"I am deeply sorry": Missouri man executed for 2006 double murder

A Missouri man was executed Tuesday for murdering his cousin and her husband nearly two decades ago in an attack that left a four-year-old girl parentless.

Brian Dorsey, 52, was pronounced dead at 6:11 p.m. after he was given a single-dose injection of the sedative pentobarbital at Bonne Terre State Prison, Karen Pojmann, communications director for the Missouri Department of Corrections, said in an email.

This was the first execution in Missouri this year after the four in 2023, and it came after the United States Supreme Court denied the inmate two appeals for the cruel murders of Sarah and Ben Bonnie in 2006.

Dorsey took several deep breaths while the dose was injected, followed by several rapid, shallow breaths. Suddenly, he lifted his head from the pillow, blinked hard, and after several seconds, he died.

In a statement Dorsey left before he was executed, he wrote:

“To all the family and loved ones I share with Sarah and to all of Ben's surviving family and loved ones, I am deeply and overwhelmingly sorry.”

“Words cannot bear the fair weight of my guilt and shame. I still love you. I never wanted to hurt anyone. “I’m sorry for hurting them and you,” he added.

Seven hours before the execution, Dorsey was given two cheeseburgers, two portions of chicken strips, two large portions of French fries, and a pizza with sausage, pepperoni, onion, mushrooms, and cheese.

The accused arrived on death row in 2006 after murdering two members of his family and leaving the couple's 4-year-old daughter orphaned, a few days before Christmas.

Dorsey had been begging the couple to lend him money to pay off two drug dealers who were in his apartment.

That night, the defendant went to the Bonnies' house. When the couple went to bed, Dorsey took a shotgun from the garage and murdered them.

As they lay there lifeless, Dorsey sexually assaulted Sarah, prosecutors said at the time.