Kriti Mehrotra
‘Dateline’ NBC chronicled the tragic murder of the Jacksonville, Florida, native Kim Dorsey in their episode ‘In Cold Blood.’ When the murder took place in 2012, there was substantial interest in the case by the public and the authorities as the victim was the wife of a fireman. Throughout the episode, secrets that bewildered everybody came to light, and it turned out that both Kim and her husband, Derrick Dorsey, had extramarital affairs. What’s more is that Lance Kirkpatrick, a friend of the Dorsey’s and Kim’s lover, ended being the man who killed her.
Who Is Lance Kirkpatrick?
Lance Eugene Kirkpatrick was just 31-years-old when he was arrested and charged with the brutal murder of Kim Dorsey, just days after the incident. He is an ex-military man. He was once serving in the Army and working hard to protect the country, but was kicked out when he failed a drug test. The substance abuse was not a one-off. As a severe drug addict, Lance, the once-married man, lost his family and his home. As a friend of the Dorsey’s, the couple had let him stay in their spare bedroom for a brief while as they helped him get back on his feet. Apparently, they had even let him work in their construction business.
Lance led Derrick to believe that he was his true friend, but, in fact, he was having an affair with Kim behind his back. The lovers used to train at their local gym a few times a week, so they had a schedule. Along with that, to get more time alone with her, Lance also introduced Derrick to other women. Derrick admitted to the infidelity. On the day Kim died, on October 27, 2012, Lance had gone to the couple’s apartment when he thought that no one was home so that he could steal something of value to pay-off a drug debt. However, things didn’t go as planned as Kim was there.
Where Is Lance Kirkpatrick Now?
Lance admitted that he killed Kim Dorsey with a pool stick and a knife but said that it only happened after they got into a heated argument about him helping Derrick meet other women. He claimed that she shot at him so he had no choice but to defend himself. Although the autopsy report declared that she was raped, beaten, and then stabbed, in court, Lance maintained that he had “sweet talked” her into sex before the fighting had begun. It was his DNA inside her, along with the anonymous tip from a man saying that Lance had admitted to killing Kim, that led the police to him in the first place.
After she turned violent, Lance claimed that he ran and hid in the kitchen, where he had left a pool stick earlier that evening. He grabbed it and then ran towards Kim, wildly swinging it in the hopes of getting the gun away from her. He said that by doing so, he somehow knocked her unconscious. He went on to say that he put the gun in his back pocket and then tied her up with zip ties. However, when he saw how bad the situation looked, he found a knife to cut them off. According to him, at some point, Kim woke up and started struggling, which then led to him unknowingly stabbing her.
However, the prosecutors painted an entirely different picture. They said that Lance had used the Dorsey’s spare key, that they kept hidden outside, to sneak into their house and rob them. But, when he realized that Kim was home, instead of running away or doing nothing, he attacked her, raped her, tied her up, and then killed her as she tried to break free and shoot at him. They were hoping for the death penalty because of how savagely she had been beaten.
In the end, the judge and jury found Lance Kirkpatrick to be guilty of first-degree murder. And, in mid-April 2015, he was sentenced to serve three life sentences without the possibility of parole: one each for the rape and murder of Kim Dorsey, and another for robbing the Dorsey’s home after the fact. (Featured Image Credit: Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office)
Read More: Where Is Derrick Dorsey Now?
