As a young reporter, I was one of a handful of media representatives who witnessed the state-sanctioned killing, one of just two carried out in Utah in the past 20 years — the other, the 2010 firing squad execution of Ronnie Lee Gardner.
In Parson’s case, I was struck by how important the location of the crime was to his eventual stay on death row.
Ernest was driving across the country to reunite with his sister in Texas when he picked up a hitchhiker. They were at a rest stop in Iron County when Parsons stabbed Ernest to death, stole his car and wallet, and dumped the body.