Missouri death row inmate’s final words before execution: ‘Deeply, overwhelmingly sorry’

An inmate who killed a couple and sexually assaulted the female victim’s corpse addressed their family before receiving a lethal injection.

A death row inmate in the US state Missouri, who killed his cousin and her husband before assaulting her, apologised to his family for the atrocities he committed before he was executed Tuesday.

Brian Dorsey, 52, was denied two appeals by the US Supreme Court after he callously slew Sarah and Ben Bonnie in 2006, The NY Post reports.

“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 totally, deeply, overwhelmingly sorry,” he wrote.

“Words cannot hold the just weight of my guilt and shame. I still love you. I never wanted to hurt anyone. I am sorry I hurt them and you.

”The 52-year-old received a single-dose injection of the sedative pentobarbital at the state prison in Bonne Terre.”

Brian Dorsey has been executed after being convicted of murdering his cousin and her husband. Picture: AFP.

Because Dorsey was obese, diabetic and a former IV drug user, concerns had been raised that the execution team would not be able to find a suitable vein without the invasive “cut down” procedure.

But the Missouri Department of Corrections told 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.

At one point, the killer raised his head from the pillow and blinked hard before all movement stopped. He was pronounced dead at 6:11pm.

About seven hours before his execution, Dorsey was served two cheeseburgers, two orders of chicken strips, two large orders of French fries and a pizza with sausage, pepperoni, onion, mushrooms and extra cheese for his final meal.

Dorsey landed on death row in 2006 after viciously murdering his two family members and leaving their 4-year-old daughter orphaned just days before Christmas.

Ben and Sarah Bonnie on their wedding day.

He’d been pleading with the pair to borrow money to pay off two drug dealers who were at his apartment.

That night, Dorsey went to the Bonnies’ home and after they went to bed, he took a shotgun from the garage and killed the couple.

As they lay there lifeless, Dorsey sexually assaulted Sarah, prosecutors said at the time.

Dorsey also stole several items from the home to pay off the drug debt.

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.”

Three days after the murders, Dorsey surrendered himself to police, spending 18 years behind bars “trying to make up for the single act of violence,” his lawyers said.

A clemency request to Missouri Gov. Mike Parson was also denied.

This article originally appeared in The NY Post and was reproduced with permission.