Dennis Sochor, 74, the oldest criminal executed in Florida this year, apologized for murdering a teenager decades ago minutes before he was put to death on Tuesday, July 14, 2026. Sochor was convicted of killing 18-year-old Patricia Gifford on January 1, 1982, just hours after meeting her at a New Year's Eve party.
Final Apology and Execution
Sochor used his last words to apologize repeatedly to the Gifford family, saying he was "deeply sorry" for his actions. He also thanked his own loved ones for their support. He was pronounced dead at 6:16 p.m. following a three-drug injection at Florida State Prison near Starke.
Sochor was one of three older inmates scheduled for execution within a month in Florida, the nation's busiest death penalty state. Another 74-year-old inmate was executed late last month, and an 80-year-old is scheduled for later this month—the state's first octogenarian to receive a lethal injection.
Ageing Death Row Population
The executions highlight the ageing death row population in the U.S. and Florida's busy death chamber, which has carried out 10 of the 16 executions conducted nationwide this year—more than every other state combined. Maria DeLiberato, legal director of Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, noted that Florida's governor has practically sole discretion in scheduling executions, unlike many other states where courts handle scheduling.
Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis's office did not respond to an email seeking comment about the executions. Florida law uniquely gives the governor authority over execution timetables.
Details of the Crime
According to court records, Gifford was celebrating New Year's Eve 1982 at a Fort Lauderdale bar with a friend when they met Sochor and his brother. After the friend became ill and slept in her car, Gifford left with Sochor and his brother to get breakfast. Instead, Sochor stopped his truck in a secluded area and attacked Gifford when she refused to have sex with him, investigators said.
Sochor was arrested in Georgia in 1986 on unrelated charges and extradited to Florida. His brother told police that Sochor was responsible for Gifford's disappearance, and Sochor confessed on tape to choking her and disposing of her body, which was never found. A jury found him guilty of first-degree murder and kidnapping in 1987 and sentenced him to death.
Appeals Denied
On Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected Sochor's last request to intervene. Last week, the Florida Supreme Court denied his appeals, including arguments that the state violated his right to a fair trial by failing to disclose a 2022 letter sent to his brother from a detective asking for information about the location of Gifford's body.
On June 25, Florida executed 74-year-old Dusty Ray Spencer for killing his wife Karen. Until Tuesday, Spencer was the oldest inmate executed in Florida. According to Florida Department of Corrections records, the oldest inmates executed before Spencer were both 72: Samuel Lee Smithers on Oct. 14, 2025, and R. Charlie Gifford on Feb. 21, 1951.
Upcoming Execution
Dominick Anthony Occhicone, 80, is scheduled to be executed on July 28 for the killings of his ex-girlfriend's parents. He would become the second oldest prisoner executed in modern U.S. times after 83-year-old Walter Moody Jr., executed in Alabama in 2018.
Florida carried out a record 19 executions in 2025. DeSantis oversaw more executions in a single year than any other Florida governor since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976; the previous record was eight executions set in 2014.
