result of mental illness and drug addiction.

They called psychologists who testified that Dustin suffered from personality disorders and that he lacked the capacity to fully understand the consequences of his actions. But the jury was not swayed. On October 27th, 2004, after deliberating for several hours, the jury returned with their verdict. Guilty on all counts.

Dustin Lee Honken was convicted of murdering five people. The trial then moved to the penalty phase, where the jury would decide whether Dustin should be sentenced to death or life in prison without parole. The prosecution argued that Dustin’s crimes were so heinous, so premeditated, and so devoid of any redeeming qualities that death was the only appropriate punishment.

They pointed to the fact that Dustin had murdered two children in cold blood, that he had shown no remorse, and that he posed a continuing danger even from inside a prison. The defense argued for life in prison, saying that executing Dustin would not bring the victims back and that life without parole would ensure he could never harm anyone again.

On October 29th, 2004, the jury returned with their sentencing recommendation. Death. The jury unanimously recommended that Dustin Lee Honken be sentenced to death for the murders of Greg Nicholson, Lori Duncan, Candy Duncan, Amber Duncan, and Terry DeGeus. Judge Mark W. Bennett accepted the jury’s recommendation and formally sentenced Dustin Honken to death.

Dustin showed no visible reaction when the sentence was announced. He was transported to the United States Penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana, where federal death row inmates are housed. Dustin would spend the next 16 years there, waiting to die. During his time on death row, Dustin Honken underwent a transformation that surprised many who knew him.

 He converted to Catholicism and became deeply religious. Dustin spent hours each day reading religious texts, praying, and corresponding with Catholic clergy. He reached out to Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston, asking for spiritual guidance and support. Cardinal O’Malley, a vocal opponent of the death penalty, responded and became an advocate for commuting Dustin’s sentence.

 The cardinal argued that Dustin had genuinely changed, that he had found redemption through faith, and that executing him would serve no purpose. But Dustin’s conversion was met with skepticism by many, including the families of his victims. They believed Dustin was manipulating the system, using religion as a last-ditch effort to save his own life.

They pointed out that Dustin had never apologized to the victims’ families, had never expressed genuine remorse, and had shown no empathy for the people he had killed. Dustin’s case went through the standard appeals process. His attorneys filed multiple appeals, challenging the conviction and death sentence, arguing that the trial had been unfair, that the evidence was insufficient, and that Dustin’s constitutional rights had been violated.

But every appeal was denied. The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the conviction and sentence. The United States Supreme Court declined to hear the case. Dustin Honken’s death sentence stood, and he remained on death row. In July 2019, Attorney General William Barr made a stunning announcement. After a 17-year hiatus, the federal government was going to resume executions.

 Since 2003, no federal inmates had been executed, even though dozens sat on death row. But the Trump administration, led by Attorney General Barr, decided it was time to restart federal executions. Barr scheduled the executions of five federal death row inmates, including Dustin Lee Honken. Dustin’s execution was set for July 17th, 2020.

The decision to restart federal executions was controversial. Opponents of the death penalty argued that the federal government was rushing to execute people during a pandemic, that the executions were politically motivated, and that many of the inmates on death row had legitimate claims of innocence or unfair trials.

Supporters of the death penalty argued that justice had been delayed long enough, that the victims’ families deserved closure, and that the sentences should be carried out. Dustin’s attorneys filed last-minute appeals, arguing that executing him during the COVID-19 pandemic was cruel, and that his religious conversion proved he was no longer a danger to society.

Cardinal Sean O’Malley wrote to President Donald Trump, asking him to commute Dustin’s sentence. But the appeals were denied, and President Trump declined to intervene. Dustin Lee Honken’s execution would proceed as scheduled, July 17th, 2020. Dustin Honken’s final day on Earth. He woke in his cell on federal death row at the United States Penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana, knowing that in less than 12 hours, he would be dead.

 Dustin had spent the previous days saying goodbye to the people he had come to know during his 16 years on death row. He had written letters to friends, to clergy, and to his family. He had prayed, attended religious services, and prepared himself spiritually for what was coming. On his final day, Dustin was offered the opportunity to request a last meal.

