The state of Missouri on Tuesday executed Brian Dorsey for the 2006 murders of his cousin, Sarah Bonnie, and her husband, Benjamin Bonnie, after an effort to have his life spared failed in recent days.
Dorsey’s time of death was recorded as 6:11 p.m, the Missouri Department of Corrections said in a news release. The method of execution was lethal injection, Karen Pojmann, a spokesperson for the department, said at a news conference, adding it “went smoothly, no problems.”
The execution of Dorsey, 52, occurred hours after the US Supreme Court declined to intervene and about a day after Missouri’s Republican governor denied clemency, rejecting the inmate’s petition – backed by more than 70 correctional officers and others – for a commutation of his sentence to life in prison.
Dorsey and his attorneys cited his remorse, his rehabilitation while behind bars and his representation at trial by attorneys who allegedly had a “financial conflict of interest” as reasons he should not be put to death. But those arguments were insufficient to convince Gov. Mike Parson, who said in a statement carrying out Dorsey’s sentence “would deliver justice and provide closure.”
I strongly agree with you. I’m not against assisted suicide the same way I’m not against it for non incarcerated people. The only time I would agree with nonoptional state enforced death penalty is if the person is such a danger that they can either not be contained or are somehow able to continue to do direct harm despite all efforts of containment. This would be like trying to imprison evil Superman or professor X. Extremes only fiction has been able to create. This person wasn’t even close. I am wary of assisted suicide for the incarcerated only because consent isn’t a strong value for prison systems and could be faked/forcibly encouraged etc.