By . Associated Press . PUBLISHED: . 08:40 EST, 11 December 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 06:24 EST, 12 December 2012 . Executed: Manuel Pardo was a decorated Florida police officer before turning to a shocking life of crime and murdering nine people . A former police officer who murdered nine people during a 1986 crime spree was executed Tuesday after his attorneys' last-minute appeals were rejected. Manuel Pardo, 56, was pronounced dead at Florida State Prison at 7:47 p.m., about 16 minutes after the lethal injection process began. His attorneys had tried to block the execution by arguing that he was mentally ill, but federal courts declined to intercede. Reporters could not hear his final statement because of an apparent malfunction in the death chamber's sound system. A white sheet had been pulled up to his chin and IV lines ran into his left arm. He blinked several times, his eyes moved back and forth and he took several deep breaths. Over the next several minutes the color drained from his face before he was pronounced dead. Prison officials said his final words were, 'Airborne forever. I love you, Michi baby,' referring to his daughter. Pardo also wrote a final statement in which he claimed that he never killed any women, but 'accepted full responsibility for killing six men. 'I never harmed those 3 women or any female,' he wrote on December 11, hours before his execution. 'I don't want this hanging over my head, especially these last few minutes of life, because my war was against men who were trafficing (sic) in narcotics and no one else!' Most of Pardo's victims were involved . with drugs, officials said, and Pardo contended that he was doing the . world a favor by killing them. 'I . am a soldier, I accomplished my mission and I humbly ask you to give me . the glory of ending my life and not send me to spend the rest of my . days in state prison,' the then-31-year-old Pardo told jurors at his . 1988 trial. Over a 92-day period in early 1986, Pardo committed a series of robberies and killings. He took photos of the victims and . recounted some details in his diary, which was found along with . newspaper clippings about the murders. Pardo was linked to the killings after using credit cards stolen from the victims. He had become fascinated with Adolf Hitler, collecting Nazi memorabilia. His dog, a Doberman pinscher, had a swastika tattoo. Frank Judd, the nephew of victim Fara Quintero read a statement following the execution, which was witnessed by fewer than 10 family members of the victims. Judd thanked the state of Florida for bringing closure to his family and said the pain he and his relatives feel about the murder of Quintero 'continues to this day.' 'Personally, I don't feel that what happened today was enough justice,' he said, adding that Pardo was a 'disturbed soul.' Pardo's final letter apologized to his family for the 'pain and grief' he caused. 'You all are so loving and wonderful, not deserving of this nightmare,' he wrote. He asked his family to please not suffer and to 'be strong.' Convicted: Pardo, pictured in a 1988 court appearance, was 31 when he went on the three-month killing spree in Florida. He killed six men and three women . Pardo also touched on his love of sports, devoting one of three paragraphs in his letter to baseball, soccer and bullfighting. He ate a last meal of rice, red beans, roasted pork, plantains, avocado, tomatoes and olive oil. For dessert, he ate pumpkin pie and drank egg nog and Cuban Coffee. Pardo was a decorated Florida policeman before he was fired for lying and turned to life as a vigilante. His . attorneys tried to block his execution, arguing in federal appeals that . he is mentally ill, something his trial attorney believed more than two . decades ago. 'I think that anyone who would get up and ask a jury sentence him to death is insane,' lawyer Ronald Guralnick said recently. Indicted: Pardo was first charged of first-degree murder in 1986 . Pardo, a former Boy Scout and Navy . veteran, began his law enforcement career in the 1970s with the Florida . Highway Patrol, graduating at the top of his class at the academy. But he was fired from that agency in . 1979 for falsifying traffic tickets. He was soon hired by the police . department in Sweetwater, a small city in Miami-Dade County. In 1981, Pardo was one of four Sweetwater officers charged with brutality, but the cases were dismissed. In 1982, The Miami Herald reported that Pardo saved a 2-month-old boy's life by reviving him with CPR. Another story, written by famed South Florida columnist and novelist Carl Hiassen, noted that Pardo arrested a man for stealing valuable parrots and cockatoos to use as live sacrifices for a Santeria ritual. He was fired four years later after he flew to the Bahamas to testify at the trial of a Sweetwater colleague who was accused of drug smuggling. Pardo lied, telling the court they were international undercover agents. Odd hobby: After he was fired from the police department, Pardo, left, became obsessed with Adolf Hitler . 