Man receives death penalty in Missouri despite outpouring support

MISSOURI (KBSI) – Several states still utilize the death penalty and Missouri’s one of them. Brian Dorsey’s the first prisoner to receive death by lethal injection this year in Missouri. 

A man facing the death penalty for brutally shooting and killing his cousin and her husband as they slept in their beds in 2006.

The reason…prosecutors say was to get money for drugs.  

Dorsey’s legal counsel gives an inside look to the case.

“This case is unlike any I’ve ever worked on. This case is just different in so many ways,” says Defense Attorney Kirk Henderson.

Kirk Henderson was the defense attorney for Brian Dorsey. When he says this case was different he’s referring in part to the huge amount of support Dorsey has received.

More then 70 correctional officers, wrote letters supporting Dorsey. One letter written by a Potosi correctional officer stated “ I believed that the whole purpose of “corrections” was to rehabilitate people. I knew Brian Dorsey for many years, and I can say without hesitation that he was completely rehabilitated.”

According to prison records Dorsey had a job as a barber in the department of corrections and had a perfect record along with support from family he shared with the victim. Dorsey’s cousin Jenni Gerhauser was one.

“Hes just one of those people you talk about who brightens up a room. Its true its true Brian does that. I don’t think people talked about mental health back then at all really” says Gerhauser.

According to Dorsey’s attorneys he struggled with his mental health and a drug addiction. Since Dorsey had no prior record before the murders, Dorsey was given a test and it was proven he was under a drug induced psychosis when he killed his family. 

In a press conference Trevor Feloy Director of Missouri Department of Corrections stated “His cousins invited him into their home where he was surrounded with family and friends, then gave him a place to stay. Darcey repaid them with cruelty, inhumane violence and murder.”

Sarah Bonnie and her husband Ben have a child who will grow up without both of her parents. Sarahs parents wrote a letter in support of Brians execution stating, “They will never get their daughter back and their granddaughter will never get to experience life with her parents.”

Darcey spent 18 years in prison and in that time, he gained the support of family and friends.   

Darcys cousin Jenni stated during an interview “If Brians executed I’m going to be heartbroken because I just don’t understand how, I just don’t understand how anyone or god or the powers at be or fate or whatever is running this world could allow that special light to be distinguished.”

In spite of evidence presented Missouri Governor mike Parsons denied Brians request for clemency to live out his life in prison instead of receiving the death penalty, Dorsey was executed by lethal injection on April 9,2024. 

Karen Pojmann Missouri Department of Correction’s spokeswoman gave details “At 6:01 pm the lethal injection of pipradol was administered, at 6:03 pm the timer was set at 6:11 pm Brian Dorsey was pronounced dead.” 

In Brians last statement he wrote ““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 totally, deeply, overwhelmingly sorry. Words cannot hold the just weight of my guilt and shame. I still love you. I never wanted to hurt anyone. I am sorry I hurt them and you. To my family, friends, and all of those that 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. To all those on ALL sides of this sentence, I carry no ill will or anger, only acceptance and understanding.”