 Under Federal Bureau of Prisons policy, condemned inmates can request a last meal with a maximum cost of around $40. Dustin requested Pizza Hut. The bill came to exactly $33.11. It was a simple meal, comfort food, the kind of thing someone might order on a Friday night without thinking twice. Dustin ate his last meal in his cell, knowing that it was the last food he would ever taste.

As the afternoon turned to evening, preparations for the execution began. Federal protocols require extensive procedures to ensure the execution is carried out properly. Medical personnel prepared the lethal injection drugs. The execution chamber was readied. Witnesses began arriving at the facility.

 Among the witnesses were family members of Dustin’s victims. They had waited 27 years for this moment. 27 years since Greg Nicholson, Lori Duncan, Candy Duncan, Amber Duncan, and Terry DeGeus had been murdered and buried in shallow graves. Now they would finally see justice done. At approximately 3:30 p.m. Central Time, 4:30 p.m.

 Eastern Time, Dustin Lee Honken was escorted from his cell to the execution chamber. He was strapped to a gurney, his arms extended, and IV lines were inserted into his veins. The drug that would kill him was pentobarbital, a barbiturate that in high doses causes unconsciousness, respiratory failure, and cardiac arrest.

 The execution chamber at Terre Haute is a small, sterile room with a gurney in the center and a window through which witnesses can observe. Dustin lay on the gurney, his body secured with leather straps, staring at the ceiling. The warden entered the room and asked Dustin if he had any final words. Dustin turned his head toward the witness window and began to speak.

 He did not apologize to the families of his victims. He did not express remorse for the murders he had committed. Instead, Dustin Lee Honken recited a poem. The poem was titled Heaven-Haven, written by Gerard Manley Hopkins, a 19th-century Jesuit priest and poet. Dustin’s voice was calm and steady as he recited the words.

I have desired to go where springs not fail, to fields where flies no sharp and sighted 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. The witnesses listened in silence as Dustin recited the poem, a meditation on peace, refuge, and escape from the storms of life.

 When he finished, Dustin said one final prayer, Hail Mary, Mother of God, pray for me. Those were his last words, a prayer to the Virgin Mary asking for her intercession. The warden gave a signal, and at 3:43 p.m. Central Time, the lethal injection began. Pentobarbital flowed into Dustin’s veins. Within seconds, his eyes closed, his breathing slowed, his body went still.

 There was no struggle, no visible pain, no dramatic final moment. Dustin simply fell asleep and never woke up. At 4:36 p.m. Eastern Time, 3:36 p.m. Central Time, Dustin Lee Honken was pronounced dead. He was 52 years old. He had spent 16 years on death row for murdering five people including two children. The execution was over in less than 15 minutes.

After the execution, the families of Dustin’s victims released statements. They expressed relief that justice had finally been served, that the man who had murdered their loved ones was dead. But they also expressed anger that Dustin had not apologized, that he had used his final words to recite poetry instead of acknowledging the pain he had caused.

One family member said Dustin’s final statement was yet another act of selfishness and cowardice. Another said Dustin had spent his last moments thinking only of himself, just as he had lived his entire life. Dustin Lee Honken’s execution was the third federal execution carried out in the span of 1 week.

 On July 14th, 2020, Daniel Lewis Lee had been executed for murdering a family of three. On July 16th, 2020, Wesley Ira Purkey had been executed for murdering a teenage girl. And on July 17th, 2020, Dustin Honken became the third. The rapid pace of executions was unprecedented in modern federal death penalty history. Attorney General William Barr was moving quickly, scheduling executions back-to-back, determined to carry out as many death sentences as possible before the end of the Trump administration.

Dustin’s execution was also historically significant for Iowa. He was the first person from Iowa to be executed since 1963, when a man named Victor Feguer was hanged for murder. Iowa had abolished the death penalty for state crimes in 1965, but because Dustin’s crimes were federal offenses, he was prosecuted under federal law, which still allowed for capital punishment.

 The execution of Dustin Lee Honken reignited debates about the death penalty in America. Opponents argued that executing people during a global pandemic, when courts were closed and attorneys had limited access to their clients, was unconscionable. They argued that many federal death row inmates had legitimate claims of innocence or intellectual disability that had not been properly reviewed.

