Florida killer Michael Tanzi is too obese to execute, lawyers claim

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Florida sex killer Michael Tanzi is too fat to fry, his legal eagles are claiming.

The 48-year-old death row denizen is slated to be executed on April 8, but his lawyers are fighting to stay his execution. They claim that the tubby Tanzi is morbidly obese.

They added that his execution would therefore be unconstitutional because of lethal injection complications likely to ensue if the corpulent killer is put to death.

“The existing protocols for lethal injection do not contemplate the execution of someone with obesity and uncontrolled medical conditions, like Mr. Tanzi’s, that are likely to complicate the lethal injection process. Executing Mr. Tanzi using the existing protocols is likely to cause serious illness and needless suffering,” the appeal read.

Tanzi was sentenced to death in 2003 for the brutal murder of Janet Acosta, 49, in the Florida Keys.

Acosta had been seated inside her parked van in April 2000 when Tanzi pounced and threatened the woman with a razor blade, court documents said.

Tanzi bound and gagged Acosta and began driving south. He sexually assaulted her and then used her bank card to steal her money from several ATMs.

In an isolated area of Cudjoe Key, Tanzi strangled his captive to death and left her body. He then drove Acosta’s van to Key West to visit pals but by then her friends had reported her missing.

Cops recognized her van and arrested Tanzi.

An appeal filed last Monday cites Tanzi’s tractor-trailer load of health issues allegedly caused by his obesity. His lawyers say the killer suffers from “severe chronic sciatica … hyperlipidemia, uncontrolled hypertension, and gastroesophageal reflux disease,” among other health issues.

But the lawyers did not reveal exactly how much the heavyweight murderer weighs. Usually a body mass index higher than 30 is considered obese.

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier torpedoed Tanzi’s appeal for a stay just two days after it was filed. Uthmeier wrote that Tanzi’s team did not present sufficient evidence and noted that if they were really concerned, they had plenty of time to raise those concerns much earlier.

Tanzi’s team is now looking to the court to reverse Uthmeier’s refusal.

His execution would be the state’s third so far this year.

James Dennis Ford got a ticket on the night train to Nowheresville on Valentine’s Day. He was put to death for the 1997 murder of a couple in the presence of their toddler.

Edward James, 63, got the big adios on March 21 for murdering a woman and raping and killing her 8-year-old-granddaughter in Seminole County in 1993. His lawyers failed in their attempt to sink his date with death citing his “cognitive decline.”

bhunter@postmedia.com

@HunterTOSun