Shooter in 1997 murder denied parole…again

Published 6:00 pm Tuesday, November 28, 2023

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Ethan Eugene Dorsey appeared before the Alabama Board of Pardons and Parole for his regular parole hearing for release. Dorsey was convicted in 1998 for the murders of Timothy Brian Crane, 13, Scott Williams and Richard Cary in an armed robbery of Cary’s Store in the Brooklyn Community in 1997.
The three were killed during a robbery committed by Dorsey and Calvin Middleton who is serving a life sentence without parole for his part in the crime.
Dorsey was convicted on the three murder charges and was initially sentenced to death. However, a court decision in 2004 overturned the conviction on three capital murder charges and reduced them to felony murder charges resulting in a life with possibility of parole sentence.
Dorsey’s first attempt at parole was thwarted, sources say, because of comments from legal officials in Covington County.
During the robbery, Middleton and Richard Cary went outside the store, where they fought over the shotgun Middleton was holding. Cary was shot and Middleton fled on foot.
Dorsey then shot Brian Crane in the back of the head as he tried to flee the store and then turned the gun on Williams and shot him also.
Dorsey was sentenced to death by then Circuit Judge Sam Welch, but the Supreme Court overturned the capital conviction and commuted his sentence to Life with the Possibility of Parole.
The Parole Board has the option to approve or deny requests for parole allowing up to five years for additional requests to be made for those denied parole.
When the Parole Board met recently, they denied his parole for the second time. Dorsey is currently incarcerated in the North Alabama Community Work Center.
The recent hearing marked the fourth time parole was denied for Dorsey.

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