STARKE, Fla. — A person convicted of killing a lady who was once carjacked on her lunch destroy from her activity at The Miami Bring in is about to be done on Tuesday night time.
Barring a overdue reprieve, Michael Tanzi is scheduled to obtain a deadly injection at 6 p.m. at Florida State Jail for the April 2000 abduction and strangling of Janet Acosta.
A manufacturing employee on the newspaper, the sufferer was once crushed, robbed, pushed to the Florida Keys after which strangled and her frame left on an island.
Tanzi, 48, would transform the 3rd inmate on Florida’s demise row done this 12 months, with any other deadly injection scheduled on Would possibly 1 underneath demise warrants signed through Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Courtroom data display the sufferer was once on a destroy from her activity on the newspaper on April 25, 2000. She was once sitting in her van studying a e-book when Tanzi approached her, requested for a cigarette after which started punching her within the face, the data point out.
“Maintaining her wrist and perilous her with a razor blade,” court docket data display, Tanzi drove to Domicile, south of Miami, the place he stopped at a gasoline station and certain and gagged Acosta. He took $53 in money from her, in conjunction with her credit card.
They then went directly to the Florida Keys the city of Tavernier, the place Tanzi used Acosta’s credit card to thieve cash from her account, in line with the data. They stopped at a ironmongery store the place Tanzi purchased duct tape and razor blades, after which Tanzi determined he needed to kill Acosta, they added.
“He drove to an remoted house in Cudjoe Key, instructed her he was once going to kill her, and started to strangle her,” in line with a abstract through the state Fee on Capital Instances. “He stopped to position duct tape over her mouth, nostril and eyes in an try to quiet her after which strangled her till she expired.”
In the meantime, Acosta’s pals and colleagues reported her lacking when she did not go back from her destroy. That led police to her van, which Tanzi had pushed to Key West. Police mentioned Tanzi confessed to the crime and confirmed investigators the place he had left Acosta’s frame.
“If I had let her cross, I used to be gonna get stuck faster,” Tanzi instructed officials, in line with the file. “I didn’t need to get stuck. I used to be having an excessive amount of a laugh … I instructed her, I says, ‘I will’t mean you can cross. If I mean you can cross, then I’m gonna be in a large number of hassle.’ ”
Tanzi was once convicted of first-degree homicide, carjacking, kidnapping and armed theft. A Monroe County jury beneficial the demise sentence on a 12-0 vote for Acosta’s slaying.
Tanzi has filed a number of appeals, none a hit. The Florida Ultimate Courtroom lately rejected his declare that he should not be done as a result of he’s “morbidly overweight” and suffers from sciatica, which might purpose unconstitutional ranges of ache. The court docket dominated that his attraction was once now not well timed as a result of his stipulations have been identified since 2009.
“Moreover, this court docket has regarded as and rejected identical arguments in accordance with weight problems and IV procedures,” the justices dominated.
Two different convicted killers were done in Florida this 12 months. Edward James, 63, was once put to demise on March 20 for killing an 8-year-old lady and her grandmother right through an evening of heavy consuming and drug use.
James Dennis Ford, 64, was once done on Feb. 13 for killing a husband and spouse at a far off farm in an assault witnessed through the couple’s infant, who survived the ordeal.
