STARKE, Fla. (AP) — Michael Tanzi, a man convicted of the brutal murder of Janet Acosta during a carjacking, is scheduled to be executed via lethal injection at Florida State Prison on Tuesday evening at 6 p.m. This execution marks the third for Florida's death row in 2023, amidst an ongoing wave of capital punishment under death warrants authorized by Governor Ron DeSantis.
Janet Acosta, a production worker at The Miami Herald, was tragically abducted on April 25, 2000, while on her lunch break. Witness accounts and court records reveal that she was sitting in her van reading a book when Tanzi approached her under the pretense of asking for a cigarette. He then violently assaulted her by punching her in the face.
The circumstances escalated quickly; Tanzi threatened Acosta with a razor blade, binding and gagging her following a stop at a gas station in Homestead, south of Miami. He robbed her of $53 in cash and her bank card. Subsequently, they traveled to Tavernier in the Florida Keys, where Tanzi misused Acosta's bank card to steal additional funds.
Once at a hardware store, he purchased duct tape and razor blades, culminating in a decision to kill Acosta. Tanzi drove to a secluded area in Cudjoe Key, where he informed her of his intention to take her life and began the act of strangulation. According to reports, he placed duct tape over her mouth and eyes to muffle her cries before completing the murder.
Acosta's absence was quickly noted by her friends and co-workers, leading to her being reported missing. Investigators were later able to trace her vehicle to Key West, where Tanzi had fled. During police interrogations, Tanzi confessed to the crime and provided details on the location of Acosta's body, indicating a chilling awareness of his actions as he stated, "If I had let her go, I was gonna get caught quicker."
Charged with first-degree murder, carjacking, kidnapping, and armed robbery, a jury in Monroe County unanimously recommended the death penalty for Tanzi. He has since pursued multiple appeals, all of which have been unsuccessful. Most recently, the Florida Supreme Court dismissed his claim challenging the execution on the basis of his "morbid obesity" and sciatica, ruling that the appeal was untimely since his health conditions had been known since 2009.
The court also noted that previous arguments related to obesity and intravenous protocols had been considered and dismissed. With Tanzi's execution set for Tuesday, he joins two other inmates who have been executed in Florida this year: Edward James, executed on March 20 for the murder of an 8-year-old girl and her grandmother, and James Dennis Ford, executed on February 13 for the brutal killing of a married couple in the presence of their young child.
This upcoming execution highlights the complex and often contentious nature of capital punishment in the state, alongside the ongoing debates surrounding the treatment of inmates on death row.
