Stephen Moore texted his former wife about half an hour before dropping off their daughter on August 16, 2010. When he arrived at about 7:30 a.m., Kathleen Dorsett took the baby inside and told him to get his tools from behind the garage. She later admitted that she knew her father was waiting there to kill Moore. [1]
Kathleen was changing her daughter’s diaper when she heard screams, according to the statement she read in court. She went outside and saw Moore in the driveway. A neighbor called out from a window to ask what was wrong. Kathleen said she sat beside Moore and acted as though he was sick. Thomas Dorsett later admitted to killing him. [1]
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The car in Long Branch
Kathleen admitted helping her father put Moore’s body in the trunk of a car belonging to Moore’s mother. She later picked Thomas up after he abandoned the car in Long Branch. The Dorsetts cleaned up at the house, and Thomas arranged for Anthony Morris to set fire to the vehicle. Morris later pleaded guilty to conspiracy to desecrate human remains and agreed to testify. [1] [3] [4]
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The call from jail
By the end of that year, Kathleen was in jail asking another inmate how she could have Moore’s mother killed. In her plea, she said she wanted to stop the woman from taking part in discussions about plea agreements. Kathleen called her own mother, Lesley, and instructed her to bring $1,000, a photograph and an address to a man she believed would carry out the killing. Lesley made the payment. The man was an undercover officer, and Moore’s mother survived. [1] [4]
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Three agreements
The prosecution made each Dorsett’s agreement contingent on the other two pleading guilty. In May 2013, Kathleen admitted murder, conspiracy to desecrate human remains and attempted murder. Thomas admitted murder and arson for hire. Lesley admitted conspiracy to murder Moore’s mother. Kathleen received fifty-eight years with forty-seven before parole eligibility. Thomas received forty-five years with thirty before eligibility. Lesley received seven years and was released in December 2016 after completing her sentence. [1] [2] [3] [4]
Thomas later submitted a statement saying Moore fell during a fight and hit his head on metal. Kathleen used it in an effort to withdraw her plea. The judge weighed it against the two earlier sworn admissions and denied relief. The appeals court affirmed in 2018. Thomas also made two attempts of his own to undo his plea. The appeals court upheld the first denial in 2021 and the second in May 2025. [1] [3] [4]
Case brief
Ocean Township, New Jersey · 2010
- Recorded outcome
- Kathleen and Thomas Dorsett pleaded guilty to murder in 2013. Lesley Dorsett pleaded guilty to conspiracy in the second plot and was released in 2016 after serving her sentence. The appeals court affirmed denial of Thomas’s second post-conviction petition in 2025.
Key moments
People in this case
- Kathleen Dorsett
Pleaded guilty to murdering Stephen Moore
Photo at source · CBS News · case photographs
Look closer · 9 visuals
Inside the evidence.
Open a visual to explore what it contributed to the case—and the limits of what it shows. Photographs, historical reproductions and original illustrations are individually labeled. Open the notes for each image’s source, credit, and limitations; setting photographs do not depict crime scenes.
The tool request was a trap
Original editorial illustration — not an actual evidence photograph or exhibit.
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Kathleen admitted knowing why her father was waiting.
Editorial diagram; no photograph of Moore’s actual tools.
The neighbor at the window
Original editorial illustration — not an actual evidence photograph or exhibit.
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The plea describes Kathleen’s response to the neighbor.
No invented dialogue or reconstruction of the residence.
A car, a fire, a cleanup
Original editorial illustration — not an actual evidence photograph or exhibit.
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The pleas describe coordinated concealment after the killing.
Overlapping actions are not assigned unsupported minutes.
The hit man was an officer
Original editorial illustration — not an actual evidence photograph or exhibit.
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The second plot involved an undercover officer, not a successful second killing.
The image is not a genuine jail-call transcript.
Three defendants, different charges
Original editorial illustration — not an actual evidence photograph or exhibit.
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Their guilty pleas and sentences involved different offenses.
Lesley’s seven-year sentence did not concern a conviction for Stephen’s murder.
The later story met the sworn plea
Original editorial illustration — not an actual evidence photograph or exhibit.
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The court found the later accounts inconsistent with the plea record.
The later account is a rejected claim, not the established event sequence.
Ocean Township municipal building in Monmouth County
Geographic context photograph — not a crime-scene image.
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Ocean Township municipal building in Monmouth County. Geographic context photograph; not a crime-scene image or evidence of an event shown on the map.
This photograph provides setting or historical context. It is not an authentic crime exhibit. The source and reuse terms are linked below.
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Battle of Monmouth monument and Monmouth County Courthouse
Geographic context photograph — not a crime-scene image.
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Battle of Monmouth monument and Monmouth County Courthouse. Geographic context photograph; not a crime-scene photograph or an authentic exhibit.
This photograph provides setting or historical context. It is not an authentic crime exhibit. The source and reuse terms are linked below.
Mr. Matté · Image source · Public domain
The Asbury Park boardwalk, Monmouth County context
Geographic context photograph — not a crime-scene image.
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The Asbury Park boardwalk, Monmouth County context. Geographic context photograph; not a crime-scene image or evidence of an event shown on the map.
This photograph provides setting or historical context. It is not an authentic crime exhibit. The source and reuse terms are linked below.
Acroterion · Image source · CC BY-SA 4.0
★ Key evidence used in a conviction · ✓ Exclusion or reversal · ◇ Disputed evidence · ⊘ Excluded at retrial · ◆ Identity / investigative finding, not a conviction. A symbol does not mean one item proved the whole case.
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Follow the dated entries, then select an event to find its regional setting. Shared-location pins open a group of events. Evidence symbols identify important findings and their limitations.
Open the map in its own window ↗Sources & further reading
- State v. Kathleen Dorsett, A-0311-16T3 — New Jersey Appellate DivisionPlea admissions, second plot, individual sentences, later contradictory accounts and affirmed denial of relief.
- Monmouth murder defendants drop courtroom bombshell — WOBMContemporary plea reporting; identities and initial aftermath. Limited paraphrase.
- State v. Thomas Dorsett, A-4507-18 — New Jersey Appellate DivisionAffirms denial of Thomas Dorsett’s first petition and records Lesley’s December 2016 sentence completion.
- State v. Thomas Dorsett, A-3714-22 — New Jersey Appellate DivisionAffirms denial of the second petition and plea-withdrawal request, and details the connected plea agreements.
Editorial review: 2026-11-12 · 426 words