On December 23, 2006, Sarah Bonnie (25) and her husband Benjamin Bonnie (28) were shot to death inside their home in New Bloomfield, Missouri. Earlier that day, the couple had been contacted by Sarah's cousin, Brian Joseph Dorsey, then 34, who told them he owed money to drug dealers who were searching for him. The couple went to Dorsey's apartment and, with the help of friends, brought him to their home, allowing him to stay there for safety.
According to the account of events, at some point during the night the Bonnies went to sleep. Dorsey took a single-shot shotgun from the couple's garage and fatally shot Sarah and Benjamin. He then sexually assaulted Sarah's body, poured bleach on her body, and took valuables from the house. The couple's four-year-old daughter, Jade, was in the home but was not harmed. She was found alone in the living room the next afternoon by Sarah's parents, who had come to check on the family after they failed to arrive at a Christmas gathering. After finding the bedroom door locked and breaking it down, Sarah's parents discovered the bodies.
Three days later, Dorsey surrendered to police and confessed to the killings. He was charged with two counts of first-degree murder. On March 10, 2008, he pleaded guilty to both counts. A Boone County jury convened for sentencing on August 28, 2008; despite testimony from Dorsey and his family describing his history of depression and past suicide attempts, and his claim that he could not remember the shooting due to drug use, the jury unanimously recommended two death sentences. On November 10, 2008, Circuit Judge Gene Hamilton formally sentenced Dorsey to death on both counts.
Dorsey pursued a series of appeals over the following years, including challenges before the Missouri Supreme Court and the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, all of which were rejected. His execution date was ultimately set for April 9, 2024, after the Missouri Supreme Court approved a death warrant in December 2023.
In the lead-up to his execution, a clemency campaign drew support from more than 70 correctional staff, anti-death penalty advocates, a former judge involved in his case, and several former jurors, citing Dorsey's conduct and rehabilitation in prison. However, family members of both Sarah Bonnie and Dorsey publicly opposed clemency, citing the impact of the murders on the couple's orphaned daughter. Missouri Governor Mike Parson denied clemency on April 8, 2024, and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to intervene. Dorsey was executed by lethal injection on April 9, 2024, at the Eastern Reception, Diagnostic and Correctional Center, 18 years after the murders. In his final statement, he expressed remorse for the killings.
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