74-year-old man becomes oldest inmate executed in modern Florida history
[June 26, 2026]
By DAVID FISCHER and DAVE COLLINS
MIAMI (AP) — A 74-year-old man convicted of fatally stabbing his wife
became the oldest person executed in Florida's modern history on
Thursday, and the state is scheduled to execute another 74-year-old
inmate next month.
Dusty Ray Spencer was pronounced dead at 6:10 p.m. followinga three-drug
injection at Florida State Prison near Starke. Spencer was convicted of
the 1992 stabbing death of his wife Karen.
The curtain to the death chamber went up promptly at the 6 p.m.
execution time and the warden asked Spencer if he had any statement as
he lay strapped to a metal table with an IV inserted in his arm.
“Sorry, sorry to the family. Into thy hands I commit my spirit and my
soul. I’m on my way, Lord. I’m on my way. Amen," Spencer said, a
spiritual adviser nearby at the foot of the table.
Immediately after his words, the lethal drugs began flowing and, after a
few minutes of labored breathing, Spencer ceased all movements.
The warden then shook Spencer and shouted his name several times, but
there was no response. Several more minutes elapsed before a medic was
called in to check Spencer’s vital signs, and the inmate was declared
dead.
Alex Lanfranconi, in the office of Gov. Ron DeSantis, told The
Associated Press in a text message that there were no complications. He
had no immediate response to further phone and text messages seeking
comment about the ages of the inmate executed Thursday and the next
facing execution.
The family of the victim released no statement.
Florida Department of Correction records dating to 1924 show the oldest
inmates previously executed by the state were both 72 — Samuel Lee
Smithers on Oct. 14, 2025, for the 1996 killings of two women; and R.
Charlie Gifford on Feb. 21, 1951, for the 1950 shooting death of a state
lawmaker, Charles Schuh Jr.
Another 74-year-old Florida inmate, Dennis Sochor, is scheduled to be
executed on July 14. Socor was convicted of killing a woman just hours
into 1982 after meeting her at a New Year’s Eve party.
Nationwide, the oldest person ever executed in modern times was Walter
Leroy Moody Jr., 83, who was put to death in Alabama in 2018 for sending
mail bombs during a wave of Southern terror, killing a federal judge and
a Black civil rights attorney.
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Thursday's execution was the ninth in Florida this year after a
record 19 executions in 2025. DeSantis, a Republican, oversaw more
executions in a single year in 2025 than any other Florida governor
since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. The previous record
was eight executions set in 2014.
Court records show Spencer was arrested after choking and
threatening to kill Karen Spencer in December 1991. While in jail,
Dusty Ray Spencer called his wife and warned her that when he got
out, he was going to finish what he had started.
On Jan. 18, 1992, Spencer beat his wife’s teenage son with a clothes
iron when the boy tried to stop Spencer from attacking his mother,
officials said. Then about a week later, the son responded to a
commotion outside their home and found Spencer hitting his mother in
the head with a brick, according to officials.
Court records show the teen tried to shoot Spencer with a rifle, but
the gun misfired. Spencer threatened the teen with a knife, and the
boy ran away to get help. When police arrived, they found Karen
Spencer dead with several stab wounds to the chest.
Spencer was initially sentenced to death in 1992 after being
convicted of first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder,
aggravated assault and aggravated battery. In 1994, the Florida
Supreme Court ordered his new sentencing after finding that the
trial court had mishandled evaluating aggravating and mitigating
circumstances. Spencer was resentenced to death the next year, and
subsequent appeals were denied.
Last week, the state Supreme Court rejected Spencer’s appeals. His
attorneys had argued that he had health issues such as liver disease
that posed a heightened risk of pain and suffering. They also argued
that executing him at his advanced age would constitute cruel and
unusual punishment.
The U.S. Supreme Court rejected a final appeal earlier Thursday
without comment.
All Florida executions are carried out by the lethal injection of a
sedative, a paralytic and a drug that stops the heart, according to
the Department of Corrections.
____
Collins reported from Hartford, Connecticut.
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