Midwest
Governor denies clemency for Missouri double homicide convict who sexually assaulted cousin's corpse
- Republican Missouri Gov. Mike Parson on Monday denied clemency for death row inmate Brian Dorsey, who is scheduled to be executed Tuesday.
- Dorsey, 52, is convicted of the 2006 killings of Ben and Sarah Bonnie, the latter of whom was his cousin. Dorsey sexually assaulted Sarah Bonnie’s corpse after killing her.
- “Governor Parson has chosen to ignore the wealth of information before him showing that Brian Dorsey is uniquely deserving of mercy,” Dorsey’s attorney, Megan Crane, said in a statement. “Brian has spent every day of his time in prison trying to make amends for his crime, and dozens of correctional officers have attested to his remorse, transformation, and commitment to service.”
Missouri Gov. Mike Parson on Monday denied clemency for Brian Dorsey one day before the inmate’s scheduled execution for killing his cousin and her husband nearly two decades ago.
The governor’s decision is “devastating,” said Megan Crane, Dorsey’s attorney, in an email. The clemency petition included requests from 72 current and former corrections officers who vouched for Dorsey’s rehabilitation while behind bars, as well as support from a former Missouri Supreme Court justice and others.
“Governor Parson has chosen to ignore the wealth of information before him showing that Brian Dorsey is uniquely deserving of mercy,” Crane said in a statement. “Brian has spent every day of his time in prison trying to make amends for his crime, and dozens of correctional officers have attested to his remorse, transformation, and commitment to service.”
MISSOURI DEATH ROW INMATE COULD RECEIVE ‘SURGERY WITHOUT ANESTHESIA’ IF NO SUITABLE VEIN FOUND, ATTORNEYS SAY
Parson has never granted a clemency request as governor. His office didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
An appeal focused on Dorsey’s record of good record of behavior is still pending before the U.S. Supreme Court. Another appeal to the High Court says his life should be spared because his trial lawyers were paid a $12,000 flat fee that provided them with no incentive to invest time in his case. On their recommendation, Dorsey pleaded guilty despite having no agreement with prosecutors that he would be spared the death penalty.
Dorsey, 52, formerly of Jefferson City, was convicted of killing Sarah and Ben Bonnie on Dec. 23, 2006, at their home near New Bloomfield. Prosecutors said that earlier that day, Dorsey called Sarah Bonnie seeking to borrow money to pay two drug dealers who were at his apartment.
Dorsey went to the Bonnies’ home that night. After they went to bed, Dorsey took a shotgun from the garage and killed both of them before sexually assaulting Sarah Bonnie’s body, prosecutors said.
A photo released by the Federal Public Defender, shows inmate Brian Dorsey at the Potosi Correctional Center, Washington County, Missouri. Dorsey is scheduled to be executed Tuesday, April 9, 2024, for killing two people in 2006. (Jeremy Weis, Federal Public Defender via AP)
Sarah Bonnie’s parents found the bodies the next day. The couple’s 4-year-old daughter was unhurt.
Attorneys for Dorsey said he suffered from drug-induced psychosis at the time of the killings. In prison, he’s gotten clean, they said.
“The Brian I have known for years could not hurt anyone,” one officer wrote. “The Brian I know does not deserve to be executed.”
In a letter to Parson as part of the clemency petition, former Missouri Supreme Court Justice Michael Wolff wrote that he was on the court when it turned aside an appeal of his death sentence in 2009. Now, he says, that decision was wrong.
“Missouri Public Defenders now do not use the flat fee for defense in recognition of the professional standard that such an arrangement gives the attorney an inherent financial conflict of interest,” Wolff wrote.
Meanwhile, the Missouri Department of Corrections is taking measures to reduce Dorsey’s risk of suffering during the execution. A settlement filed Saturday ends a federal lawsuit that said Dorsey could face tremendous pain if required to undergo what’s known as a cutdown procedure to find a suitable vein for injection of the lethal dose of pentobarbital.
Dorsey is described as obese, has diabetes and is a former intravenous drug user — all factors that could make it more difficult to find a vein for injection, his lawyers have said. A cutdown procedure involves an incision that could be several inches wide, then the use of forceps to pull apart tissue to get to a vein.
Missouri’s execution protocol includes no provision for anesthetics. Attorneys for Dorsey had argued that without a local anesthetic, Dorsey could be in so much pain that it would impede his right to religious freedom in his final moments by preventing him from having meaningful interaction with his spiritual adviser, including the administration of last rites.
The settlement doesn’t spell out the specific changes agreed to by the state, or if anesthetics would be used if a cutdown procedure is necessary. A spokeswoman for the corrections department declined comment on Monday.
