A death row inmate who murdered his cousin and assaulted her corpse shared his final words before planned execution.
Brian Dorsey was sentenced to death after he brutally slaughtered his cousin Sarah Bonnie and her husband Ben on December 23, 2006, as reported by News.com.au.
The couple invited Dorsey into their home in New Bloomfield, Missouri, during a period when the prisoner feared drug dealers were chasing him to collect on a debt.
Prosecutors alleged that after Sarah and Ben went to bed, Dorsey took a shotgun from the garage and killed them, leaving their 4-year-old daughter orphaned just days before Christmas.
While the pair lay lifeless, Dorsey allegedly sexually assaulted his cousin and poured bleach on her body, but these allegations weren’t fully considered in court because the inmate pleaded guilty. He also stole several items from the home and tried to pay off the debt with some of the stolen goods.
The following day, Sarah’s parents went to check on the newlyweds, who had only been married a year, to find the couple’s daughter sitting on the couch watching TV. She told her grandparents that her mother "won’t wake up".
Dorsey surrendered to police three days after the killings. His attorneys claimed that he had suffered from drug-induced psychosis at the time of the crime, and said that he got clean in prison.
Seventy-two corrections officers also vouched for his rehabilitation in the clemency petition, with one writing: "The Brian I have known for years could not hurt anyone," as cited by Daily Mail, "The Brian I know does not deserve to be executed."
On Tuesday (April 9) night, the 52-year-old prisoner - who was denied two appeals by the US Supreme Court - received a single-dose injection of the sedative pentobarbital.
The Missouri Department of Corrections disclosed to Fox News Digital that it had been a quick death with a few deep breaths as the drug was injected, followed by several quick, shallow breaths. He died at 6.11PM.
Several hours before his execution, Dorsey received his final meal which was two cheeseburgers, two orders of chicken strips, two large hot chips, and a pizza with pepperoni, onion, mushrooms, and extra cheese, per NZ Herald.
He also issued a final statement that addressed the actions of his crimes, writing: "To all of the family and loved ones I share with Sarah and to all of the surviving family and loved ones of Ben, I am truly, deeply, overwhelmingly sorry."
"Words cannot hold the just weight of my guilt and shame...To all those on all sides of this sentence, I carry no ill will or anger, only acceptance and understanding," he added.
Some family members of the victims opposed the execution, while others supported it, telling CNN that Dorsey committed the "ultimate betrayal," and adding: "Not only did Jade lose her parents but we also lost a daughter and son, sister and brother, aunt and uncle, and a great aunt and great uncle to so man."
"They were loved so deeply by anyone that knew them," the statement read. "All of these years of pain and suffering we finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. Brian will get the justice that Sarah and Ben have deserved for so long."