 They argued that the rush to execute was politically motivated, designed to appeal to voters in an election year. Supporters of the death penalty argued that Dustin Honken had received a fair trial, that his guilt was not in question, and that the victims’ families deserved to see justice carried out. They pointed out that Dustin had murdered five people including two children in cold blood, and that no amount of religious conversion or last-minute appeals could change that fact.

The case of Dustin Lee Honken raises difficult questions that have no easy answers. Can a person who commits unspeakable evil truly be redeemed? Dustin converted to Catholicism on death row, spent years praying and corresponding with clergy, and sought spiritual guidance from Cardinal Sean O’Malley. Does that redemption matter when weighed against the murders of five people including a 10-year-old and a 6-year-old? Does finding religion on death row erase the horror of what was done? Should it? Dustin’s victims were ordinary people

whose only crime was being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Terry DeGeus knew too much about Dustin’s meth operation. Greg Nicholson agreed to cooperate with federal authorities. Lori Duncan fell in love with Greg and welcomed him into her home. Candy and Amber Duncan were children who had no connection to drugs or crime or anything Dustin was involved in.

 They were simply daughters who lived with their mother, and Dustin decided they had to die because they were witnesses. The execution of Dustin Lee Honken was not the end of the story. Angela Johnson, Dustin’s girlfriend and accomplice, remains in federal prison serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole.

She testified against Dustin in exchange for avoiding the death penalty, and she will spend the rest of her life behind bars. Robert McNeese, the jailhouse informant whose testimony helped convict Dustin, >> [snorts] >> was released from prison and is living under a new identity in witness protection. The families of the victims continue to grieve.

For them, Dustin’s execution brought a measure of closure, but it did not bring their loved ones back. Lori Duncan’s family will never see her smile again. Candy and Amber will never grow up, never go to college, never fall in love, never have families of their own. Their lives were stolen by a man who valued his own freedom more than their right to exist.

 The case also exposed failures in the federal criminal justice system. Greg Nicholson should never have been released from protective custody. He was a cooperating witness in a federal drug case against a violent meth kingpin, and federal authorities knew he was in danger. But for reasons that remain unclear, Greg was allowed to leave protective custody and move in with his girlfriend, making him an easy target for Dustin Honken.

If Greg had remained in federal custody, he would still be alive today. And Lori Duncan, Candy, and Amber would still be alive because Dustin would have had no reason to kill them. The decision to release Greg from protective custody was a catastrophic mistake that cost four people their lives. Dustin Honken’s case also highlights the brutality of which some people are capable.

Dustin did not kill in the heat of passion. He did not kill out of rage or fear. He killed methodically, calmly, and without hesitation. He murdered Terry DeGeus and buried him in a hole. He murdered Greg Nicholson and buried him in a field. And then he murdered a mother and her two young daughters, execution style, because they were inconvenient.

 Dustin showed no mercy, no compassion, no humanity. And when he was finally caught, convicted, and sentenced to death, he spent 16 years on death row converting to Catholicism and seeking redemption, but he never once apologized to the families of the people he killed. On July 17th, 2020, the federal government of the United States executed Dustin Lee Honken by lethal injection.

The execution was carried out professionally, without incident, and Dustin died peacefully, painlessly, surrounded by medical personnel in a sterile room. He recited poetry in his final moments and prayed to the Virgin Mary. It was a far more humane death than the one he gave to his victims. Terry DeGeus was beaten with a baseball bat and shot in the back of the head.

Greg Nicholson was shot in the back of the head and buried in a field. Lori Duncan was shot in the back of the head and left in a shallow grave. 10-year-old Candy Duncan begged for her life before Dustin shot her in the back of the head. 6-year-old Amber Duncan cried before Dustin shot her in the back of the head.

None of them were given the opportunity to recite poetry, to pray, to say goodbye to their loved ones. They died in terror, in pain, in a remote field in Iowa, murdered by a man who saw them as nothing more than obstacles to be removed. The case of Dustin Lee Honken is now closed.

 A meth kingpin who built an empire in rural Iowa, a man who murdered five people to silence witnesses, a killer who buried children in shallow graves, 16 years on death row, a religious conversion that may or may not have been genuine, a last meal of Pizza Hut, a final statement that was a poem about finding peace. And on a summer afternoon in July 2020, a needle in the arm and a heart that stopped beating.

 Justice, such as it is, was served.