Michael Tanzi, a convicted murderer and r*pist, used his final words to address the families of his victims before being executed by lethal injection in Florida.
Tanzi, 48, was put to death at 6:12PM on April 8 at Florida State Prison in Raiford. He had been sentenced to die for the brutal killing of Janet Acosta, a 49-year-old Miami Herald employee, in April 2000.
Just hours before his execution, Tanzi delivered a final statement directly to the family of Janet Acosta and another victim, Caroline Holder.
“I want to apologize to the family of Janet Acosta and Caroline Holder for taking their lives,” he said via USA Today. “Heavenly Father, please do not blame those who do not know what they're doing."
Tanzi was just 20 years old when he carjacked Acosta during her lunch break in Miami. She was sitting in her parked van near the Japanese Rock Gardens when he threatened her with a razor blade, bound and gagged her, and forced her to drive.
He s*xually a**aulted her, stole money using her bank card, and then strangled her before dumping her body. A few days later, police caught him returning to her car, which had been under surveillance.
Once in custody, Tanzi confessed not only to killing Acosta, but also admitted to murdering Caroline Holder in Brockton, Massachusetts months earlier. He was never extradited for the second case due to his Florida death sentence.
Back in 2000, Miami Detective Frank Casanovas told the Miami Herald, “What we have here is a fledgling serial killer."
His lawyers fought unsuccessfully to stop the execution, arguing that Tanzi was morbidly obese and suffered from sciatica, claiming the lethal injection process would cause excruciating pain.
“Being in this position and suffering 'severe sciatic nerve pain' would require DOC ‘to torture him simply to establish and maintain two working intravenous sites,’” his legal team said.
They also raised concerns that his body size could interfere with the sedative’s effectiveness. But the Florida Attorney General’s Office dismissed those claims, saying Tanzi had nothing to back up the “groundless assertion” that the sedative would fail.
Gov. Ron DeSantis signed Tanzi’s death warrant on March 10, setting the execution date for April 8.
Tanzi pleaded guilty to multiple charges, including first-degree murder, carjacking, kidnapping, and armed robbery.