The state is set to execute the oldest man ever to be put to death in modern Florida history. Dusty Ray Spencer, 74, convicted of brutally beating and stabbing his wife, Karen Spencer, in front of her teenage son in 1992, is scheduled to die by lethal injection on Thursday, June 25.
In just over two weeks, the state plans to execute another 74-year-old man, Dennis Sochor, for the 1981 rape and murder of 18-year-old Patricia Gifford.
If both executions happen as scheduled, they will be Florida’s ninth and 10th executions this year, following the new rapid pace set by Gov. Ron DeSantis when he issued death warrants for 19 people last year.
Neither planned execution will break the country record. In 2018, Alabama executed 83-year-old Walter Moody, convicted of a deadly 1989 serial bombing spree.
Spencer’s attorneys have appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, arguing that Florida’s lethal injection process would constitute cruel and unusual punishment for a 74-year-old man suffering from significant medical conditions, including cirrhosis of the liver and portal hypertension. They also pointed out recent evidence suggesting the state’s execution protocol has not been followed, resulting in insufficient, expired, or the wrong drugs being applied during the executions.
None of the previous inmate appeals citing this evidence have been successful.
Who is the oldest inmate on Florida’s death row?
The oldest person on Florida’s death row is Daniel Burns, 81, convicted in 1988 for the shooting death of Florida Highway Patrol trooper Jeffrey Dale Young. But he’s only the oldest by a few months.
Other elderly condemned inmates born the same year (1945) include James Rose, Harry Phillips, William Ziegler, Henry Sireci, and Dominick Occhione.
There are currently 243 inmates on Florida’s death row, the second highest in the nation after California’s 580.
Before 1964, when the death penalty was temporarily paused in Florida, the oldest man executed was 72-year-old Charlie R. Gifford, executed in 1951, barely a year after murdering Florida legislator Charles Schuh in his St. Petersburg office the year before. He was 71 when he committed the crime.
How long was Dusty Ray Spencer on Florida’s death row?
Spencer has been on Florida’s death row since 1993. Sochor has been there since 1987.
Of the 243 people currently listed on death row, about 30 of them have been there for 30 years or more. Four of them have been there for nearly 50 years.
The inmate who’s been there the longest, 80-year-old James Rose, was convicted of the 1976 kidnapping and murder of 8-year-old Lisa Berry.
“Death-row prisoners in the U.S. typically spend more than a decade awaiting execution or court rulings overturning their death sentences,” according to the Death Penalty Information Center. “More than half of all prisoners currently sentenced to death in the U.S. have been on death row for more than 18 years.”
Which Florida inmate has been on death row the longest?
William Thomas “Tommy” Zeigler, 80, was sentenced to death for the killings of his wife, his in-laws, and a longtime customer of his Winter Garden furniture store on Christmas Eve 1975. For nearly 50 years, he has maintained his innocence, repeatedly requested DNA testing, and challenged what his attorneys have described as insufficient and misleading evidence.
In April, the Florida Supreme Court rejected the latest appeal he filed based on recent DNA testing results, saying the new evidence would likely not be enough to result in an acquittal on retrial.
Who has Florida executed in 2026?
To date, the state of Florida has executed eight people in 2026:
Former Lake County police officer James Duckett was scheduled for a March execution, but the execution was stayed pending DNA evidence.
C. A. Bridges is a journalist for the USA TODAY Network-Florida’s service journalism Connect team. You can get all of Florida’s best content directly in your inbox each weekday by signing up for the free newsletter, Florida TODAY.
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Dusty Ray Spencer to be oldest man executed in modern Florida history
Reporting by C. A. Bridges, USA TODAY NETWORK – Florida / Florida Today
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By C. A. Bridges, USA TODAY NETWORK – Florida | USA TODAY Network
