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Governor denies clemency for Missouri double homicide convict who sexually assaulted cousin's corpse

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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.

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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.

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“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.

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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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Detroit, MI

Metro Detroit weather forecast, June 26, 2026 — 4 p.m. Update

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Metro Detroit weather forecast, June 26, 2026  — 4 p.m. Update


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Milwaukee, WI

Brewers Are Making a Mistake With Andrew Vaughn’s Playing Time

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Brewers Are Making a Mistake With Andrew Vaughn’s Playing Time


There are few things that the Milwaukee Brewers haven’t done right so far in 2026.

Milwaukee has navigated difficult injuries all season and yet it is 49-29 and has the second-best record in baseball behind the Los Angeles Dodgers (52-29) heading into an important series against the Chicago Cubs. How many teams out there could accomplish this feat when guys like Andrew Vaughn Christian Yelich, Quinn Priester, Jackson Chourio, and Brandon Woodruff all missed significant time at various points in the season? These are legit, star-level pieces and the Brewers navigated the losses admirably.

Right now, all of them are healthy, except Priester. The young starter will miss the entire season. Now, Milwaukee is firing on all cylinders and yet it could be even better. Soon enough, Logan Henderson will be back. Also, the offense would arguably be even better if Vaughn was given more opportunities. Since May 4, Vaughn is only eighth on the team in plate appearances, per Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

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Despite this, Vaughn has done nothing but tear the cover off the ball. In 39 games, he has slashed .355/.444/.542 with a .987 OPS, two homers, 12 doubles, and 23 RBIs. That’s the type of production you need in the lineup every night, regardless.

The Brewers Need To Give Andrew Vaughn More Time

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Jun 7, 2026; Denver, Colorado, USA; Milwaukee Brewers infielder Andrew Vaughn (28) rounds third base to score in the second inning against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-Imagn Images | Christopher Hanewinckel-Imagn Images

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Brewers manager Pat Murphy acknowledged that Vaughn has had a weakness with some righties, as transcribed by Hogg.

“Heavy east-west sometimes is more troublesome for him,” Murphy said. “But for him this year you can look at it and go, ‘Yeah, against the two-seamer he’s been [worse]. But what about the times against the two-samer that he took it and got something else? You don’t get credit for being good against the two-seamer when you take it. You only get dinged when you swing at it.”

Still, this is a guy batting .355 since May 4. He’s obviously not perfect, but Milwaukee’s offense is better with him in it. Even if the club has to get creative. Jake Bauers has made his mark this season and needs playing time as well and both play first base, among others. Throughout Vaughn’s career, he has seen time at third base, second base, left field and right field, along with first base. Throughout the season to this point, there’s been chatter about how the Brewers haven’t had enough offense on the left side of the infield.

They recently promoted Cooper Pratt to play shortstop, so third base has been handled by David Hamilton and Joey Ortiz. Maybe a good idea could be trying to shift Vaughn to third base for the time being because they could then get his bat and Bauers’ bat in the lineup consistently. In that scenario, the Brewers could also consistently roll with an outfield of Chourio in left field, Garrett Mitchell in center field, and Sal Frelick in right field.

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At the end of the day, the Brewers need Vaughn’s bat in the lineup every day. If you can bat .355 over a 39-game stretch, you deserve significant playing time.

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Minneapolis, MN

Affordable senior housing revived at 600 Main St. SE

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Affordable senior housing revived at 600 Main St. SE


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The Blueprint

A team led by Lupe Development Partners and Wall Cos. wants to bring more than 100 units of affordable senior housing to a triangular parking area near the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, the latest version of a yearslong effort to redevelop the site.

On Thursday, the Minneapolis Planning Commission Committee of the Whole reviewed plans for the five-story, 104-unit building at 600 Main St. SE. The project would require a comprehensive plan amendment, rezoning and other approvals.

Jess Olstad, a city spokesperson, said in an email that the committee took no formal action.

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“The next step for the project team will be to conduct public engagement around their potential comprehensive plan amendment, and to prepare their land use applications for submittal,” Olstad said.

Steve Minn, vice president and chief financial manager of Lupe Development, said Friday that the project received “very positive feedback” from the committee.

“We’re just going to proceed with the rest of our application, which will be in the next week or so,” said Minn, who added that the proposed location is a “perfect site for housing” and that “senior housing is a need.”

A comprehensive plan amendment would require Metropolitan Council review. If the approval process goes well and financing comes together next year, the project could break ground in 2028, Minn said.

A 58-space “principal parking facility” currently occupies the 37,401-square-foot development site, which is framed by Sixth Avenue Southeast, Main Street Southeast, and a railroad property, according to a city staff report.

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The project would primarily offer one-bedroom units, though the mix would also include some two-bedroom dwellings and efficiencies. Thirty-nine stalls of underground parking are also planned.

Located near the Stone Arch Bridge trailhead in the Mississippi River Critical Area Overlay District, the project would be “compatible with the surrounding neighborhood architecture,” according to a narrative submitted on behalf of the developer.

The plan includes site improvements such as structured parking and pedestrian spaces, and a new public trail, which would connect to existing Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board trails in Father Hennepin Bluffs Park.

According to the developer’s narrative, the project “represents a reinvestment in a privately owned, undeveloped parcel that is not used for park purposes and is not planned for acquisition.”

The project would align the property’s “land use, built form, and Mississippi River Corridor Critical Area Overlay District designations with the surrounding urban context and applicable regulatory framework,” the narrative states.

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Wall Cos. and Lupe Development Partners, doing business as Bluff Street Development, have long wanted to redevelop 600 Main St. SE. In 2023, the developers pitched a plan for 80 affordable housing units on the site.

The developers’ history with the site goes back as far as 2009, when they proposed separate plans for a 98-unit and a 79-unit apartment project, as previously reported. In 2010, Bluff Street sued the city after the City Council rejected the plans. The lawsuit was dismissed in 2011.

When development efforts first started, the Mississippi River Critical Corridor Area rules and regulations had not been defined, and “there was a lot of angst in the community” about what those regulations would be, Minn said.

Those regulations are now “well defined,” clearing the way for development, he said.



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