Credit: Florida Department of Corrections & Alamy
Final Meal Of ‘Morbidly Obese’ Death Row Inmate Who Was ‘Too Fat For Lethal Injection’
The final meal of a ‘morbidly obese’ death row inmate who was ‘too fat for the lethal injection’ has been revealed.
Michael Tanzi, branded the ‘fledgling serial killer,’ brutally kidnapped and murdered 49-year-old Miami Herald employee Janet Acosta in April 2000.
The newspaper production assistant was sitting in her parked van when Tanzi approached her, asking for a cigarette.
Acosta was then subjected to a horrific attack.
He s**ually assaulted her, stole her money and credit cards, and then took her to a secluded area to kill her.
Police identified Acosta’s van after friends reported her missing, and Tanzi was apprehended.
When approached by police, he said he ‘knew what this was about’ and wanted to talk ‘about some bad thing he had done,’ per The Independent.
Tanzi was indicted for first-degree murder and charged with carjacking with a weapon, kidnapping to facilitate a felony with a weapon, armed robbery with a deadly weapon, and two counts of s**ual battery with a deadly weapon.
Miami police detective Frank Casanovas told the Herald at the time: “What we have here is a fledgling serial killer.”
Tanzi was sentenced to death in 2003. An appeal was filed in 2005, however, his death sentence was affirmed in 2007.
He also confessed to the killing of Caroline Holder in Brockton, Massachusetts, a few months before he murdered Acosta. He never faced extradition or a trial over the killing due to his death sentence in the Acosta case.
The ‘fledgling serial killer,’ who reportedly weighed 380-Ib, was put to death just after 6 p.m. on April 8, 2025, at Florida State Prison in Raiford.
The week before Tanzi’s execution, his lawyers asked the U.S. Supreme Court to spare him from the lethal injection, arguing this method could result in ‘needless suffering’ due to his weight, per MailOnline.
They filed a brief stating that the inmate was ‘morbidly obese’ and that he suffered from a nerve condition called sciatica.
It also said the drugs may not be able to fully sedate Tanzi and that he could be left ‘paralyzed but aware’ with a ‘sensation of being burned from the inside.’
However, this request was denied just hours before his execution.
Tanzi reportedly indulged in a meal of pork chops, bacon, ice cream, and a candy bar for his final meal request.
In his final statement, he said: “I want to apologize to the family,” before reciting a Bible verse.
When the lethal injection was administered to Tanzi, it’s said he heaved for three minutes and then stopped.
The victim’s sister, Julie Andrew, stated after witnessing the execution: “It’s done. Basically, justice for Janet happened. My heart felt lighter, and I can breathe again.”
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