Pasco double-murderer set for execution, sparking intense legal battle over age, declining health
HOLIDAY, Fla. - Dominick Occhicone is scheduled to face execution on July 28 for the 1986 cold-blooded murders of his ex-girlfriend's parents in Pasco County, sparking an intense legal battle over his advanced age and failing health.
Pasco County execution debate
What we know:
Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a death warrant for Dominick Occhicone, who has spent nearly 40 years on death row, according to state records. The man is about to turn 81 and was convicted of killing Raymond and Martha Artzner at their home in Holiday.
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"He turned and looked at me and pointed the gun at my father and shot him," Anita Gerrety, Occhicone's ex-girlfriend, said. "Just sheer panic, you know. I mean, I knew I was next."
A judge recently denied appeals to vacate the death sentence to let him die in prison. The court stated there is no precedent allowing it to create a bar to execution based on advanced age.
Pictured: Dominick Occhicone.
Death penalty arguments escalate
What they're saying:
Defense lawyers say Occhicone suffers from heart and kidney disease and cannot shower or move on his own. They argue the execution violates the 8th Amendment's ban against cruel and unusual punishment.
"We have age-related bars on execution," Grace Hanna, the executive director of Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, said. "For example, we no longer execute people who are under 18 at the time of the crime. There's really no reason that that wouldn't also apply to the elderly."
Pasco Sheriff Chris Nocco strongly supported carrying out the statutory sentence.
"He wasn't too old or too frail when he murdered two people, and he killed [them] in cold blood," Nocco said. "If the issue is he's too old, then maybe the issue is it took too long to execute him."
Florida prison system data
By the numbers:
Occhicone would be the 10th execution in Florida this year, coming a month after the state executed a 74-year-old man. Only three other states have conducted executions this year, with Texas trailing closest at four.
The state spends about $22,000 per year to house a prisoner, bringing Occhicone's 39-year stay to at least $850,000. Death row inmates are likely more expensive because of the continuous legal process.
"I think that part of this execution spree, whether intentionally or not, part of the goal is to wear people down," Hanna said.
Florida statutory law enforcement
What's next:
The sentence is set to be carried out on July 28, just a month shy of Occhicone's 81st birthday.
"This is what's in law, this is what is in statute, and he's just following through what the people in Florida had voted for, what they asked for," Nocco said.
The Source: The information in this story was gathered from a state death warrant signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, statements from Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, court rulings from a Florida judge, and official commentary provided by Pasco Sheriff Chris Nocco.