Iowa Drug Kingpin Who Killed 5 People in 1993 to Be Executed

Dustin Lee Honken is led by U.S. Marshals into the Federal Courthouse in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, prior to his sentencing, on Oct. 11, 2005. Cliff Jette/File/The Gazette via AP

IOWA CITY, Iowa—A ruthless Iowa meth kingpin who killed five people, including two young girls, in 1993 to thwart his prosecution for drug trafficking is set to become the third federal inmate to be executed this week.

Dustin Honken, 52, would become the first Iowa defendant to be put to death since 1963 if he is executed as scheduled on Friday. Iowa abolished the death penalty in 1965, but federal prosecutors sought to execute Honken for killing government informants and children.