Final meal chosen by death row killer as he becomes oldest person executed in Florida’s modern history

A 74-year-old man from Florida became the oldest person to be executed in the state's history, after fatally stabbing his wife.

Dusty Ray Spencer stabbed his wife, Karen Spencer, to death in 1992.

He was pronounced dead at at 6:10 p.m. Thursday, June 25, following three injections at Florida State Prison near Starke.

Prior to his execution, Spencer was asked whether he had any last words, to which he said: “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."

Another 74-year-old inmate, Dennis Sochor is also set to be executed in the State this year. Sochor was jailed after killing a woman he had known for just hours at a New Year’s Eve party in 1982.

As per the Tampa Bay Times, just before his death, Spencer was given a meal of pizza, french fries and a milkshake.

Inmates are granted a final meal - but those in Florida have a $40 limit (Getty Stock)

Inmates on Death Row are permitted one final meal before their execution, aside from those in Texas, who stopped allowing inmates to request their preferences in 2011.

This is due to the actions of Lawrence Russell Brewer, who was sentenced to death in the state. He requested a huge feast, which included two chicken-fried steaks, three fajitas, a meat-lovers' pizza, a full pound of barbecue, and a triple meat bacon cheeseburger.

However, when the prison provided this meal for the white supremacist, who was sentenced to death for a high-profile race crime, he refused to touch any of it.

In Florida, inmates are limits last meal requests to a $40 budget, and the food must be purchased locally.

Spencer was sentenced in 1992, after stabbing his wife (Getty Stock)

Despite being the oldest inmate in Florida to be executed, Spencer isn't the oldest in the country.

The oldest person to be executed across the United States in modern times was Walter Leroy Moody Jr., who was 83 years old at the time of his execution in Alabama in 2018.

Moody was sentenced for the 1989 letter bomb murder of Robert S. Vance, and civil rights attorney Robert E. Robinson.

Spencer, who was executed yesterday, was initially arrested after choking and threatening to kill his wife in December 1991. He called his wife while in jail, telling her he would 'finish what he started' when he was released.

Although he was initially sentenced to death for the stabbing, which occurred in January 1992, that same year, the Florida Supreme Court ordered a new sentencing two years later due to the trial court 'mishandled evaluating aggravating and mitigating circumstances.'

He was resentenced to death the next year.

In the United States, inmates are held in prison for an average of 20 years before their execution. This is due to ‘legal challenges, high costs, and difficulties in procuring execution drugs.'