'He was very cold,' retired prosecutor David Waksman told the Herald recently. 'He was doing robberies and went home and slept like a baby. He was proud of what he did.' One victim was a confidential informant who sold Pardo guns. Others, like Musa's sister, were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Guralnick thought Pardo was insane and tried to use that as a defense, arguing he couldn't tell right from wrong. Over Guralnick's objections, Pardo insisted on testifying at his trial, telling jurors that he enjoyed killing people and wished he could have murdered more. 'They're parasites and they're leeches, and they have no right to be alive,' he said in court. 'Somebody had to kill these people.' Guralnick said his client was not only a rigid, military-loving man, but also a product of the lawless, cocaine cowboys-fueled zeitgeist of 1980s Miami. 'I'm not admitting that he did any of that, but let's say he did,' said Guralnick. 'He was a victim of the time. The people he was dealing with were trash.' In a news conference following his conviction, Pardo said that instead of choosing to model himself after Hitler, he could have idolized Martin Luther King Jr. or John F. Kennedy. 'But they were pacifists,' he said. 'I'm an activist.' While on death row, Pardo placed ads in tabloid newspapers, looking for pen pals. He eventually corresponded with dozens of women and convinced many to send him money through the mail, collecting $3,500. Pardo was dubbed the 'Death Row Romeo.' Guralnick said that Pardo was a 'guy's guy' and that as an officer, he did some commendable things. 'You can do something wrong and do a lot of right things, too,' said Guralnick.
Manuel Pardo was a decorated officer before turning to a life of crime .
He was convicted in 1988 of killing nine people - six men and three women - during a three-month period in 1986 .
By . Associated Press . PUBLISHED: . 08:40 EST, 11 December 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 06:24 EST, 12 December 2012 . Executed: Manuel Pardo was a decorated Florida police officer before turning to a shocking life of crime and murdering nine people . A former police officer who murdered nine people during a 1986 crime spree was executed Tuesday after his attorneys' last-minute appeals were rejected. Manuel Pardo, 56, was pronounced dead at Florida State Prison at 7:47 p.m., about 16 minutes after the lethal injection process began. His attorneys had tried to block the execution by arguing that he was mentally ill, but federal courts declined to intercede. Reporters could not hear his final statement because of an apparent malfunction in the death chamber's sound system. A white sheet had been pulled up to his chin and IV lines ran into his left arm. He blinked several times, his eyes moved back and forth and he took several deep breaths. Over the next several minutes the color drained from his face before he was pronounced dead. Prison officials said his final words were, 'Airborne forever. I love you, Michi baby,' referring to his daughter. Pardo also wrote a final statement in which he claimed that he never killed any women, but 'accepted full responsibility for killing six men. 'I never harmed those 3 women or any female,' he wrote on December 11, hours before his execution. 'I don't want this hanging over my head, especially these last few minutes of life, because my war was against men who were trafficing (sic) in narcotics and no one else!' Most of Pardo's victims were involved . with drugs, officials said, and Pardo contended that he was doing the . world a favor by killing them. 'I . am a soldier, I accomplished my mission and I humbly ask you to give me . the glory of ending my life and not send me to spend the rest of my . days in state prison,' the then-31-year-old Pardo told jurors at his . 