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Florida put to death one of its oldest prisoners in its state history on Tuesday, a ۷۴-year-old convicted murderer who was one of three older prisoners scheduled for execution within the span of a month in the nation’s busiest death penalty state.
Dennis Sochor was pronounced dead at ۶.۱۶pm after a three-drug injection at Florida state prison near Starke. He was convicted of killing Patricia Gifford on ۱ January ۱۹۸۲, just hours after meeting the ۱۸-year-old woman at a New Year’s Eve party.
Sochor was strapped to a gurney with an IV in his arm when the curtain to the death chamber went up at the ۶pm execution time. Asked by the warden if he had any last words, Sochor said he did.
He apologized several times to the Gifford family, saying he was “deeply sorry”, and thanked his own loved ones for their support over the years. He commended his spirit to Jesus Christ shortly before the drugs began to flow at ۶.۰۳pm.
Sochor underwent about a minute of heavy breathing and then some seconds of sputtering. After two minutes in which Sochor appeared to go still, the warden looked into his eyes, shook his shoulders and yelled his name without getting a response. A medic was summoned at ۶.۱۴pm, soon after pronouncing Sochor dead.
Another ۷۴-year-old prisoner, just a week younger than Sochor at the time of execution, was put to death last month. And later this month, the state is preparing to execute an ۸۰-year-old, the state’s first octogenarian facing a lethal injection.
The execution plans highlight the ageing death row population in the US and the busy death chamber in Florida, which has now carried out ۱۰ of the ۱۶ executions conducted in the nation this year – more than every other state combined.
Marilyn Gifford, Patricia’s sister, said after witnessing the execution that Sochor’s death brings some closure to the family, but it’s bittersweet since her body has never been found. She encouraged anyone with information that could lead to the remains to contact authorities.
“He had ۴۵ years to return Patty’s remains to us, but he cruelly chose not to,” Gifford said, reading from a statement. “We never got a chance to lay her to rest in God’s arms. Without closure, every happy memory of Patty is immediately crushed by the tragedy of her murder.”
Gifford also pointed out that Sochor got to live more than twice as long on death row as her sister lived her entire life. “Tonight’s execution was appropriate because Dennis Sochor was a lifelong brutal and sadistic man,” she said.
According to court records, Gifford was celebrating new year with a friend at a Fort Lauderdale area bar when they met Sochor and his brother.
The four spent hours talking, but after the friend became ill and went to sleep in her car, Gifford left with Sochor and his brother to have breakfast. But instead of going for food, Sochor stopped his truck in a secluded area and attacked Gifford, according to investigators.
Sochor was arrested in Georgia in ۱۹۸۶ on unrelated charges and extradited to Florida. Sochor’s brother told police Sochor was responsible for Gifford’s disappearance, and Sochor himself confessed on tape to choking Gifford and disposing of her body. A jury convicted him of first-degree murder and kidnapping in ۱۹۸۷, and he was sentenced to death.
On Tuesday, the US supreme court rejected Sochor’s final appeal without comment.
On ۲۵ June, Florida executed ۷۴-year-old Dusty Ray Spencer for the killing of his wife, Karen. Until Tuesday, Spencer was the oldest inmate executed in Florida.
According to Florida department of corrections records, the oldest prisoners previously executed by the state were both ۷۲: Samuel Lee Smithers on ۱۴ October ۲۰۲۵, for the ۱۹۹۶ killings of two women and R Charlie Gifford on ۲۱ February ۱۹۵۱, for the ۱۹۵۰ shooting of a state representative, Charles Schuh Jr.
Meanwhile, Dominick Anthony Occhicone, ۸۰, is scheduled to be executed on ۲۸ July for the killings of his ex-girlfriend’s parents.
If executed as planned, he would become the second oldest prisoner known to be put to death in modern US history after ۸۳-year-old Walter Moody Jr. Moody was executed in Alabama in ۲۰۱۸ for killing a federal judge and a Black civil rights attorney during a wave of southern mail bombs.
