Florida Executes Oldest Death Row Inmate in State History Over 1982 Murder

A 74-year-old death row inmate, Dennis Sochor, has been executed in Florida, becoming the oldest prisoner ever put to death in the state’s history.

Sochor was convicted of the 1982 kidnapping and murder of 18-year-old Patricia Gifford, who disappeared on New Year’s Day after reportedly rejecting his advances.

Authorities said Gifford’s body was never recovered.

The case remained unsolved for several years until 1986, when Sochor was arrested on unrelated charges and later extradited to Florida. During the investigation, he confessed to strangling Gifford and disposing of her body.

After decades of legal appeals, Sochor was executed by lethal injection at Florida State Prison in Bradford County using the state’s three-drug protocol.

The execution brings to a close one of Florida’s longest-running murder cases, more than four decades after Gifford’s disappearance.