DeSantis signs death warrant for man who killed woman he met in Florida bar 44 years ago
Dennis Michael Sochor was convicted of first-degree murder for strangling an 18-year-old woman in Broward County in 1981. Courtesy: Florida Department of Corrections.
STARKE, Fla. - Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a death warrant Wednesday for Dennis Michael Sochor, a 74-year-old man convicted of strangling an 18-year-old woman he met at a New Year’s celebration in a Broward County bar 44 years ago.
Florida execution scheduled
What we know:
Dennis Michael Sochor is scheduled to die by lethal injection on July 14 at Florida State Prison in Starke, according to the death warrant.
The state's window to carry out the sentence runs from noon July 14 through noon July 21.
Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed 11 death warrants this year.
The latest warrant comes a week after Andrew Richard Lukehart was put to death for killing his girlfriend’s five-month-old daughter in Jacksonville 30 years ago. Lukehart was the eighth execution carried out this year by the state, which set a modern-era record with 19 executions in 2025.
Fatal holiday meeting
The backstory:
Court documents show Patricia Gifford went to the Banana Boat with a friend to celebrate New Year’s Eve 1981, where they met Dennis Michael Sochor and his brother, Gary Sochor. A friend was escorted to a car in the parking lot, where she fell asleep. Gifford left with the brothers in Dennis Michael Sochor’s work truck, intending to get breakfast. Instead, Dennis Michael Sochor stopped his truck in a secluded spot and took Gifford out of the vehicle.
Dennis Michael Sochor confessed that when Gifford refused to have sex with him, he became angry, choked her until she died, and disposed of her body, which was never found, records state. Dennis Michael Sochor told police his brother wasn’t with him at the time. Prior to the murder, Dennis Michael Sochor was sentenced to a year in jail and five years’ probation for the abduction and rape of an Oakland Park woman in 1980.
Multi-state manhunt ends
Timeline:
- New Year's Eve 1981: Patricia Gifford disappears after leaving a Broward County bar with Dennis Michael Sochor. Police began searching for Gifford after her friend called authorities. A photo of Gifford at the celebration with an unknown man was shown on the news, and Dennis Michael Sochor’s roommates testified that he ran after seeing the photo. Dennis Michael Sochor told police he abandoned his employer’s truck in Tampa before going to New Orleans and later Atlanta.
- 1986: Dennis Michael Sochor is arrested after running a red light in DeKalb County, Georgia.
- Nov. 2, 1987: Dennis Michael Sochor is sentenced to death. He was convicted of first-degree murder after three confessions were played to the jury.
- Wednesday: Gov. Ron DeSantis signs the death warrant.
Double execution track
What's next:
The warrant for Dennis Michael Sochor means the state again has two Death Row inmates scheduled for execution. Dusty Ray Spencer, 74, is scheduled to die by lethal injection on June 25 for murdering his wife 34 years ago in Orange County.
Remaining case mysteries
What we don't know:
Officials have not yet confirmed where Dennis Michael Sochor hid Patricia Gifford's body, as her remains have never been found since her disappearance 44 years ago.
The Source: The information in this story was gathered from Florida court documents and death warrant records released by Gov. Ron DeSantis' office, which detailed the timeline of the crime, the 1987 conviction, and the scheduled execution dates for Dennis Michael Sochor and Dusty Ray Spencer.