STARKE — Dennis Sochor was executed by lethal injection at Florida State Prison near Starke on Tuesday. He was pronounced dead at 6:16 p.m. ET following a three-drug injection, becoming the oldest inmate executed in Florida's modern history at age 74.

Sochor had been convicted of the first-degree murder and kidnapping of 18-year-old Patricia Gifford, who was killed on January 1, 1982, hours after meeting Sochor at a New Year's Eve party in the Fort Lauderdale area. Patricia Gifford's remains have never been found, despite Sochor’s taped confession to choking her and disposing of her body.

The U.S. Supreme Court rejected Sochor’s final appeal without comment on Tuesday, clearing the way for the execution. Prior to the lethal injection, which began at 6:03 p.m., Sochor commended his spirit to Jesus Christ. He declined a last meal and had met earlier in the day with one visitor and a spiritual adviser.

According to Florida Department of Corrections records, a medic was summoned at 6:14 p.m. during the execution process.

In his final statement, Sochor apologized to the Gifford family, saying he was "deeply sorry." Marilyn Gifford, Patricia’s sister, acknowledged the apology but emphasized the unresolved pain of never recovering her sister’s body. "He had 45 years to return Patty’s remains to us, but he cruelly chose not to," she said. She added, "Without closure, every happy memory of Patty is immediately crushed by the tragedy of her murder."

Marilyn Gifford described the execution as "bittersweet" but necessary, stating, "Tonight’s execution was appropriate because Dennis Sochor was a lifelong brutal and sadistic man." She also expressed personal sorrow that her mother did not live to see this moment, saying, "I wish my mother was alive to see it," but added, "I’m just happy it’s ever happening in our lifetime."

Sochor had been arrested in Georgia in 1986 on unrelated charges and was subsequently extradited to Florida to face trial for Gifford’s murder. His attorneys had argued in recent appeals that the state violated his right to a fair trial by failing to disclose a 2022 letter from a South Florida detective to Sochor’s brother. They also claimed the execution drugs would not effectively keep him sedated, though those arguments were ultimately rejected by the courts.

Florida has carried out 10 executions in 2026, more than every other state combined. Sochor’s execution follows that of Samuel Lee Smithers, who was put to death on October 14, 2025, at age 72 for the 1996 killings of two women. Another elderly inmate, 80-year-old Dominick Anthony Occhicone, is scheduled to be executed on July 28 for the 1986 killings of his former fiancée’s parents in Pasco County. If carried out, Occhicone’s execution would make him the second oldest prisoner known to be executed in modern U.S. history, after Walter Moody Jr., who was 83 when Alabama executed him in 2018 for killing a federal judge and a Black civil rights attorney.

Occhicone’s attorneys say he suffers from several age-related ailments, including kidney and prostate problems. Three inmates older than Occhicone remain on Florida’s death row, which currently holds 242 condemned individuals, about half of whom have exhausted their appeals. In Florida, the governor has practically sole discretion over scheduling executions. Governor Ron DeSantis oversaw 19 executions in 2025 and has stated his goal is to deliver justice to victims’ families who have waited decades, saying last year, "Justice delayed is justice denied."

Sochor’s execution highlights a national trend: the average age of inmates executed in the U.S. has risen from the 30s to the 50s over the past half-century, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. As death row populations age and legal appeals stretch over decades, questions continue to emerge about the purpose, cost, and humaneness of executing elderly and infirm inmates. Sochor’s case also underscores the enduring trauma for families when victims’ remains are never recovered, leaving a permanent void even after legal justice is carried out.