(PatriotSpotlight.org) – A man found guilty of murdering two of his family members in 2006 has been executed by lethal injection.
Brian Dorsey, from Missouri, killed his cousin and her husband, but prison staff have long begged for authorities to not execute him. The 52-year-old shot his relatives Sarah and Ben Bonnie following their offer to assist him in handling his extensive drug debts. The tragedy took place just two days before Christmas. The couple’s young daughter had been inside the family’s house when Dorsey launched his brutal attack.
A press release from the Missouri Department of Corrections said that Dorsey was pronounced dead at 18:11 local time on Tuesday, April 9th. There had previously been multiple appeals that claimed Dorsey had reformed his character while behind bars, and claims he had not been offered a robust enough legal defense throughout his trial. Dorsey’s supporters said he had become a model prisoner, working as a barber and saying he was regretful over his crime.
Still, the US Supreme Court struck down a pair of bids to push back the execution date, and Missouri Governor Michael Parsons rejected calls for clemency, referring to Dorsey’s brutal betrayal of his family’s offers of help. Prosecutors also claimed that Dorsey sexually violated his cousin’s corpse after he murdered her. His lawyers Denby this claim and state that it was not proven in court. Despite his confession and decision to plead guilty, his legal team claims he was in the midst of a drug-induced psychotic episode when he committed the shocking attack. They also pointed towards his trial lawyers’ allegedly being financially compromised, given that they were compensated $12,000 flat fees per case under Missouri’s erstwhile payment arrangement for court-appointed lawyers.
70 prisoner officers backed a petition pushing for Dorsey’s penalty to be reduced to a life sentence. In a statement released shortly prior to his death, Dorsey expressed remorse for his crimes and apologized to the victim’s families. Although it is legal in numerous states, capital punishment is now rare in the US, and remains a highly controversial issue, having been banned in most other Western countries.
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