Dusty Ray Spencer was executed on June 25, 2026, at Florida State Prison near Starke, becoming the oldest person put to death in Florida’s modern history at age 74.
He had spent more than three decades on death row after being convicted in 1992 of the 1992 murder of his wife, Karen Spencer.
Court records show Spencer had a history of violence against Karen and had previously threatened to kill her. He was also arrested after choking her.
While incarcerated, he reportedly told Karen that he would ‘finish what he had started’ once he was released, according to Fox 35.
Authorities also said Spencer attacked his step-son with a clothes iron when the boy tried to step in during one assault on Karen.
About a week later, Spencer struck Karen with a brick and then stabbed her to death. Her son attempted to stop the attack with a rifle, but the weapon misfired.
After decades awaiting execution, Spencer was pronounced dead at 6:10pm following a three-drug lethal injection, according to AP News.
Before the process began, Spencer addressed Karen’s family in his final statement with a spiritual adviser at his side.
“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.”
State officials said the execution was carried out without incident. Alex Lanfranconi, a spokesman for Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, said there were ‘no complications.’
As of now, Karen Spencer’s family has not publicly commented following the execution.
Like many death row prisoners, Spencer was allowed to choose a final meal. He selected pizza, french fries and a milkshake.
Florida limits an inmate’s last-meal request to food purchased locally, with a cap of about $40.
Texas no longer offers that option. The policy changed in September 2011 after convicted murderer Lawrence Russell Brewer ordered an extensive last meal and then refused to eat it.
Brewer, a white supremacist convicted of killing a Black man in 1998, had requested multiple dishes, including two chicken-fried steaks, three fajitas and a meat-lovers’ pizza.
In response, Texas Senator John Whitmire moved to end the practice and said it was inappropriate.
“Enough is enough,” he said at the time, per BBC News. “It is extremely inappropriate to give a person sentenced to death such a privilege. It’s a privilege which the perpetrator did not provide to their victim.”