Execution date set for Brian Dorsey

The Missouri Supreme Court has set an execution date for a man convicted of killing his cousin and her husband in 2006.

In a Dec. 13 order, the court said the state could execute Brian Dorsey during the 24-hour period beginning at 6 p.m. on April 9, 2024.

Dorsey fatally shot his cousin, Sarah Bonnie, and her husband, Ben, while they were in their bed after an evening of drinking at the Bonnies’ home in Callaway County. According to court records, after the murders, Dorsey had sex with his cousin’s body and stole a car and other items to pay off a drug debt.

Dorsey pleaded guilty in 2008 to two counts of first-degree murder and was sentenced to death by a jury in neighboring Boone County. The Missouri Supreme Court affirmed the death sentence in 2010 and turned aside a postconviction motion claiming ineffective assistance of counsel in 2014. The U.S. Supreme Court denied review of his case in February.

The execution is the first to be scheduled in Missouri in 2024. The state has put four inmates to death in 2023.

The case is State v. Dorsey, SC89833.