‘Patty got justice.’ Family reflects on teen’s life after killer’s execution

Whenever Marilyn Gifford hears Elton John’s “Bennie and the Jets,” she thinks of her sister Patricia “Patty” Gifford — and a crude inside joke that she crafted out of the 1973 hit song’s lyrics.

Every year, around New Year’s, Marilyn, 64, stumbles across the song and laughs as she envisions Patty reciting her breast-related joke lyrics to their infuriated mother. It’s one of the first memories that immediately come to Marilyn’s mind when she thinks about her sister.

“She was fun with a capital F-U-N,” Marilyn told the Miami Herald on Thursday. “She was a pistol, so much fun.”

But other memories are dark.

On Jan. 1, 1982, Patty, 18, was brutally raped and murdered after attending a New Year’s celebration at the then-Banana Boat lounge, located at 2650 State Road 84 near Hollywood. Dennis Sochor, a swimming-pool cleaner, helped Patty move her ill friend into her car to rest, and Patty ultimately got in Sochor’s car, according to the Miami Herald’s archives.

Patty, an aerobics instructor, went to the bar with a coworker for a girls’ night out, according to the Gifford family. Her high-school sweetheart, Johnny Vasel, a chef with whom Patty had relocated to Fort Lauderdale, was working a holiday dinner shift that day.

Patty was never seen again because, prosecutors say, Sochor raped and killed her at the side of a deserted road. Sochor confessed that he pursued Patty, lured her into his truck and drove her to a remote construction site, where he sexually assaulted her, beat her and strangled her.

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In 1987, jurors convicted Sochor of the kidnapping, rape and first-degree murder of Patty, who had moved to Fort Lauderdale from Massachusetts in 1981, months before she was killed. On Tuesday, Sochor, 74, was put to death by lethal injection at Florida State Prison in Raiford. In his final words, Sochor addressed the Gifford family, saying he was “deeply sorry” and commended his spirit to Jesus Christ, according to The Associated Press.

But Sochor took his final breath without divulging where he placed Patty’s body when he tried to conceal his depraved crime.

A vibrant life lost

In most memories, Patty is laughing or smiling because that is who Patty was, Marilyn and her brother Robert Gifford say.

Patty grew up with three siblings in Winthrop, Massachusetts, six miles outside of Boston. She loved ice skating and often skipped her classes to skate in the ice rink in their high school. Patty also competed in gymnastics, joining the sport because she liked how leotards looked on her, Marilyn quipped.

Months after graduating from high school, she moved to Fort Lauderdale with Vasel, her high-school sweetheart. The young couple was madly in love, Marilyn and Robert told the Herald.

Robert, 65, vividly recalls his last memories with Patty, when he visited her in December 1981. Patty was building her life with Vasel at their new apartment on Bayshore Drive, just a short walk from the beach in Fort Lauderdale. When Robert noticed the Christmas tree in her apartment, he remarked, “Patty, you have your first Christmas tree.”

During his stay, Patty went door to door, introducing him to her friends, Robert said. They had barbecues and hung out by the pool, telling stories and joking around. Growing up, Patricia easily attracted friends among her peers — and even struck up friendships with some of Robert’s older classmates. Patty, Marilyn said while laughing, was like a politician running for office.

“She was two years younger, and she had all this stuff going on,” Robert said. “I was just so proud of her and happy for her.”

She left such an impact on those she came across that both Marilyn and Robert have received dozens of messages and calls over the years from Patty’s friends. These recent days, Robert said he has been hearing stories about his sister for the first time despite the decades that have passed.

“The little bit of life that she lived was really well-lived as far as creating long-lasting friendships,” Robert said. “She just had a huge smile. She was confident, charismatic, vibrant.”

And Patty was the life of the party within the family. Marilyn recounted how Patty once yearned for a trampoline and brought it up every night before Christmas. Their mother responded that a trampoline was too expensive, and Patty said she was sure Santa could afford one.

The siblings had a tradition of opening a large, shared gift on Christmas Eve. That year, when they were opening their gift, their mother snapped a photo with a Polaroid camera. Posing next to her brother and sisters, Patty held a sign that she made that said, “No trampoline?”

“She was the best part of the family,” both Marilyn and Robert said in separate interviews as they reflected on their sister.

The family’s search for closure

During Robert’s visit in December 1981, he and Patty had lunch together, ordering roast-beef sandwiches and chocolate shakes, he said. But before they parted ways, Patty gifted him a shell necklace — which he said he held the morning after Sochor’s execution.

Robert didn’t attend the execution. He said he decided not to when one of his friends asked him, “Would you go down there if he was dying of cancer and you knew he was going to die on a particular day?”

All Robert wanted, he said, was that Sochor remain behind bars. He said he took comfort in knowing that Sochor suffered while on Death Row, sitting in a single-man cell with nothing to do but reflect on why he was there.

“I found my closure … when the verdict came in,” Robert said. “We got him put away. He’s not going to hurt anybody else.”

Marilyn attended the execution — and said it helped her get closure through the justice system. She also said her sister Georgia Gifford wanted to attend the execution but couldn’t because she suffers from several health conditions.

“It was so tragic,” Marilyn said, choking up. “I’m so glad he’s gone. Now, we can focus on her life.”

Marilyn, who says she feels more at peace than ever, thanked Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for carrying out Sochor’s execution. In the days since, Marilyn said she has been able to sleep an entire night for the first time in decades.

“He can never hurt another girl again, and that’s what I’m celebrating,” Marilyn said. “Patty got justice. At the end of the day, the whole thing is so sad. Her life was taken in a brutal horrific way. Johnny’s life was never the same.”

However, Marilyn said she will not have spiritual closure until Patty’s remains are found. Not knowing where her sister is, she said, has been like a continuous wake.

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The family has never held a funeral or memorial service for Patty. The family of Vasel, who died in 2021, also hasn’t had a service. Marilyn said she hopes Patty’s remains can be found so the families can honor their lives together.

“I have not lost a drop of hope or faith that she will be coming home,” she said.

Despite finding closure, Robert mourns his sister and everything she could have accomplished. Patty, he said, would’ve been a great mother, a great aunt to his children and one of his best friends.

“She was a genuine heartfelt woman who was wiser beyond her age,” he said. “She was full of life and wanted to enjoy life, wanted to enjoy her family, wanted to enjoy her friendships.”

Every time Marilyn thinks of Patty — or hears “Bennie and the Jets” — she said she wonders where Patty is. She has also speculated on the horror of Patty’s final moments. But she said she has taken solace in knowing that Patty was wearing a gold sweater that Vasel’s family gave her on the day she vanished.

“Now, I get to remember her happy. It’s such a gift,” Marilyn said. “She’s with Johnny now, and she’s happy.”