Death row killer's final meal before becoming oldest person executed in Florida's modern history

A 74-year-old Florida death row inmate has become the oldest person executed in the state's modern history after being put to death for the 1992 murder of his wife.

Per AP News, Dusty Ray Spencer was pronounced dead at 6:10PM on Thursday, June 25, following a lethal injection carried out at Florida State Prison near Starke. He had been sentenced to death for fatally stabbing his wife, Karen Spencer, in January 1992.

Before the execution, Spencer was asked if he had any final words. He replied: “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."

His final meal before execution

According to the Tampa Bay Times, Spencer's final meal consisted of pizza, French fries and a milkshake.

Death row inmates in Florida are permitted to request one final meal before their execution, although the state places a $40 limit on the order and requires the food to be purchased locally.

Florida's policy differs from Texas, where officials ended the practice of allowing inmates to choose their last meal in 2011. The decision followed the execution of Lawrence Russell Brewer. Per NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth, he requested an enormous meal that included two chicken fried steaks, three fajitas, a meat lover's pizza, a pound of barbecue and a triple meat bacon cheeseburger, only to refuse to eat any of it.

Dusty Ray Spencer. Credit: Florida Department of Corrections

Spencer's case and sentencing

Spencer was first arrested after choking his wife and threatening to kill her in December 1991. While in jail, he called her and said he would "finish what he started" once he was released.

After fatally stabbing Karen Spencer in January 1992, he was sentenced to death later that year. However, the Florida Supreme Court ordered a new sentencing two years later after ruling the trial court had "mishandled evaluating aggravating and mitigating circumstances." He was resentenced to death the following year.

Although Spencer became the oldest inmate executed in Florida's modern history, he was not the oldest person executed in the United States during the modern era. That distinction belongs to Walter Leroy Moody Jr., who was 83 when he was executed in Alabama in 2018 for the 1989 letter bomb murders of Robert S. Vance and civil rights attorney Robert E. Robinson.

Another 74-year-old Florida death row inmate, Dennis Sochor, is also scheduled to be executed this year. Sochor was convicted of killing a woman he had known for only a few hours after a New Year's Eve party in 1982.

In the United States, inmates spend an average of 20 years on death row before execution because of legal challenges, high costs and difficulties in obtaining execution drugs.

Featured image credit: Florida Department of Corrections