WILDFIRES THAT SPREAD ACROSS LOS ANGELES IN 2025. TONIGHT IN ORANGE COUNTY, MAN BECAME THE NINTH PERSON EXECUTED IN FLORIDA THIS YEAR. 74 YEAR OLD DUSTY RAY SPENCER WAS CONVICTED BACK IN 1992 OF KILLING HIS WIFE AT THEIR HOME OFF OF CLARCONA OCOEE ROAD. WESH TWO HAYLEY CROMBLEHOLME IS LIVE WITH HIS FINAL WORDS TONIGHT. SO IN HIS LAST FEW WORDS, HE APOLOGIZED TO KAREN SPENCER’S FAMILY. BUT HOURS EARLIER, HIS SPIRITUAL ADVISER SHARED A LONGER PREPARED STATEMENT FROM DUSTY RAY SPENCER. I HEREBY SENTENCE YOU TO DEATH. MORE THAN THREE DECADES AFTER A JUDGE SENTENCED HIM TO DEATH. 74 YEAR OLD DUSTY RAY SPENCER WAS EXECUTED BY LETHAL INJECTION JUST AFTER SIX THURSDAY NIGHT. HIS FINAL WORDS INCLUDED AN APOLOGY TO THE FAMILY AND TELLING THE LORD HE WAS ON HIS WAY. BUT HOURS BEFORE SPENCER’S SPIRITUAL ADVISER SHARED A FINAL STATEMENT, SPENCER HAD PREPARED. I’M SO GRATEFUL FOR THE TRANSFORMATION THAT CHRIST HAS BROUGHT ABOUT IN MY LIFE. NO, I’M NOT THE MAN I ONCE WAS. WORDS CANNOT EXPRESS HOW SORRY I AM FOR WHAT I DID TO KAREN. I MAKE NO EXCUSES. WHAT I DID WAS WRONG AND I’VE CARRIED IT EVERY DAY. IN JANUARY OF 1992, ONLY ABOUT A MONTH AFTER HE WAS ARRESTED AND RELEASED FOR CHOKING AND THREATENING HIS WIFE, KAREN SPENCER, DETECTIVES SAID HE STABBED KAREN AND BEAT HER WITH A BRICK AT THEIR ORANGE COUNTY HOME. KAREN’S SON, TIM, TRIED TO INTERVENE. KAREN DIDN’T SURVIVE. WESH TWO SPOKE WITH HER SON AFTER SPENCER WAS SENTENCED BACK IN THE 90S. DO YOU FEEL SORRY FOR HIM OR PITY FOR HIM AT ALL? NO, NOT AT ALL. HE GETS WHAT HE DESERVES. WESH 2 REACHED OUT TO KAREN’S FAMILY THURSDAY, BUT THEY DIDN’T WANT TO SPEAK. THE STATEMENT READ BY HIS SPIRITUAL ADVISER, SPENCER, ADDRESSED TIM DIRECTLY. TIMOTHY, I MADE YOU CARRY WHAT NO CHILD SHOULD. I’M ASHAMED OF WHAT I DID TO YOU. I’M SORRY. THE DETECTIVE ON KAREN’S CASE TOLD WESH TWO BACK IN THE 90S. HE THOUGHT SPENCER SHOULD GET THE DEATH PENALTY. WHEN WE SPOKE WITH THAT SAME DETECTIVE EARLIER THIS MONTH, HIS STANCE HADN’T CHANGED. I MEAN, HE BRUTALIZED THAT LADY. AS FAR AS HOW THAT DETECTIVE THOUGHT KAREN’S FAMILY MIGHT FEEL AFTER SPENCER’S EXECUTION, HE SAID THEIR FAMILY HAS BEEN CHANGED DRASTICALLY SINCE THAT HAPPENED, AND NOTHING CAN CHANGE THAT. NOW SPENCER BECAME THE OLDEST PERSON EXECUTED IN THE STATE SINCE MODERN RECOR
Orange County man becomes 9th person executed in Florida this year
Updated: 10:47 PM EDT Jun 25, 2026
Dusty Ray Spencer, a 74-year-old Orange County man convicted of murdering his wife, Karen Spencer, was executed by lethal injection Thursday night, becoming the ninth person executed in Florida this year. Spencer’s final words included an apology to the family and a message to the Lord, saying he was on his way. Hours before his execution, his spiritual advisor read a longer, prepared statement from Spencer. “I’m so grateful for the transformation that Christ has brought about in my life. No, I’m not the man I once was. Words cannot express how sorry I am for what I did to Karen. I make no excuses. What I did was wrong and I’ve carried it every day,” Spencer’s statement read.In January 1992, detectives said Spencer stabbed his wife, Karen, and beat her with a brick at their home off Clarcona-Ocoee Road. Just a month after he was arrested and released for choking and threatening her. Karen’s son, Tim, tried to intervene, but Karen did not survive. WESH 2 spoke with Tim after Spencer was sentenced in the 1990s. “I’m very happy about it,” Tim said of the sentencing.When asked if he felt sorry for Spencer, he said, “No. Not at all. He gets what he deserves.” Karen’s family declined to comment Thursday. In his final statement, Spencer addressed Tim directly. “Timothy, I made you carry what no child should. I’m ashamed of what I did to you. I’m sorry,” Spencer’s statement read. A detective who worked on Karen’s case told WESH 2 in the 1990s that he believed Spencer should get the death penalty. Speaking earlier this month, the detective said his opinion had not changed. “I mean, he brutalized that lady and the fact that he did it in front of her son, yes. That hasn’t changed,” the detective said. Reflecting on how Karen’s family might feel after Spencer’s execution, the detective added, “Their family has been changed drastically since that happened. Nothing can change that.”
ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. —
Dusty Ray Spencer, a 74-year-old Orange County man convicted of murdering his wife, Karen Spencer, was executed by lethal injection Thursday night, becoming the ninth person executed in Florida this year.
Spencer’s final words included an apology to the family and a message to the Lord, saying he was on his way. Hours before his execution, his spiritual advisor read a longer, prepared statement from Spencer.
“I’m so grateful for the transformation that Christ has brought about in my life. No, I’m not the man I once was. Words cannot express how sorry I am for what I did to Karen. I make no excuses. What I did was wrong and I’ve carried it every day,” Spencer’s statement read.
In January 1992, detectives said Spencer stabbed his wife, Karen, and beat her with a brick at their home off Clarcona-Ocoee Road. Just a month after he was arrested and released for choking and threatening her. Karen’s son, Tim, tried to intervene, but Karen did not survive.
WESH 2 spoke with Tim after Spencer was sentenced in the 1990s.
“I’m very happy about it,” Tim said of the sentencing.
When asked if he felt sorry for Spencer, he said, “No. Not at all. He gets what he deserves.”
Karen’s family declined to comment Thursday.
In his final statement, Spencer addressed Tim directly.
“Timothy, I made you carry what no child should. I’m ashamed of what I did to you. I’m sorry,” Spencer’s statement read.
A detective who worked on Karen’s case told WESH 2 in the 1990s that he believed Spencer should get the death penalty. Speaking earlier this month, the detective said his opinion had not changed.
“I mean, he brutalized that lady and the fact that he did it in front of her son, yes. That hasn’t changed,” the detective said.
Reflecting on how Karen’s family might feel after Spencer’s execution, the detective added, “Their family has been changed drastically since that happened. Nothing can change that.”