March 10 (UPI) — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the death warrant for a 48-year-old man convicted of kidnapping and strangling a woman to death in 2000.
The warrant, made public by the Supreme Court of Florida, states Michael Tanzi is scheduled to be executed at 6 p.m. EDT April 8 at Florida State Prison.
Tanzi was sentenced to death on April 11. 2003, after being convicted of first-degree murder, carjacking with a deadly weapon, kidnapping and robbery with a gun or deadly weapon.
Court documents state that his victim, Janet Acosta, was reading a book in her van parked at the Japanese Gardens in Miami during her lunch hour on April 25, 2000, when Tanzi approached her.
After asking for a cigarette and the time, he punched her in the face to gain entry to the van, which he then drove away while threatening his victim with a razor blade.
The court documents state he was seeking a way to return to Key West where he lived.
He bound Acosta with rope and gagged her with a towel. During the drive, he sexually assaulted her while threatening her life with the razor blade if she injured him.
He also used her ATM card to withdraw money from her bank account.
Upon arriving in the lower Florida Keys, Tanzi strangled Acosta to death and disposed of her body in a wooded area.
He was arrested two days later by police who spotted Acosta’s van, which they had been searching for after the woman’s friends and coworkers reported her missing.
Court documents state that he had receipts in his pocket showing the ATM withdrawals he had made from his victim’s account.
Tanzi told police that he “knew what this was about,” according to the court documents, which added, “He also spontaneously stated he wanted to talk about some bad things he had done.”
“Tanzi confessed that he had assaulted, abducted, robbed, sexually battered and killed Janet Acosta,” according to court documents.
“Tanzi repeated his confession with greater detail several times on audio and videotape. Tanzi also showed the police where he had disposed of Janet Acosta’s body and where he had discarded the duct tape and rope.”
Tanzi is scheduled to be the third person executed in Florida this year, following James Ford, who was killed on Feb. 14, and Edward James, who is set to have his sentence carried out on March 20.
There have been six executions in four states so far this year — four by lethal injection and one each by nitrogen hypoxia and firing squad.
Christopher Sepulvado was scheduled to be executed in Louisiana on March 17, but the octogenarian died late last month on death row.
According to Robert Dunham, director of the Death Penalty Policy Project, nine states have issued 31 death warrants for this year.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Cabinet on Tuesday approved $90 million in grants for local law enforcement agencies for items related to enforcement of illegal immigration.
The $90 million is for new and amended grants to 56 county and city police departments for radios, body cameras, riot gear, ballistic helmets, X-ray machines, inmate restraint chairs and other items.
DeSantis, Attorney General James Uthmeier, Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia and Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson, who comprise the State Board of Immigration Enforcement, unanimously approved the funding.
Out of the $90 million in grants, $30.3 million is for new awards and $57 million are additional funds for law enforcement agencies that had already asked for assistance.
In the latest batch of requests, Orange County and Polk County sheriff offices asked for the most money. The bulk of Orange County’s $10 million proposal is for equipment, with $9 million of those funds going to 910 portable radios.
The Polk County Sheriff’s Office asked for $10 million, with $8.7 million being spent on encrypted radio device systems and servers. The current radios the sheriff’s office uses cannot communicate with ICE agents because they lack encryption capabilities, the request says.
“With the proposed upgrades, communication with ICE will be enabled, ultimately reducing the risk of our officers and ICE agents, and strengthening the overall security of our sensitive communications,” the request states.
The Walton County Sheriff’s Office south about $9 million, which includes more than $2.5 million for a rapid DNA testing system and 2,000 DNA processing swabs.
“With DNA results available quickly, we can reduce detention and processing times, resolve immigration status faster, and reallocate resources to more critical enforcement and investigative tasks,” Walton County’s request says.
The Collier County Sheriff’s Office requested more than $8 million, with about $5 million to be used for communication equipment, including radios. Notably, the county is asking for $600,000 for two Skywatch mobile towers to “enhance situation awareness and support immigration enforcement operations.”
The state has approved $147 million in immigration enforcement grants and disbursed almost $5 million to 25 local law enforcement agencies, according to Transparency Florida, a state website that tracks government spending.
Lawmakers in 2025 set aside $250 million to reimburse local law enforcement for purchases related to illegal immigration enforcement, including overtime for officers who participate in operations with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The board also extended an emergency rule allowing funds to reimburse agencies with an agreement with ICE for vehicle purchases.
Local law enforcement agencies are allowed to buy one multi-passenger van to transport immigrants between county, state and federal detention facilities.
MIAMI (AP) — Professional wrestling legend Hulk Hogan died of natural causes last year, according to a report by Florida police that formally closes the investigation into his death.
The Clearwater Police Department released a 72-page report on Friday summarizing an exhaustive review of statements, medical records, surveillance footage and a visual inspection of the body. Hogan, whose real name was Terry Bollea, died last July 24 at age 71.
“There has been no evidence to indicate the death of Terry Bollea was anything other than natural,” the report said. “Through the course of the investigation, there has been no evidence to indicate any criminal wrongdoing related to his death. This case will be closed, and will be considered solved, non-criminal.”
According to the report, Hogan’s wife, as well as a home health aide and an occupational therapist, were all with Hogan at his home when he stopped breathing. His wife, Sky Daily Hogan, called 911, and then the trio performed CPR on Hulk Hogan until firefighters and paramedics arrived.
Family members told investigators that Hogan had been suffering from multiple heath issues in the weeks before his death, including leukemia, an irregular hearth rhythm, pneumonia and kidney failure. He had also undergone many hospitalizations and surgeries in the years before his death.
Early statements made by the occupational therapist to police led to speculation that Hogan’s death was related to damage done to his phrenic nerve during a recent surgery. But the occupational therapist later said that he was still rattled from performing CPR and was speaking out of turn.
The local medical examiner had concluded Hogan died from a heart attack and declined to perform a full autopsy. A private autopsy paid for by the family backed up the initial assessment, finding “no reasonable traumatic or terminal toxicologic contributions.”
READ MORE: After Hulk Hogan’s sudden death, here are a cardiologist’s tips for avoiding chronic disease
Hogan was perhaps the biggest star in WWE’s long history, known for both his larger-than-life personality and his wrestling exploits. He was the main draw for the first WrestleMania in 1985 and was a fixture for years, facing everyone from Andre The Giant and Randy Savage to The Rock and even WWE co-founder Vince McMahon.
Hogan won at least six WWE championships and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2005 and reinstated there in 2018. He had been removed from the Hall of Fame in 2015 after he was recorded making racial slurs against Black people, for which he apologized.
A well-attended but private funeral service was held several weeks after Hogan’s death at a church in Largo, Florida.
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