Dominick Anthony Occhicone, 80, has been executed by lethal injection in Florida, becoming the oldest person in the state's history to be put to death. He was sentenced for the 1986 double murder of Raymond and Martha Artzner, the parents of his ex-girlfriend Anita Gerrety.
The Crime
On June 10, 1986, around 3 a.m., Occhicone knocked on the door of the Artzner home in Pasco County, hoping to reconcile with Anita. According to court records, he left after Anita threatened to call the local sheriff but returned an hour later with lethal intent. Prosecutors said Raymond tried to call the sheriff, but the phone line had been cut at the junction box. Occhicone shot Raymond in the face.
He then broke through the door and chased Anita through the house. She testified that she escaped with her daughter and heard gunshots behind her. Martha was later found dead at the property. Raymond lived long enough to tell deputies who shot him, but died in hospital.
Execution and Legal History
Occhicone did not deny the killings but argued they were not premeditated. A jury rejected his claim, and he remained on death row. The Florida Supreme Court unanimously rejected his final appeal earlier this week, leading to his execution 40 years after the crime. He is the second-oldest person executed in the U.S. since Walter Moody, aged 83, in 2018.
Occhicone was executed six hours after 68-year-old James Duckett, a former policeman put to death for the 1987 rape and murder of 11-year-old Teresa McAbee. Duckett declined a final statement, responding "no sir." Four minutes later, he was unresponsive and confirmed dead. Both executions occurred at Florida State Prison near Starke. It was Florida's first double execution since 1964, when two inmates died in the electric chair. The last U.S. state to carry out two executions in a day was Arkansas in 2017.
