Don’t execute murderer – he cuts our hair, say prison guards

SIXTY prison officers have called on their governor to stop a double murderer from being executed because he is a “model inmate” who has acted as their barber.

Brian Dorsey, 51, was convicted in 2006 for the killing of his cousin Sarah Bonnie and her husband, Ben Bonnie, in central Missouri. Dorsey, who has served most of his sentence at Potosi Correctional Centre, about 70 miles south of St Louis, is scheduled to die by lethal injection on April 9.

But this week dozens of prison wardens wrote to the state’s Republican governor Mike Parson urging him to grant clemency to Dorsey because of his good behaviour.

“We are part of the law enforcement community who believe in law and order,” the group wrote in the letter asking Mr Parson to reduce the sentence to life without parole.

“Generally, we believe in the use of capital punishment,” they said. “But we are in agreement that the death penalty is not the appropriate punishment for Brian Dorsey.”

The letter, signed by 60 correction officers and other staff, claimed that Dorsey has “stayed out of trouble, never gotten himself into any situations, and been respectful of us and of his fellow inmates”.

They said that he is housed in an “honour dorm” at the correction centre, a housing area for inmates with good conduct.

Troy Steele, a former warden, wrote in a review of Dorsey’s prison record that he was a “model inmate” who is allowed to serve as a barber. Mr Steele said Dorsey has cut hair for prisoners, officers and even Mr Steele himself.

Dorsey’s execution is also opposed by his cousin Jenni Gerhauser, who was also related to Ms Bonnie.

“We’re very much living in the middle of [an] eye-for-an-eye country. But I wish people would understand it’s not that black and white,” she told The Kansas City Star.

In an 80-page petition filed last month, Megan Crane, a lawyer for Dorsey, wrote that her client was denied effective counsel before he pleaded guilty. She also said that Dorsey was “experiencing drug psychosis the night of the crime and thus incapable of deliberation – the requisite intent for capital murder”.

Mr Steele said he did not think Dorsey’s behaviour would “diminish” if his sentence was lessened. Meanwhile, Arin Brenner, one of Dorsey’s lawyers, said if good conduct is not rewarded, there is no incentive for inmates to behave.

“There is this sense that if he isn’t given clemency, then why should prisoners make better choices and choose to behave in prison if everyone just gets executed at the end?” Mr Brenner told USA Today.

‘We are in agreement that the death penalty is not the appropriate punishment for Brian Dorsey’