Florida Prisoner, 74, Becomes The Oldest Inmate Executed In State’s Modern History

July 15, 2026

Dennis Michael Sochor was executed Tuesday evening for the death of 18-year-old Patricia “Patty” Gifford in Broward County 44 years ago, becoming the oldest person put to death by the state since executions were revived in 1977.

Sochor, 74, was executed by lethal injection at 6:16 p.m. (EDT) at Florida State Prison, according to the Department of Corrections.

The execution occurred hours after the U.S. Supreme Court denied his latest motion for a stay.

Sochor was 18 days older than Dusty Ray Spencer when he was executed June 18 for killing his estranged wife. The execution was the tenth in Florida this year.

According to court documents, Gifford went to a bar with a friend to celebrate New Year’s Eve 1981, where they encountered Dennis Sochor and his brother Gary Sochor. The friend was escorted to a car in the parking lot, where she fell asleep. The brothers took Gifford in Dennis Sochor’s work truck, intending to get breakfast. Instead, Dennis Sochor stopped his truck in a secluded spot and took Gifford out of the vehicle.

Sochor confessed that when Gifford refused to have sex with him, he became angry, choked her until she died, and disposed of her body, which was never found, records state. Sochor told police his brother wasn’t with him at the time.

The Gifford family released a statement Tuesday thanking prosecutors, investigators and others who carried the case forward and to “correct a painful misconception” that Patty Gifford “willingly went off with Dennis Sochor and his brother Gary.”

“Sochor’s conviction and sentencing in 1987 gave our family a measure of justice, consolation, and closure in knowing that he would never again be free to hurt another woman,” according to the family’s statement provided by Patricia Gifford’s brother, Bob Gifford

“When he confessed in 1987 and led detectives to the Alligator Alley area in an attempt to locate Patty, we also came to understand that her remains would likely never be recovered.”

“Today marked the end of a legal process that lasted nearly half a century,” the statement continued. “Patty’s remains were never recovered, but her life was never lost to us. She was our sister, our daughter, our friend, and she mattered.”

Sochor is the 17th prisoner executed in the U.S. this year. Besides Florida, there have been four inmates put to death in Texas, two in Oklahoma and one in Arizona.

There were 47 executions last year, with Florida accounting for 19, the most in one year for the state in the modern era.

Because of the increased pace of executions, Rev. Jeff Hood, Sochor’s spiritual advisor, challenged Gov. Ron DeSantis to attend an execution to experience what corrections officials go through. Hood also questioned the selection of aged inmates for the latest round of executions.

Sochor may not hold the oldest executed distinction for long.

DeSantis has already signed a death warrant for Dominick Anthony Occhicone, 80, who is set to be executed on July 28 for killing his former girlfriend’s parents four decades ago.

by Jim Turner, The News Service of Florida

Comments

One Response to “Florida Prisoner, 74, Becomes The Oldest Inmate Executed In State’s Modern History”

  1. JR on July 15th, 2026 6:39 am

    It’s ridiculous our legal system houses a convicted capital murderer for over forty years before the sentence is followed through.





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