On Tuesday, April 9, 2024, Missouri executed Brian Dorsey for killing his cousin and her husband in December 2006. Despite multiple attempts to save his life, the state went ahead with the execution plan.
Dorsey was officially pronounced dead at 6:11 p.m. on Tuesday, as stated by the Missouri Department of Corrections. According to Karen Pojmann, a spokesperson for the department, they executed Dorsey using lethal injection. Pojmann also noted that everything went smoothly without any issues. Here’s everything we know about Brian Dorsey.
Brian Dorsey Tried to Change His Death Sentence to Life Imprisonment But Failed
Brian Dorsey requested his sentence to be changed to life in prison, and more than 70 correctional officers and others supported his petition. However, in the end, it didn’t work out. Dorsey and his lawyers claimed he felt sorry and had changed for the better in prison.
The inmate’s lawyers also said his trial attorneys had some financial conflict of interest. However, they proceeded with Dorsey’s execution after the US Supreme Court decided not to step in, and Missouri’s Republican governor denied clemency.
The defendant’s lawyer believed his positive changes were enough to spare his life. At the same time, Governor Mike Parson didn’t see it that way. He thought carrying out the sentence would bring justice and closure.
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Brian Dorsey’s Final Statement Before His Execution
Brian Dorsey thanked the people who stood up for him in his last written words. He also apologized to the victims’ families. “To all of the family and loved ones I share with Sarah and to all of the surviving family and loved ones of Ben, I am deeply, overwhelmingly sorry,” he said, according to his attorneys.
“Words cannot hold the just weight of my guilt and shame,” the death row inmate said. “I still love you. I never wanted to hurt anyone.” Dorsey added, “To my family, friends, and all of those who tried to prevent this, I love you! I am grateful for you.”
“I have peace in my heart in large part because of you, and I thank you,” he added. “To all those on ALL sides of this sentence, I carry no ill will or anger, only acceptance and understanding.”
Conflicts Of Interests Within the Family
Dorsey’s lawyers mentioned that some of his relatives, who were also related to the victims, supported his cause. At the same time, other members of the victims’ families backed the execution.
They told CNN that Brian Dorsey committed the “ultimate betrayal” when he killed his cousin Sarah Bonnie and her husband Benjamin, leaving their 4-year-old daughter Jade alone in the house with her parents’ bodies locked in the bedroom.
“Not only did Jade lose her parents, but we also lost a daughter and son, sister and brother, aunt and uncle, and a great aunt and great uncle to so many,” the statement from Sarah Bonnie’s family read in part.
“They were loved so deeply by anyone that knew them,” it said. “All of these years of pain and suffering we finally see the light at the end of the tunnel.” The statement continued, “Brian will get the justice that Sarah and Ben have deserved for so long.”
In a statement on Monday, April 8, 2024, Mike Parson clarified that the pain Brian Dorsey caused to others is not fixable. He emphasized that Dorsey’s execution would go ahead per state law and the Missouri Supreme Court’s order.
“Brian Dorsey punished his loving family for helping him in a time of need,” Parson said. “His cousins invited him into their home, where he was surrounded by family and friends.” Parson noted that the family sheltered him, but “Dorsey repaid them with cruelty, inhumane violence, and murder.”
How Brian Dorsey Murdered Ben and Sarah
The murders happened on the night of December 23, 2006. Hours earlier, Dorsey called Sarah asking for help, according to a case history included with a ruling by the Missouri Supreme Court last month. Two drug dealers were in his apartment, Dorsey said, and he needed money to pay them.
The couple went to Dorsey’s apartment, and the drug dealers left. They then took Dorsey back to their home, the ruling notes, and Dorsey spent the evening drinking and playing pool with their family and friends.
Later that night, the ruling said, Dorsey entered their room and fatally shot them with a shotgun at close range. Court records show that Dorsey raped Sarah’s body. Dorsey’s attorneys argued this remains an allegation as he was never charged with nor pleaded guilty to rape or sexual assault.
Dorsey was charged with two counts of first-degree murder and pleaded guilty in March 2008. The court sentenced him to death for each murder.
The Family Honors the Memories of Sarah and Ben
Sarah Bonnie’s family went through a really tough time. Her parents reportedly found the bodies after Dorsey’s horrific crimes. Despite it all, the family did their best to honor the memories of Sarah and Ben. They make it a tradition to take their daughter to the cemetery every year and release balloons.
“We think of all the things that she has missed out on during her life without her parents: the first day of school, school parties, school dances, first date, sweet sixteen, first boyfriend, and high school graduation,” their statement said. “All of this was taken from her by a family member who proclaimed to love her.”
Jenni Gerhauser, the cousin of both the inmate and Sarah Bonnie, supported Dorsey’s life imprisonment advocacy. Hence, it’s hard for her to process his death. She said that the execution was completely unnecessary when she talked to CNN’s Laura Coates on Tuesday night.
“Brian was convicted of a terrible crime. We have never denied that,” Gerhauser said. “But Brian is not the worst, and a single, terrible night in his life didn’t justify killing him.” She continued, “When the correctional officers sent that letter (supporting him) to the governor, I felt so validated because I cannot reconcile this crime with the one convicted for it.”
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A Petition Argued That Dorsey’s Remorse and Trial Defense Warrant Mercy
Dorsey’s lawyers said he was sorry for what he did. They claimed that he was in a messed-up state of mind because of drugs and alcohol. They argued it was like he had a blackout while coping with chronic depression by using substances.
Brian Dorsey and his lawyers tried to show that he was trying to make up for his actions. They mentioned that he had a clean record in prison. He worked as a barber for the staff at the Potosi Correctional Center.
He cut the hair of chaplains, wardens, and corrections officers for 11 years. Hence, some of them wrote letters to the governor supporting his plea for clemency. “If you ask me, if it were not for drugs, none of this would have happened,” an anonymous petitioner wrote. “The Mr. Dorsey I know must have been out of his mind at the time of these murders.”
Dorsey’s lawyers claimed that there was a problem with how his case was handled. They claim that the lawyers didn’t do a thorough job because of a financial conflict of interest. They argued they didn’t guarantee him a life sentence or investigate properly.
If they had, his current lawyers believe they would have found out that Dorsey wasn’t capable of the thinking needed for a first-degree murder charge. However, Dorsey’s trial lawyers said that the flat fee they got paid didn’t impact how they handled the case.
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