STARKE, Fla., July 15 (Our Florida Times) — Florida planned to execute Dennis Sochor, 74, by three-drug injection at Florida State Prison near Starke, a move that would make him the oldest inmate the state has executed if carried out.
Court records show Sochor was convicted in 1987 of first-degree murder and kidnapping in the death of Patricia Gifford, who was 18. The killing took place on Jan. 1, 1982.
Records cited in news reports say Sochor met Gifford in the Fort Lauderdale area before she was killed. Gifford’s body was never found.
ABC News reported that Sochor’s brother told police Sochor was responsible for Gifford’s disappearance, and that Sochor later confessed on tape to choking her and disposing of her body.
Sochor was arrested in Georgia in 1986 on unrelated charges and extradited to Florida. The U.S. Supreme Court denied his appeal before the execution date, according to the report.
