'Morbidly obese' Florida man who admitted to killing Miami Herald employee to be executed Tuesday

A Florida death row inmate whose appeal based on his morbidly obese weight was lately rejected by the Florida Supreme Court is set to be executed by lethal injection on Tuesday Michael Tanzi is scheduled to be put to death Tuesday night at Florida State Prison in connection to the April kidnapping and strangling death of Janet Acosta a production worker at The Miami Herald Tanzi allegedly beat robbed and strangled Acosta before leaving her body in the Florida Keys Tanzi was sentenced to death after being convicted of murder in the first degree carjacking kidnapping and armed robbery CONVICTED DOUBLE MURDERER EXECUTED BY FIRING SQUAD IN SOUTH CAROLINAAppeals filed by his attorneys were denied with the the greater part current being an appeal citing Tanzi's morbidly obese weight and sciatica which they alleged could cause unconstitutional levels of pain according to a summary from The Associated Press The court ruled the appeal was not timely because Tanzi's soundness concerns were known since noting similar appeals based on weight have been rejected Corrections Department spokesman Ted Veerman communicated the AP Tanzi woke up at a m and met with a spiritual adviser He was later served his last meal Acosta was approached by Tanzi while on break in her van on April After punching her in the face he drove her to Homestead while holding her wrist and threatening her with a razor blade the AP communicated He stopped at a gas station where he took her money robbed and gagged her Tanzi continued on to the Florida Keys where he used her debit card to purchase duct tape and razor blades according to court documents TEXAS DEATH ROW INMATE MOUTHS FINAL -WORD MESSAGE TO VICTIMS' FAMILIES BEFORE EXECUTIONA summary by the state Commission on Capital Cases noted Tanzi drove to an isolated area in Cudjoe Key notified Acosta he was going to kill her and strangled her He stopped to place duct tape over her mouth nose and eyes in an attempt to quiet her and then strangled her until she expired according to the summary Acosta was shared missing by friends and colleagues leading to the discovery of her van in Key West according to the account Tanzi later confessed and led police to Acosta s body If I had let her go I was gonna get caught quicker Tanzi advised officers according to court documents I didn t want to get caught I was having too much fun I explained her I says I can t let you go If I let you go then I m gonna be in a lot of trouble Less than a month ago a South Carolina man convicted of killing his ex-girlfriend's parents with a baseball bat in was executed by firing squad a method used for the first time in years in the U S Brad Sigmon chose to die by firing squad citing fears about lethal injection Fox News Digital previously broadcasted Hours before Sigmon's death the U S Supreme Court denied an emergency motion to suspend the execution because of South Carolina's secretive lethal injection policies The Associated Press contributed to this overview