Sidney Dorsey, a former DeKalb County Sheriff who was convicted of having his re-election opponent killed, has died.
Dorsey was serving a life sentence for ordering a hit on Sheriff-elect Derwin Brown after losing his re-election race to him in 2000. However, the 86-year-old died while behind bars at the Augusta State Medical Prison March 3.
WSB-TV first reported the news of Dorsey’s death, as confirmed by a Georgia Department of Corrections official. His original conviction made state and national headlines, as the former DeKalb County sheriff became one of the very criminals he once detained.
Brown was fatally shot outside his home Dec. 15, 2000, shortly after winning the run-off election against Dorsey. Brown had won on a campaign to uncover corruption within the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department. However, his promises were cut short as he was slain just weeks before his expected swearing-in.
Dorsey and two other assailants were convicted in July 2002 for conspiring and facilitating Brown’s murder. Dorsey was found guilty of ordering the hit to prevent him from investigating alleged corruption during his tenure. For the charges of murder, racketeering, violation of oath by a public officer, and theft, Dorsey received life in prison.
However, Dorsey did not admit to ordering the killing until years later. He reportedly confessed his crimes during a interview from prison in 2007, stating that he did so due to losing his re-election campaign. The recordings were not released until late last year, also obtained by the news outlet.
“I want someone to
say, ‘Sidney, you are a murderer. You are accountable, you’re responsible.’ That’s what I want,” he said in the recording. “When all this is over and said and done, I want someone to look over here because, see, I haven’t totally reconciled the fact that Sidney, you are a murderer.”When prompted by then-DeKalb County District Attorney Gwen Keyes Fleming and others about the murder-for-hire, Dorsey further explained his recollection of events.
“Yeah, in other words. I didn’t say ‘kill him.’ I used the word assassinate. But I didn’t, I’m not trying to get out of anything. I’m just trying to tell you the truth,” he responded.
Dorsey began his sentence in Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison before transferring to the Augusta-based penitentiary, where he lived for the rest of his days. Dorsey died of natural causes.