Missouri governor DENIES clemency for death row inmate scheduled for execution on Tuesday after petition with 72 statements from jail staff

The governor of Missouri on has denied clemency for a man accused of killing his cousin and her husband nearly two decades ago - one day before the inmate's scheduled execution.

An attorney for the suspect - 52-year-old Brian Dorsey - called Governor Mike Parson's decision Monday 'devastating,' after a petition garnered statements from 72 current and ex-corrections officers who vouched that he client was reformed. 

The petition also received support from a former Missouri Supreme Court justice and others, as two appeals are still pending before the US Supreme Court. 

One focuses on Dorsey's record of good behavior during his 17 years of incarceration, as he is still scheduled to die by injection Tuesday night at the state prison in Bonne Terre. 

The other says his life should be spared because his trial lawyers had a conflict of interest, due to a pair of public defenders being paid a $12,000 flat fee he claims provided them with no incentive to invest time in his case. 

Brian Dorsey, 52, shot Sarah and Benjamin Bonnie, 28, in their Missouri home on December 23 2006. He has since spent 17 years in prison, and is scheduled to be executed Tuesday

Governor Mike Parson on Monday turned down the clemency request that would have saved Dorsey's life. The request included correspondence from current and former corrections officers - as well as a retired state supreme court justice - claiming the killer was reformed

'The Brian I have known for years could not hurt anyone,' one officer wrote as part of the petition to save Dorsey. 'The Brian I know does not deserve to be executed.' 

In a letter to Parson as part of the clemency petition, former Missouri Supreme Court Justice Michael Wolff remarked how he was on the court when it turned aside an appeal of his death sentence in 2009. 

Now, he said, that decision was wrong.

'Missouri Public Defenders now do not use the flat fee for defense in recognition of the professional standard that such an arrangement gives the attorney an inherent financial conflict of interest,' Wolff wrote of the killing of Sarah and Ben Bonnie on December 23, 2006. 

Dozens more corrections officers also vouched for his rehabilitation while behind bars, as attorneys for Dorsey argued that he suffered from drug-induced psychosis at the time of the crime, adding that during his stint In prison, he's gotten clean.

Parson, a 68-year-old Republican, seemingly was not swayed these arguments, keeping with a theme of never granting a clemency request once during his four years as governor. 

His office didn't immediately respond to requests for comment, as Dorsey's fate - pending any last minute intervention from the country's highest court - looks all but sealed.

His attorneys have also successfully appealed for him to be given pain relief if his execution does go ahead, on the basis his obesity and diabetes may mean he may require a particularly excruciating procedure to find a vein to inject the fatal dose.

Dorsey shot Sarah and Benjamin Bonnie dead in their bed while staying with the couple, before stealing their belongings and attempting to sell them

Former Missouri Supreme Court Justice Michael Wolff (pictured) and 72 current and ex corrections officers fought to save Dorsey's life, claiming he was born anew behind bars. Wolff was the one to hand down the death sentence in 2009, but recently said that was a mistake

Aside from being obese with diabetes, Dorsey is also a reformed intravenous drug user, his lawyers have pointed out - another factor that could make it more difficult to find a vein for injection, they say. 

The Missouri Department of Corrections is thus taking measures to reduce Dorsey’s risk of suffering, after settling a federal lawsuit that said Dorsey could face tremendous pain if required to undergo what’s known as a cutdown procedure to find a suitable vein

A cutdown procedure involves an incision that could be several inches wide, and then the use of forceps to pull apart tissue to get to a vein.

Parson, in turn, said in a press release Monday: 'Brian Dorsey punished his loving family for helping him in a time of need. 

'His cousins invited him into their home where he was surrounded by family and friends, then gave him a place to stay.

'Dorsey repaid them with cruelty, inhumane violence, and murder.

'The pain Dorsey brought to others can never be rectified, but carrying out Dorsey’s sentence according to Missouri law and the Court’s order will deliver justice and provide closure.'

Meanwhile, on his open lawyers' recommendation, Dorsey pleaded guilty despite having no agreement with prosecutors that he would be spared the death penalty - an agreement he is likely wishing he made as his execution is hours away

Parson, seemingly unswayed said of his decision in a press release: ' Brian Dorsey punished his loving family for helping him in a time of need. 'His cousins invited him into their home where he was surrounded by family and friends, then gave him a place to stay. Dorsey repaid them with cruelty, inhumane violence, and murder'

'The pain Dorsey brought to others can never be rectified, but carrying out Dorsey’s sentence according to Missouri law and the Court’s order will deliver justice and provide closure,' the politician concluded, likely sealing the con's fate 

If it goes through, Dorsey would be the first person in Missouri put to death this year after four executions in 2023. His appeals, as of early Tuesday morning, are still pending before the US Supreme Court.

Dorsey, formerly of Jefferson City, was convicted of killing his cousin, Sarah Bonnie, and her husband, Benjamin, at their home near New Bloomfield on December 23 2006. 

Prosecutors said that earlier that day, Dorsey had called Sarah asking to borrow money to pay two drug dealers who were at his apartment.

The couple went to his home to help and took him back to their house with them where a few other relatives came over for food and drinks. 

After they went to bed that night, Dorsey took a shotgun from the garage and killed both of them, shooting Sarah in the jaw and Benjamin in the side of the head, before sexually assaulting Sarah's body, prosecutors said.

He was never charged with sexual assault.  

Sarah's parents found their bodies the next day. The couple's 4-year-old daughter was sat in the living room watching TV, unhurt.

Following the murders, Dorsey stole items from around the house, including Sarah's social security card, their car and Jade's copy of Bambi 2 and fled, driving around attempting to sell the goods. 

On Christmas day, he called his mother and said he was trying to kill himself, before she convinced him to turn himself in. 

He pleaded guilty in March 2008, and was sentenced to death for each murder. The sentence has since been appealed and upheld.

Dorsey's attorneys also had asked the Missouri Supreme Court to stay the execution on the grounds that the Department of Corrections' acting director has not been confirmed by the state Senate and is therefore unqualified to oversee an execution. 

The court denied that request Friday.