The family of a Missouri man convicted of murdering his cousin and her husband are holding out hope in the finals hours leading up to his scheduled execution on Tuesday, with some relatives insisting that an execution would cause the family more pain.
Brian Dorsey pleaded guilty to the December 2006 killing of Sarah Bonnie and her husband, Ben Bonnie. Dorsey, 52, had asked his cousin to lend him money, after drug dealers entered his apartment and demanded repayment. The Bonnies paid his debt and took Dorsey back to their home, where they spent the evening drinking and playing pool.
Hours later, Dorsey entered the couple's bedroom and murdered both with a shotgun. Court records allege that Dorsey then sexually assaulted Sarah's corpse but he has never confessed to that or been charged with rape. After the killings, Dorsey left the couple's home, while their four-year-old daughter continued to sleep in another room.
"I was for the execution," Dorsey and Bonnie's cousin Claudia Boyce told KSDK. "But after being through this, after seeing how this affects so many people, you don't even think about that until you've gone through it."
"You know, that's supposed to be God's decision, not ours," she said.
In the ensuing years, Dorsey has never disputed that he killed his cousin. Rather he claims that he was suffering from drug-induced psychosis and received insufficient legal representation during his trial.
In the weeks leading up to his execution, Dorsey has pleaded with Missouri Governor Mike Parson to have his sentences commuted to life in prison. Parson denied the request, in spite of support from the Catholic Church, law professors, mental health activists and dozens of prison employees who met Dorsey during his time behind bars.
The execution has also divided and pained Dorsey's family - many of whom struggle with their connection to both the victim and the perpetrator.
"It will be terrible for me because he is like my son," Linda Stone, who is both Dorsey and Bonnie's cousin, told KSDK.
"If Brian is executed I'm going to be heart broken," cousin Jennifer Gerhauser told the outlet. "I just don't understand how anyone or God, or the powers that be or fate or whatever is running this world could allow that special light to be extinguished."
Other members of Sarah Bonnie's family released a statement condemning Dorsey's actions and insisting on the execution.
"They were loved so deeply by anyone that knew them," the statement said, according to CNN. "All of these years of pain and suffering we finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. Brian will get the justice that Sarah and Ben have deserved for so long."
