Community Corner

Family Enters Guilty Pleas in Connection to Manchester Man's Murder

Stephen Moore's ex-wife and former father-in-law admitted to his murder; former mother-in-law pleads guilty in murder-for-hire plot of Moore's mother.

An Ocean Township father and daughter pleaded guilty in a 2010 Long Branch murder, while the matriarch copped to her role in trying to set up a hit on the victim’s mother.

, appeared before Monmouth County Superior Court Judge Anthony J. Mellaci, Jr. on Thursday and pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in connection with the beating death of Stephen Moore of Manchester. Thomas Dorsett admitted striking Moore, Kathleen Dorsett’s ex-husband, in the head with a cylinder-shaped metal object on Aug. 16, 2010. Moore’s body was discovered in the trunk of his mother’s burning car in Long Branch.

Thomas Dorsett also pleaded to one count of arson for hire for paying Anthony Morris, 31, of Long Branch $3,000 to torch the car. Kathleen Dorsett admitted her guilt to one charge of conspiracy to desecrate human remains.

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Lesley Dorsett, Kathleen’s mother and Thomas’ wife, admitted to conspiring with her daughter to hire a hit man to murder Moore’s mother. The hit man turned out to be an undercover police officer Lesley Dorsett, 68, met with at a Target store. She pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit murder, while her daughter admitted to one count of attempted murder.

Lesley Dorsett admitted that she conspired to kill Evelyn Moore, because she and her daughter feared she would testify against Kathleen, causing her to have a longer prison term.

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Under the terms of the plea agreement, Kathleen Dorsett was sentenced to 58 years in jail with the possibility of parole after 51. Thomas Dorsett received a 50-year sentence and must serve 30 years before being eligible for parole. Leslie Dorsett must serve 85 percent of a an 8-year sentence before becoming eligible for parole.

The Dorsetts are all scheduled to be sentenced in Monmouth County Court on Aug. 8, 2013 at 1:30 p.m.


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