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Published 14:47 14 Jul 2026 GMT
An inmate in Florida who has been on death row since the 1980s is set to face a strict rule relating to his final meal.
Dennis Sochor, 74, is set to be put to death today (July 14) after spending almost 40 years on death row, making him the oldest inmate to be executed in the state.
The convicted murderer is set to be given the lethal injection - a combination of three drugs to end his life - with the process scheduled to begin at around 6PM this evening (July 14).
While death row inmates are traditionally allowed to choose a last meal - within reason - Florida employs strict rules around what they can have.
The state employs a strict $40 budget, which was first implemented in 1979, meaning that a limitless banquet of fine foods is definitely off the cards.
As well as having to cost $40 or less, the Florida Department of Corrections also has other strict conditions for what a prisoner can ask for.
The meal must be made up of ingredients that can be purchased from local stores, and fast food orders are not allowed.
Sochor has been on death row since the 80s after being convicted of killing a young woman on January 1, 1982, just hours after they'd met at a New Year's Eve party.
Patty Gifford, 18, had visited the popular Banana Boat bar in South Florida with a friend to ring in the New Year, when she was approached by Sochor and his brother.
They spent several hours talking together, before Gifford's friend started feeling ill and went to sleep in her car.
Gifford then left the party with Sochor and his brother, having planned to go and get food together, however, the men did not go to a restaurant but instead stopped their truck in a remote location.
According to reports, Sochor attacked Gifford after she refused to have sex with him, raped her, and ended her life.
It took until May 1986 for Sochor to be arrested, four years after the horrific crime, and he has still refused to reveal where he placed her body as he attempted to conceal the crime, per the Miami Herald.
Broward County Sheriff's Lt. Mark Schlein told the South Florida Sun Sentinel in 1983: "The only mistake she made was going out with friends and celebrating New Year's Eve.
"She was a young and beautiful girl, with everything to live for, it's a real tragedy."
Sochor has argued in his appeals that the state has no evidence Gifford is dead as her body has never been found, a defense that the court has repeatedly rejected.
The victim's mother, Marilyn Gifford, told the outlet in 1983: "It's bad enough what he did to her.
"But he's had all this time to repent, to think about what he did, so why not give her back?"
Lead prosecutor Kelly Hancock, who has since retired but plans to attend the execution, told the Miami Herald: "I do not remember all the facts. But I do remember the victims, and the victims’ families.
"He just dumped her out there like trash. That makes it worse."
Gifford's mother told the outlet in 1987: "He had no pity on Patty, and we have no pity on him. I hope when he takes his last breath, he thinks of her taking her last breath."
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