Michael Tanzi Executed 4/8/2025
Tonight, the State of Florida executed Michael Tanzi. It was the State's third execution in 2025.
Tonight, the State of Florida executed Michael Tanzi, carrying out his sentence of death for killing Janet Acosta. It was the third execution in the State in 2025. Tanzi was 48 years old. He wrote in a letter:
“I've taken full responsibility for my actions and I'm feeling content. Prison saved my life.”
SCOTUS Petition Denied Hours Before Execution
As of this morning, Tanzi had a petition pending at the U.S. Supreme Court. (More on Tanzi’s petition from TFDP here.) Tanzi’s reply in support of his petition was docketed yesterday afternoon, completing briefing on the petition. The petition was denied just after 3:00 this afternoon—three hours before the execution. There were no dissents.
All of the filings can be downloaded from the Court’s docket here.
Information About the Execution
The Department of Corrections (DOC) held its standard media briefings related to the execution:
At the 3:30 p.m. conference, DOC reported that Tanzi woke up at 4:45 a.m. and was provided his last meal of a fried porkchop, bacon, potato, corn, ice cream, candy bar, and a soda. DOC also reported that Tanzi’s only visitor was a spiritual advisor.
Tanzi’s time of death was 6:12 p.m. According to reporting by the Sun Sentinel, “In a final statement, his voice barely audible, Tanzi said, ‘I want to apologize to the family’ and then recited a verse from the Bible.”
According to a news article by wfsu, “Twenty-three witnesses, along with Department of Corrections officials and reporters, were in the viewing room for the execution. Among the witnesses was Senate Minority Leader Jason Pizzo, D-Sunny Isles Beach.”
After the execution, two members of the victim’s family spoke at the DOC press conference. The audio below of the victim’s niece, Jennifer Vanderweir, was provided by John Koch:
FADP Statement
Immediately after the execution, Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty issued a statement that said in part:
Part of the irony here is that Janet Acosta's longtime partner John Mulcahy, who died in 2015, expressed early on that he and Acosta were against the death penalty. It was mentioned in the sentencing order condemning Michael to death. "I really loved this woman," Mulcahy said in 2003. "But I don't want to see the guy die. Both of us didn't think it did any good killing people off."
The problem is that the State of Florida is selling a false bill of goods when it tells murder victims' family members that the death penalty is the best and only way to achieve justice. Janet's sister, Julie Andrew, explained after Michael's sentencing in 2003: "Our whole reason for being here wasn't for revenge . . . . We wanted to see justice done for my sister. And we wanted to make sure no one else had to go through what we went through." But justice would have been achieved with a life without parole sentence 25 years ago.
The full statement can be found here.
News Articles About the Execution
TFDP Prior Coverage of the Tanzi Warrant
2025 Executions
Below is a map of where the crimes occurred that led to the 2025 executions. The relevant county is also where the execution-related litigation is venued in each case.
My thoughts are with everyone involved in the warrant- and execution-related process.
Cannot understand those who are against the death penalty. Laws are made. Laws should be obeyed. You commit a crime, you run the risk of execution where applicable. Gary Gilmore once said” you commit a crime and get away with it, then fine. If you don’t, don’t cry about it. Accept your punishment “ Still,this thing about pain and suffering of the inmate. It will never be compared to victim(s).
I think the Govenors who are signing the death warrants should be required to have a face to face conversation with each man and ask each one about his or her childhood and about life in prison and what their life is like now and how they feel about death