27 June 2026 :
June 25, 2026 - Florida. Dusty Ray Spencer, 74, White, was executed on June 25
Oldest inmate put to death in state’s modern history
Dusty Ray Spencer was pronounced dead at 6:10 p.m., after officials executed him using a 3-drug injection at Florida State Prison near Starke.
“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 when asked if he had any final words.
After a few minutes of labored breathing, he ceased all movements. The warden then shook Spencer and shouted his name several times without a response. He was checked by a medic and pronounced dead.
Spencer was convicted in Orange County of the January 18, 1992 first-degree murder of his wife, Karen Spencer. Spencer is the oldest inmate put to death in Florida’s modern history.
The oldest person executed in modern times in the U.S. was Walter Leroy Moody Jr., 83, who was put to death in Alabama in 2018.
Spencer was initially sentenced to death in 1992.
On December 9, 1992, by a majority vote of 7–5, a jury recommended that Spencer should be sentenced to death. On December 21, 1992, Orange Circuit Judge Belvin Perry formally sentenced Spencer to death.
On September 22, 1994, the Florida Supreme Court allowed Spencer's appeal and overturned his death sentence by a majority vote, ordering the case to be remitted back to the trial court for re-sentencing. The decision stated that the murder of Karen Spencer was not especially cold, premeditated or abhorrent and that the trial judge should place more due consideration on the defendant's mental state in deciding the sentence and reconsider the severity of punishment.
On January 18, 1995, Spencer was once again sentenced to death by Orange Circuit Judge Belvin Perry, who found that the aggravating factors, including Spencer's history of violence towards Karen and the cruelty of the killing, were sufficient to justify the imposition of a death sentence even if taking into consideration both Spencer's background and mental state at the time of the crime.
Last week, the state Supreme Court rejected Spencer’s appeals, and the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a final appeal earlier on Thursday.
Spencer becomes the 9th person to be put to death this year in Florida and the 134th overall since the state resumed capital punishment in 1979.
Spencer become the 16th person to be put to death this year in the USA and the 1,670th overall since the nation resumed executions in 1977.
