Death penalty opponents defend Orange County murderer

Opponents of the death penalty and friends of Dusty Ray Spencer argued Thursday against his pending execution by lethal injection next week for murdering his wife 34 years ago in Orange County.Spencer, 74, would become the oldest person put to death in Florida since the reinstatement of the death penalty in 1976, and the ninth man executed in Florida this year. According to court records, Spencer had a violent history with his wife, Karen, before stabbing her to death in the backyard of their home in January 1992. In a conference call Thursday, Jeff Hood, Spencer’s spiritual advisor, described the state’s pending action as a “nursing home execution.”“The fact that Dusty Ray Spencer is being executed at his age, in his health, says everything we need to know about how haywire this entire system has gone,” Hood said.In seeking to “humanize” Spencer beyond the headlines and mug shots, retired cardiologist Felix Rogers described his friend of 30-years as a survivor of sexual abuse by his f