In a solemn culmination of legal proceedings spanning nearly two decades, Missouri carried out the execution of Brian Dorsey on Tuesday. Dorsey, 52, was pronounced dead at 6:11 p.m. after receiving a single-dose injection of pentobarbital at the state prison in Bonne Terre, according to Karen Pojmann, communications director for the Missouri Department of Corrections.
Dorsey’s execution marks the first in Missouri this year, following four in 2023, and came hours after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected his final appeals. Witnesses reported Dorsey taking several deep breaths as the drug was administered, followed by a few shallow, quick breaths. He expressed remorse and sorrow in a written final statement before his death, acknowledging the gravity of his guilt and shame.
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Dorsey was convicted of killing his cousin, Sarah Bonnie, and her husband, Ben Bonnie, on December 23, 2006, at their home near New Bloomfield. Prosecutors detailed a horrific sequence of events, alleging that Dorsey fatally shot the couple before sexually assaulting Sarah Bonnie’s body and stealing items from the home in an attempt to pay off a drug debt.
The brutality of the crime, which left the couple’s 4-year-old daughter unharmed but orphaned, shocked the community. Dorsey surrendered to police three days after the killings.
The execution sparked new concerns about Missouri’s single-drug protocol, particularly given Dorsey’s medical history as an obese, diabetic former intravenous drug user. However, officials stated that the procedure went smoothly, with no need for a cutdown procedure to locate a vein for injection.
Despite Dorsey’s plea for clemency, which garnered support from 72 current and former state corrections officers, Republican Governor Mike Parson denied the request. Parson emphasized Dorsey’s heinous actions and the devastating impact on the victims’ family, reaffirming his commitment to upholding justice.
Missouri is scheduled to carry out its next execution on June 11 for David Hosier, convicted in the 2009 killing of a Jefferson City woman. Dorsey’s execution adds to the tally of five individuals executed in different states this year, including Alabama, Texas, Georgia, Oklahoma, and Missouri.
