IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa meth kingpin who kidnapped and killed five people, including two young girls, to thwart his prosecution for drug trafficking in 1993 is set to become the third federal inmate to be executed this week. Fifty-two-year-old Dustin Honken would become the first defendant from Iowa to die from capital punishment since 1963 if his lethal injection takes place as scheduled on Friday in Terre Haute, Indiana, where he has been on death row since 2005.

FILE – In this Oct. 11, 2005, file photo, Dustin Lee Honken is led by US Marshals into the Federal Courthouse in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, prior to his sentencing. Honken an Iowa meth kingpin who kidnapped and killed five people, including two young girls, to thwart his prosecution for drug trafficking in 1993 is set to become the third federal inmate to be executed this week. Honken would become the first defendant from Iowa to die from capital punishment since 1963 if his lethal injection takes place as scheduled on Friday, July 17, 2020 in Terre Haute, Ind. (Cliff Jette/The Gazette via AP, File)

Iowa abolished the death penalty in 1965, but federal prosecutors sought that punishment against Honken because of the horrific nature of his crimes. This week’s federal executions have been the first in 17 years.