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Florida executed Dusty Ray Spencer on Thursday evening for the 1992 murder of his wife, Karen Spencer, making him the oldest inmate put to death in the state's modern era. Spencer, 74, was pronounced dead at 6:10 p.m.
at Florida State Prison near Starke following a three-drug lethal injection. The execution was Florida's ninth this year, extending what is already a record-setting pace of capital punishment in the Sunshine State.
A Record Set, and One Already in the Queue Spencer's age at execution surpasses two previous Florida inmates who each died at 72: Samuel Lee Smithers, executed on Oct. 14, 2025, for the 1996 killings of two women, and R.
Charlie Gifford, executed on Feb. 21, 1951, for the 1950 shooting death of state Rep.
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