Murder of Janet Acosta

Common card · No. 446574

On April 25, 2000, in Cudjoe Key, Florida, United States, 49-year-old Janet Acosta (1951 – April 25, 2000) was murdered by Michael Anthony Tanzi who kidnapped her in Miami-Dade County while she was on her lunch break, raped her, stole her van, and drove her to the Florida Keys. He then forced her to withdraw money from an ATM, and eventually strangled her to death before burying her in a secluded area. Tanzi was found guilty of first degree murder and sentenced to death in 2003. He was executed by lethal injection on April 8, 2025. Less than a week before his execution, Tanzi's defense team claimed Tanzi's weight and health would result in a botched execution. His defense argued that lethal injection would violate the Eighth Amendment's ban on cruel or unusual punishment. The argument was rejected by the Florida Attorney General's office, stating that Tanzi's defense provided no evidence that the method would violate the Eighth Amendment.

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