Florida executes one of its oldest prisoners, 74-year-old murderer, in state’s 10th lethal injection this year
Florida on Tuesday executed Dennis Sochor, a 74-year-old convict for the 1982 murder of Patricia Gifford. It is the state’s 10th execution this year, more than any other US state, and highlights the aging death row population.
Florida executed one of its oldest inmates on Tuesday, 74-year-old Dennis Sochor, who was convicted of murdering 18-year-old Patricia Gifford on January 1, 1982, hours after meeting her at a New Year’s Eve party. The execution took place at 6:16 p.m. at Florida State Prison near Starke following a three-drug lethal injection.
Before the drugs were administered, Sochor apologized repeatedly to the Gifford family, saying he was “deeply sorry,” and thanked his own loved ones. He commended his spirit to Jesus Christ. After the injection began, he experienced heavy breathing and sputtering for about a minute before becoming still. A medic was called at 6:14 p.m. and soon pronounced him dead.
Marilyn Gifford, Patricia’s sister, said after witnessing the execution that it brings some closure but is bittersweet because her sister’s body has never been found. She noted that Sochor had 45 years to return the remains but chose not to. “Tonight’s execution was appropriate because Dennis Sochor was a lifelong brutal and sadistic man,” she said.
According to court records, Gifford met Sochor and his brother at a bar in Fort Lauderdale. After a friend fell ill, Gifford left with the men for breakfast, but Sochor stopped his truck in a secluded area and attacked her. Sochor was arrested in Georgia in 1986 on unrelated charges, extradited to Florida, and confessed on tape. He was convicted of first-degree murder and kidnapping in 1987 and sentenced to death.
This execution follows Florida’s execution of 74-year-old Dusty Ray Spencer on June 25. Later this month, the state plans to execute 80-year-old Dominick Anthony Occhicone, which would make him the second oldest inmate put to death in modern US history after 83-year-old Walter Moody Jr. in Alabama in 2018. Florida has carried out 10 of the 16 executions in the US this year, more than all other states combined. The US Supreme Court rejected Sochor’s final appeal without comment.
