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.
Read the full article from Here
Pittsburgh voted best Fourth of July celebration in America
In 2026, Pittsburgh gets the bragging rights for the nation’s Best Fourth of July Celebration, as determined by voters in USA Today 10BEST Readers’ Choice Awards.
Voting in Minnesota’s 2026 primary elections began Friday morning, 46 days before the official Aug. 11 Primary Election Day.
Minnesotans confront a hugely important midterm election in the fall, when all constitutional offices, an open U.S. Senate seat, a highly competitive congressional district and the Legislature will be on the ballot. Control of both state government and Congress are at stake.
Before then, however, the parties will choose their nominees in a bevy of competitive races that will shape the fall election.
We don’t have party registration in Minnesota, which means anyone can vote in the primary.
Following the sweep of a progressive slate in several New York primaries this week, political analysts will be closely watching voters’ preferences, which will set the stage for the second half of President Donald Trump’s second term.
Here’s what you need to know.
Which races are on the ballot in Minnesota?
Every Minnesota citizen will have the opportunity to vote for statewide offices including governor and lieutenant governor, secretary of state, attorney general, auditor and U.S. Senator.
For this primary election, you can only vote for candidates from one political party. Your ballot will have Democrats on one column, and Republicans on the other. Choose one! If you vote for candidates from more than one political party, your votes will not count. You decide when you vote which one of the parties you will vote for.
The governor’s race is wide open for the first time since 2018, when Gov. Tim Walz won his first term. Walz initially announced he would run for a third term before ending his campaign in early January following Republican attacks on his record on stopping fraud in Minnesota’s social safety net programs.
The Senate seat is open following Sen. Tina Smith’s retirement announcement last year. Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who is running for governor, still occupies the other Senate seat. (If Klobuchar were to win the governor’s race and resign her Senate seat, she would appoint a successor to hold the position until a special election.)
The entire state Legislature is up for reelection in 2026, but not every race has a competitive primary.
Voters may see other local races on their ballots, including county commissioners, county attorneys and school board members.
You can use this tool from the Secretary of State’s Office to preview your ballot.
How do I vote in Minnesota?
Friday, June 26, is the first day of absentee voting. You can request an absentee ballot be mailed to you, which you can return in-person or through the mail.
Alternatively, you can vote “in person absentee” by going to your local early voting location, where you can request your absentee ballot, receive it, fill it out and submit it on the spot.
Starting July 24, you can vote in-person at the early voting locations in a process similar to that of voting on Election Day.
Who’s running in Minnesota?
There are several competitive primaries in statewide races that will determine the matchups in the general election later this year.
For governor, Sen. Amy Klobuchar is expected to win the Democratic-Farmer-Labor nomination after winning the party’s endorsement on the first ballot, over a challenge from Kobey Lane, a 26-year old trans activist and former Republican legislative assistant.
The Republican primary is competitive; after Army veteran and former health care executive Kendall Qualls won the party’s endorsement in May, the other front-runners refused to drop out of the race, citing voting irregularities at the convention. House Speaker Lisa Demuth and MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell round out the three-way race.
In the race to replace Smith in the Senate, two Democratic powerhouses are facing off: U.S. Rep. Angie Craig and Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan. Flanagan won the endorsement after Craig dropped out of the endorsement process; Craig is gunning for votes outside of the party’s activist base.
On the Republican side, GOP-endorsed former Navy Seal Adam Schwarze will face off against former sports broadcaster Michele Tafoya, whose name recognition and well-financed campaign could boost her performance in a primary.
With Craig’s highly competitive south metro seat in the U.S. House coming open, three top-tier Democrats are vying to replace her: former state Sen. Matt Little, state Rep. Kaela Berg and state Sen. Matt Klein. State Sen. Eric Pratt is running unopposed for the Republican nomination.
Minnesota Reformer is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.
Healthcare fraud: Hundreds charged by DOJ
Justice Department officials announced they are charging 455 defendants over schemes involving more than $6.5 billion in alleged false claims.
Fox – Fox 9
The U.S. Department of Justice has charged more than 450 people — including more than two dozen Missouri residents — in connection with global health care fraud schemes totaling a record $6.5 billion.
The DOJ wrote in a news release on June 23 that the alleged fraud and opioid abuse schemes involved 455 people across 45 states who submitted false claims to Medicare, Medicaid and other health care programs and “caused significant patient harm, including death.” Ninety doctors and other licensed medical professionals are among those charged in the schemes.
In all, 56 federal districts and 50 state Medicaid Fraud Control Units participated in the investigation ― the most in the DOJ’s history.
“Health care fraud steals from taxpayers, exploits vulnerable patients, and puts lives at risk,” U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. said. “Today’s historic enforcement action sends a clear message: if you use our health care system to enrich yourself at the expense of patients or the American people, we will find you, we will prosecute you, and we will hold you accountable.”
