Former schoolteacher and parents get combined 110 years in slaying of ex and plot against mom-in-law
Kathleen Dorsett, a former elementary teacher described by a New Jersey judge as the manipulator of her family, was sentenced Thursday to a 58-year prison term for luring her ex-husband so that her father could bludgeon him to death and then helping her dad load his body into the trunk of her mom’s car.
The judge gave her father, Thomas Dorsett, a 45-year term in the slaying of Stephen Moore, 42, who was targeted for murder because the family was unhappy about a child-custody award in the couple’s divorce case. After the slaying of Moore, his mother, Evlyn Moore, was given custody of her granddaughter, and Kathleen Dorsett’s mother, Lesley Dorsett, got seven years Thursday for plotting to kill Moore’s mother, reports the Star-Ledger.
Authorities were alerted to that slaying scheme by Kathleen Dorsett’s cellmate, and Lesley Dorsett, who was a member of the Ocean Township school board, was arrested after she handed an envelope of cash to an undercover cop posing as a hit man.
“Mr. Dorsett may have swung the murder weapon, but through her manipulation, Kathleen Dorsett put the idea and the weapon in his hands,” said Judge Anthony Mellaci Jr. as he imposed the sentences in the Freehold case.
Thomas Dorsett described his wife and family life as “perfect” prior to his daughter’s divorce. His lawyer, Steven Nelson, called the murder an “inexplicable” act by the hard-working devoted father, who was active in his church.
See also:
ABAJournal.com: “Unhappy with child-custody award, woman and parents plotted to murder her ex-husband and his mom”
