Disclaimer: This article contains mentions of assault and murder. Reader discretion is advised.
“Shattered Bonds” is an episode of Dateline: Secrets Uncovered that will be aired on Oxygen on Wednesday, April 10, 2024, at 8 p.m. ET. It will throw light on the 2010 murder of Stephen Moore, a 42-year-old father from Manchester.
Stephen Moore and Kathleen Dorsett were married until June 2010, when their divorce was finalized. During their marriage, Kathleen reportedly informed her father that the couple was having problems. She also said that Moore was unable to provide for the family, according to The San Diego Union-Tribune. The couple neither got along nor did the separation go smoothly.
By August 2010, their daughter, Elizabeth, was 20 months old. Following their separation, Stephen and Kathleen got into a custody battle over the child. On August 16, 2010, Stephen Moore went to drop their daughter at Kathleen’s parents’ house and disappeared. Two days later, authorities found Stephen Moore’s body in the trunk of his mother’s burning car in Long Branch, ABC 7 reported.
As per reports, Moore had plans for a three-day overnight visit with his daughter the upcoming weekend. Kathleen Dorsett and her father, Thomas Dorsett, were apprehended by authorities following charges of Stephen Moore’s murder. Kathleen, aged 36 at the time, was employed as a kindergarten and third-grade elementary teacher at Gables Elementary School in Neptune.
In 2013, CBS News reported that Kathleen and Thomas Dorsett pleaded guilty to murdering Stephen Moore. Kathleen and her mother, Leslie, were also convicted of conspiring to kill Moore’s mother to keep her from testifying against them in court and causing them to lose custody of Elizabeth.
Who Killed Stephen Moore & Why?
Kathleen Dorsett, after pleading guilty to murder, told the court that she willingly sent her ex-husband, Stephen Moore, into the backyard of her parents’ home. She was aware that her father was waiting there to kill him. Thomas Dorsett then got into a heated argument with Moore in the backyard and struck him on the head with a cable. As per CBS News, Kathleen then assisted him in disposing of the body in a car trunk. Thomas Dorsett also claimed that he had hired someone to burn the car.
Stephen Moore’s attorney stated that Kathleen Dorsett had been exerting significant effort to limit Moore’s parenting time. Describing Kathleen as “an overprotective parent,” the victim’s divorce attorney emphasized that this dynamic was a central factor contributing to the couple’s troubled marriage. As per ABC 7, his attorney claimed that Kathleen Dorsett wanted control, and her parents helped her to raise Elizabeth. However, Moore believed otherwise.
Stephen Moore and Thomas Dorsett were reportedly at odds. According to The San Diego Union-Tribune, Moore once reported that Dorsett was mistreating Elizabeth. A divorce decree in 2010 stated that the Dorsetts would have to look for a home for Moore in Florida since the family was to move there. They also had to subsidize his rent. These conditions further created tensions within the family.
Viewers can watch “Shattered Bonds” on Oxygen on Wednesday, April 10, 2024, at 8 p.m. ET.
