{"id":3226,"date":"2026-06-11T15:36:14","date_gmt":"2026-06-11T15:36:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=3226"},"modified":"2026-06-11T15:36:14","modified_gmt":"2026-06-11T15:36:14","slug":"desantis-signs-death-warrant-for-man-who-killed-woman-he-met-in-florida-bar-44-years-ago","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=3226","title":{"rendered":"DeSantis signs death warrant for man who killed woman he met in Florida bar 44 years ago"},"content":{"rendered":"
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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.\u00a0<\/span> <\/p>

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STARKE, Fla.<\/strong> – <\/span>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\u2019s celebration in a Broward County bar 44 years ago.<\/p>

Florida execution scheduled<\/strong><\/h2>

What we know:<\/p>

<\/div>

Dennis Michael Sochor is scheduled to die by lethal injection on July 14 at Florida State Prison in Starke, according to the death warrant.<\/p>

The state’s window to carry out the sentence runs from noon July 14 through noon July 21.<\/p>

Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed 11 death warrants this year.<\/p>

The latest warrant comes a week after Andrew Richard Lukehart was put to death for killing his girlfriend\u2019s 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.<\/p>

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Fatal holiday meeting<\/strong><\/h2>

The backstory:<\/p>

Court documents show Patricia Gifford went to the Banana Boat with a friend to celebrate New Year\u2019s 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\u2019s work truck, intending to get breakfast. Instead, Dennis Michael Sochor stopped his truck in a secluded spot and took Gifford out of the vehicle.<\/p>

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\u2019t with him at the time. Prior to the murder, Dennis Michael Sochor was sentenced to a year in jail and five years\u2019 probation for the abduction and rape of an Oakland Park woman in 1980.<\/p>

Multi-state manhunt ends<\/strong><\/h2>

Timeline:<\/p>