Luxury cars, fine art and a hotel in the Philippines
Since June 8, hundreds of defendants have been arrested in connection with the schemes, in what the DOJ is calling the 2026 National Health Care Fraud Takedown.
In one case in Arizona, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said a corporate executive allegedly took $1 billion in taxpayer funds after billing for wound grafts and charging more than $1 million per patient. The money was later allegedly used to buy million-dollar homes, luxury cars and even build a hotel in the Philippines.
In another case in Florida, three defendants were charged for their roles in an $118 million allograft fraud scheme where a nurse practitioner allegedly used the proceeds to fund their lavish lifestyle, including a luxury box at an NFL stadium and over $400,000 in fine art.
How many Missourians have been charged in the 2026 National Health Care Fraud Take Down?
Twenty-four Missourians have been charged in the state for their alleged participation in health care fraud, with three others being charged out of state. The most common charges include “false statement to receive a health care payment” and “stealing by deceit in connection with Medicaid fraud.”
Two of the complaints allege that the accused parties fraudulently pocketed more than $100,000.
- Michelle Terry, 48, of Saint Peters, was charged with Medicaid fraud and stealing. Terry, who owns an adult daycare center, is accused of submitting false claims for purported services to four Medicaid recipients from May 2023 to September 2024, collecting $114,480.32 in Medicaid funds in the process.
- Chontell Wilkes, 34, and Sandra Wilkes, 55, of St. Louis, were charged with Medicaid fraud and stealing. The pair owns Smiles Adult Day Care, and are accused of submitting 1,418 false claims for adult day care services that were not provided. Through this scheme, Medicaid paid the Wilkeses more than $121,362.20 for services not provided.
In total, the cases cost the state more than $613,000, Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway said in a news release.
What is health care fraud?
The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation states that health care fraud is defined as intentionally deceiving the health care system to receive illegal benefits or payments. It can be committed by medical providers, patients and other individuals.
What are the most common types of health care fraud?
The FBI lists the following as some of the most common types of health care fraud committed by medical providers:
- Double-billing: Submitting multiple claims for the same service.
- Phantom billing: Billing for a service visit or supplies that the patient never received.
- Unbundling: Submitting multiple bills for the same service.
- Upcoding: Billing for a more expensive service than the patient actually received.
Common types of fraud committed by patients and other individuals include:
- Bogus marketing: Convincing people to provide their health insurance identification number and other personal information to bill for non-rendered services, steal their identity, or enroll them in a fake benefit plan.
- Identity theft/identity swapping: Using another person’s health insurance or allowing another person to use your insurance.
- Impersonating a health care professional: Providing or billing for health services or equipment without a license.
Common types of fraud involving prescriptions included:
- Forgery: Creating or using forged prescriptions.
- Diversion: Diverting legal prescriptions for illegal uses, such as selling your prescription medication.
- Doctor shopping: Visiting multiple providers to get prescriptions for controlled substances, or getting prescriptions from medical offices that engage in unethical practices.
LINCOLN, Neb. (WOWT) – On this day 154 years ago, the University of Nebraska held its first commencement ceremony — without any graduates.
The university was founded three years before the ceremony.
In place of diplomas, the university presented an honorary doctorate to the Rev. Bishop Clarkson of Omaha.
It wasn’t until the following year that the first students graduated from the university.
By the end of the 1870s, graduation had become a week of celebrations.
MORE LOCAL HISTORY
—
On July 4, 2026, our country will celebrate its 250th birthday. Every day leading up to it, First Alert 6 will take a look at the people and events that shaped our area.
—
Get a first alert to severe weather approaching your area. Download the First Alert 6 Weather app.
Copyright 2026 WOWT. All rights reserved.
-
Minnesota5 minutes agoMinnesota primary voting starts for major 2026 races
-
Mississippi8 minutes agoRetirement savings gap hits seniors. How to avoid outliving your money
-
Missouri13 minutes ago24 Missourians charged in national health care fraud investigation
-
Montana20 minutes agoEXCLUSIVE: 2 ‘Exceptionally Rare’ Ski-In, Ski-Out Montana Mansions Head to Auction in Big Sky—and Could Sell for a Serious Steal
-
Nebraska23 minutes agoToday in History – June 26: University of Nebraska holds first commencement
-
Nevada28 minutes agoNevada’s EV market is booming. Here’s why apartment charging could be the next challenge.
-
New Hampshire35 minutes agoA mom is thankful for Dismas Home – which is expanding recovery services to Rochester
-
New Jersey38 minutes agoNew Jersey Supreme Court requires transparency for facial recognition evidence