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Take a tour of Milwaukee’s deep tunnel
Take a tour of Milwaukee’s deep tunnel. It was designed to capture and hold excess runoff and sewer water, thereby mitigating flooding.
About 2.7 billion gallons of untreated wastewater was discharged into local waterways and Lake Michigan, according to the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District.
Last week’s torrents of rain pushed Milwaukee into its rainiest April on record. Upwards of 6.69 inches of rain fell in the Milwaukee area from April 12 to 16, according to the sewerage district’s rain gauges. Flood warnings remain more than a week later in a dozen counties.
The systemwide combined sewer overflow, initiated at 8:24 p.m. on Apr. 14, lasted about 114 hours. The wet weather also resulted in several sanitary sewer overflows in the sewerage district’s isolated-sewer system.
In a combined system, a single pipe carries both untreated wastewater and stormwater. It makes up 6% of the sewerage district’s service area, and is located entirely within the city of Milwaukee and the Village of Shorewood. In an isolated-system, sewage and stormwater flow through different pipes.
In both cases, an overflow can mean elevated bacteria from untreated wastewater in local waterways.
The estimated total volume was of the sanitary sewer overflows was 11.6 million gallons, impacting West Allis, Milwaukee, Bayside and River Hills. Specifically, these overflows occurred at:
- W. Grant Street and S. 77th Street in West Allis;
- S. 43rd Street and W. Lincoln Avenue in Milwaukee;
- S. 74th Street and West Oklahoma Avenue in Milwaukee;
- N. Broadmoor Road in Bayside;
- N. Lake Drive and East Ravine Lane in Bayside
- N. Range Line Road and Milwaukee River in River Hills; and
- N. River Road and W. Greentree Road in River Hills.
An in-plant spill also occurred at the Jones Island Water Reclamation facility as a result of the intense rainfall. However, the sewerage district said that Lake Michigan and local waterbodies were not impacted. Work on this spill is ongoing.
By federal law, the sewerage district is allowed six combined sewer overflows per year. Since 1994, it has captured and cleaned an average of 98.6% of wastewater.
Last year’s historic August flood event led to about 5.14 billion gallons of untreated wastewater being discharged into nearby waterways and Lake Michigan. It was the largest systemwide since the Deep Tunnel was built in 1993.
Since 1995, the sewerage district has invested more than $580 million in green infrastructure and flood management projects to improve the landscape’s ability to hold onto water, helping to avoid overflows.
Green infrastructure helps nature do its job by absorbing and storing rain and melting snow. It protects against flooding and excessive heat as well as improves air, soil and water quality, which can help the city better adapt to a changing climate.
Caitlin Looby covers the Great Lakes and the environment for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Contact: clooby@gannett.com. Follow her on social media @caitlooby.
Caitlin is an Outrider Fellow whose reporting also receives support from the Brico Fund, Fund for Lake Michigan, Barbara K. Frank, and individual contributions to the Journal Sentinel Community-Funded Journalism Project. Journal Sentinel editors maintain full editorial control over all content. To support this work, visit jsonline.com/support. Checks can be addressed to Local Media Foundation (memo: “JS Community Journalism”) and mailed to P.O. Box 85015, Chicago, IL 60689.
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The JS Community-Funded Journalism Project is made possible through our partnership with Local Media Foundation, tax ID #36-4427750, a Section 501(c)(3) charitable trust affiliated with Local Media Association, and EnMotive, LLC, a subsidiary of USA TODAY Co., Inc. USA TODAY Co., Inc. is the parent company of this publication.
MINNEAPOLIS, MN — The Basilica Block Party has officially come to an end after more than 25 years as one of the Twin Cities’ best-known summer music events.
The Basilica of Saint Mary said this week that the final Block Party was held in 2024, “concluding an incredible run and leaving a lasting legacy in our community.”
“For over 25 years, the Basilica Block Party brought together an extraordinary spirit of music and community in the Twin Cities,” organizers said in a statement. “We are deeply grateful for the fans, the artists, and the support shown for our beloved Basilica.”
The event began in the 1990s as a fundraiser for the Basilica of Saint Mary and grew into a major outdoor music festival, drawing national acts and thousands of fans to downtown Minneapolis over the years.
While the Block Party is ending, the Basilica said it will continue hosting other events and community opportunities.
“The Basilica of Saint Mary continues to be a strong voice in our community and we look forward to new events and opportunities to build connections in the future,” organizers said.
The Basilica also pointed supporters to its “Restoring Beauty, Inspiring Hope” campaign, a comprehensive restoration and capital campaign aimed at preserving and renewing the historic church.
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