1988 trial. Over a 92-day period in early 1986, Pardo committed a series of robberies and killings. He took photos of the victims and . recounted some details in his diary, which was found along with . newspaper clippings about the murders. Pardo was linked to the killings after using credit cards stolen from the victims. He had become fascinated with Adolf Hitler, collecting Nazi memorabilia. His dog, a Doberman pinscher, had a swastika tattoo. Frank Judd, the nephew of victim Fara Quintero read a statement following the execution, which was witnessed by fewer than 10 family members of the victims. Judd thanked the state of Florida for bringing closure to his family and said the pain he and his relatives feel about the murder of Quintero 'continues to this day.' 'Personally, I don't feel that what happened today was enough justice,' he said, adding that Pardo was a 'disturbed soul.' Pardo's final letter apologized to his family for the 'pain and grief' he caused. 'You all are so loving and wonderful, not deserving of this nightmare,' he wrote. He asked his family to please not suffer and to 'be strong.' Convicted: Pardo, pictured in a 1988 court appearance, was 31 when he went on the three-month killing spree in Florida. He killed six men and three women . Pardo also touched on his love of sports, devoting one of three paragraphs in his letter to baseball, soccer and bullfighting. He ate a last meal of rice, red beans, roasted pork, plantains, avocado, tomatoes and olive oil. For dessert, he ate pumpkin pie and drank egg nog and Cuban Coffee. Pardo was a decorated Florida policeman before he was fired for lying and turned to life as a vigilante. His . attorneys tried to block his execution, arguing in federal appeals that . he is mentally ill, something his trial attorney believed more than two . decades ago. 'I think that anyone who would get up and ask a jury sentence him to death is insane,' lawyer Ronald Guralnick said recently. Indicted: Pardo was first charged of first-degree murder in 1986 . Pardo, a former Boy Scout and Navy . veteran, began his law enforcement career in the 1970s with the Florida . Highway Patrol, graduating at the top of his class at the academy. But he was fired from that agency in . 1979 for falsifying traffic tickets. He was soon hired by the police . department in Sweetwater, a small city in Miami-Dade County. In 1981, Pardo was one of four Sweetwater officers charged with brutality, but the cases were dismissed. In 1982, The Miami Herald reported that Pardo saved a 2-month-old boy's life by reviving him with CPR. Another story, written by famed South Florida columnist and novelist Carl Hiassen, noted that Pardo arrested a man for stealing valuable parrots and cockatoos to use as live sacrifices for a Santeria ritual. He was fired four years later after he flew to the Bahamas to testify at the trial of a Sweetwater colleague who was accused of drug smuggling. Pardo lied, telling the court they were international undercover agents. Odd hobby: After he was fired from the police department, Pardo, left, became obsessed with Adolf Hitler . 'He was very cold,' retired prosecutor David Waksman told the Herald recently. 'He was doing robberies and went home and slept like a baby. He was proud of what he did.' One victim was a confidential informant who sold Pardo guns. Others, like Musa's sister, were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Guralnick thought Pardo was insane and tried to use that as a defense, arguing he couldn't tell right from wrong. Over Guralnick's objections, Pardo insisted on testifying at his trial, telling jurors that he enjoyed killing people and wished he could have murdered more. 'They're parasites and they're leeches, and they have no right to be alive,' he said in court. 'Somebody had to kill these people.' Guralnick said his client was not only a rigid, military-loving man, but also a product of the lawless, cocaine cowboys-fueled zeitgeist of 1980s Miami. 'I'm not admitting that he did any of that, but let's say he did,' said Guralnick. 'He was a victim of the time. The people he was dealing with were trash.' In a news conference following his conviction, Pardo said that instead of choosing to model himself after Hitler, he could have idolized Martin Luther King Jr. or John F. Kennedy. 'But they were pacifists,' he said. 'I'm an activist.' While on death row, Pardo placed ads in tabloid newspapers, looking for pen pals. He eventually corresponded with dozens of women and convinced many to send him money through the mail, collecting $3,500. Pardo was dubbed the 'Death Row Romeo.' Guralnick said that Pardo was a 'guy's guy' and that as an officer, he did some commendable things. 'You can do something wrong and do a lot of right things, too,' said Guralnick.
December 2012 . Executed: Manuel Pardo was a decorated Florida police officer before turning to a shocking life of crime and murdering nine nine people during a 1986 crime spree was six men and three women . Pardo also touched on