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 heard of this one. I can’t help but think that this guy was just killed because it will be cheaper in the long run to excute him rather then pay to keep him in prison. I dont think this was about mercy, rehabilitation or justice it was about profit and the value of human lives.
It’s mostly about right-wing virtue signaling.
A couple of decades ago I listened to a story about a guy who was ultimately saved from death row; when the family of the victim was interviewed, one of them said that she didn’t agree with the decision, that even after being told that this guy had been proven not to be the murderer, she didn’t care, someone had to pay for killing her sister.
That’s when I learned that the death penalty is not at all about justice. It’s revenge.
iirc execution is more expensive than keeping an I mate for life. how? idk, that’s just what I remember
Execution sentences have more legal process than life sentences (appeals, etc), where life sentences usually get a basic appeals process unless new evidence is found and you can convince someone to take your case and petition on your behalf, where capital cases have mandatory appeals and often involve higher courts’ and government officials’ time. Add to that the fact that it often takes literal decades from conviction to execution and death row having often higher staffing requirements including (ironically) a suicide watch, the extra costs add up.
So basically you have someone effectively serving a life sentence, plus extra court costs, plus the time it takes for the governor to consider your clemency appeal (even it if it only a few minutes), plus extra staffing, plus the cost of the execution itself.