The State of Florida executed 80-year-old Dominick Occhicone tonight at Florida State Prison, completing the state’s first same-day double execution in over 60 years following the noon execution of James Duckett.
Occhicone was put to death by lethal injection for the 1986 murder of Martha Artzner in Pasco County, a crime for which a jury recommended death by a 7–5 vote. He was also sentenced to life in prison for the murder of her husband, Raymond Artzner.
Following the execution, defense representatives and capital punishment opponents released a statement marking his death, acknowledging the long-standing grief of the Artzner family while pointing to Occhicone’s advanced age, his family reconciliation, and his faith on death row.
The statement noted that Occhicone’s non-unanimous 7–5 jury recommendation would not qualify for a death sentence under present-day Florida law or in any other U.S. jurisdiction, as current state law requires a recommendation from at least eight jurors.
Advocates also highlighted Occhicone’s physical decline in prison, his deep Catholic faith, and the relationship he built with his children and grandchildren in his later years. The statement also criticized the state for placing the emotional burden of conducting two executions in a single day on prison personnel and execution teams.
Occhicone’s execution went forward after the Florida Supreme Court unanimously rejected his final appeals earlier in the week. The court denied stay requests based on his age, failing physical health, reported shortages of lethal injection drugs, and the non-retroactivity of Florida’s current jury voting standards. In doing so, Occhicone became the oldest person executed in modern Florida history and the second-oldest put to death in the United States since 1976.
Occhicone’s death came six hours after Florida executed 68-year-old James Aren Duckett at noon. Duckett, a former Mascotte police officer, was convicted in the 1987 rape and murder of 11-year-old Teresa Mae McAbee.
State Attorney Bill Gladson released a statement following Duckett’s execution, declaring that “justice has been administered” for McAbee and her family after nearly four decades. Gladson stated that physical evidence—including tire tracks matching Duckett’s patrol car, McAbee’s fingerprints on the hood of his vehicle, and witness testimony—unquestionably established his guilt throughout years of judicial review.
Duckett’s defense counsel countered with a statement maintaining his innocence until the end. Defense attorneys criticized state officials for approving a testing process that fully consumed a critical biological sample from the victim’s underwear without producing a conclusive DNA profile, leaving remaining physical evidence unexamined before his death warrant was carried out.
The dual executions mark the first time Florida has carried out two death sentences on the same calendar day since 1964, when Blake Emmett and Dawson Sie were executed in the electric chair. Executive clemency has not been granted in a Florida capital case since 1983.
READ: Florida Executes James Duckett At Noon Ahead Of Scheduled Execution Of Dominick Occhicone
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