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Inmate set to die for Dallas slayings says he won't go quietly 06:27 AM CDT on Tuesday, August 12, 2008 By SCOTT GOLDSTEIN / The Dallas Morning News
sgoldstein@dallasnews.com

One of the meanest men on Texas' death row is scheduled to be walked to the execution chamber tonight.

Leon David Dorsey IV, once known on the street as "Pistol Pete," does not plan to die quietly.

In the more than eight years since a jury sentenced him in the execution-style murders of two White Rock-area Blockbuster Video store employees, he has earned a reputation as a violent, uncooperative, dangerous death row inmate.

Among his 95 infractions during his time on death row, Mr. Dorsey, 32, was cited for possession of weapons, assaulting and threatening to injure staff, refusing to obey orders and starting a fire outside his cell.

His history of misbehavior has kept him at the highest level of lockdown.

"That [level] is reserved for the inmates who are most combative or assaultive," said Michelle Lyons, spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

Mr. Dorsey's record on death row is no surprise for those who got to know him for his record on the outside.

Former Dallas County prosecutor Toby Shook has worked on 21 death penalty cases.

"I would honestly say Leon might be the meanest man I prosecuted for the death penalty, which is a pretty strong group to shine out of," said Mr. Shook, who now works as a Dallas defense attorney.

Mr. Shook said what separated Mr. Dorsey from other evil criminals was his brutal honesty.

"He is a fairly full-blown psychopath, but he's an honest psychopath," said Mr. Shook, who lives near and rents movies from the Blockbuster where the men were killed.

In August 1998, Mr. Dorsey was serving a 60-year sentence for the murder four years earlier of Ennis convenience store manager Hyon Suk Chon, 51, shot twice in the head.

That's when Dallas police detectives, armed with new information, revisited the man who had long been a suspect in the deaths of James Armstrong, 26, and Brad Lindsey, 20. The men were killed during a robbery as they closed the Blockbuster at the Casa Linda Plaza Shopping Center at Buckner Boulevard and Garland Road.

The April 1994 murder was one of the highest-profile Dallas cases of the decade, in part because of its brutality and because portions of it were captured on security tape.

Confession

Mr. Dorsey confessed to Dallas police homicide Detective Ken Penrod that he was the man seen on fuzzy black and white surveillance camera snapshots, the one who wasn't satisfied with the $392 he got from a front cash register. He said he was the robber who walked the two men in single file to the back office of the video store and shot them to death when they apparently weren't able to open a safe.

Investigators had no physical evidence linking Mr. Dorsey to the crime. But in his detailed confession to police, he provided information that had never been publicly released.

For Detective Penrod, the chill he felt while he sat across the table from Mr. Dorsey is unforgettable.

"I remember him like it was just yesterday," Detective Penrod said. "Because I had the feeling ... I was sitting there talking to the devil himself."

Days later, Mr. Dorsey again admitted to the murders in a chilling two-hour interview with a Dallas Morning News reporter. Mr. Dorsey likened the loss he brought on his victims' families to losing money in a craps game.

"They're dead. That's over and done with," he said. "Why are you going to sit there and worry yourself about that? Move on."

"I could have came in here and been, 'Oh, I'm sorry, I'm so bad.' But I don't feel like that. That's not being honest with myself."

He also told The News that he decided to rob the Blockbuster despite carrying $4,500 in his pocket from robbing a drug dealer earlier in the day. He said he viewed robbing the store as a challenge, a way to satisfy his greed.

"If the opportunity presents itself, that's called maximization," he said. "If I don't get it, somebody else is going to get you later on. Better me than someone else."

A recording of that interview was admitted into evidence in Mr. Dorsey's murder trial.

Mr. Dorsey recently agreed to again meet with the reporter who recorded the 1998 confession, but Department of Criminal Justice officials canceled the interview, citing a specific threat Mr. Dorsey made.

"He's not being brought out of his cell unless necessary," Ms. Lyons said. "He's vowed that he's going to assault staff prior to his execution."

That threat fit a pattern of behavior that earned Mr. Dorsey the most restrictive status on death row. His number of visits and amount of recreation time are more limited than other inmates. He also has more severe restrictions on what he is allowed to possess in his cell.

Among his most recent infractions was a June 25 incident in which he told a sergeant he would cut the next officer who gave him a razor.

Asked later to give a statement about the offense, he said, "That's what's up, and it's on," according to Department of Criminal Justice records.

Mr. Dorsey's case is not on appeal and he is set to die at the Huntsville Unit after 6 p.m. Relatives of both victims declined interview requests.

2 lives lost

The men they lost had barely begun their lives. Mr. Armstrong, who loved to sing, was an assistant manager at the Blockbuster store and had worked for the company for about two years.

Mr. Lindsey attended Bryan Adams High School until shortly before his death. He had only been working at the store for a few weeks.

After Mr. Dorsey's sentence was handed down in May 2000, Mr. Armstrong's mother, Nancy, gave a statement in court.

"Our son was a gentle man," she told him. "I believe you're an evil, vile creature. You didn't kill for survival. You killed for pleasure."

She said she would witness any gestures he might make "when you get the needle you fear."

Staff writer Jason Sickles contributed to this report.

Death row infractions

Leon David Dorsey IV committed 95 infractions during more than eight years on death row. A sampling:

June 13, 2000: One day after arriving on death row, he is found to be in possession of tobacco.

Oct. 17, 2002: While being returned to his cell from the shower, Mr. Dorsey assaults an officer with a broken toothbrush. The officer is cut on his hand.

Nov. 14, 2003: Mr. Dorsey admits starting a fire outside his cell.

June 12, 2004: Mr. Dorsey stabs an officer 14 times with an 8-inch shank he made out of a typewriter rod he filed to a point at one end and wrapped in a sock at the other end. The officer was wearing a protective vest and was not injured.

July 2008: Mr. Dorsey is found to be in possession of a weapon he crafted out of a metal object. He vows to assault staff prior to his execution.

SOURCES: Texas Department of Criminal Justice; Dallas County district attorney's office