( CNN ) -- A former police officer convicted of multiple murders in the 1980s was executed Tuesday night in Florida . Manuel Pardo , 56 , was pronounced dead at 7:47 p.m. EST at the Florida State Prison in Starke , according to Ann Howard , spokeswoman with the Florida Department of Corrections . His last meal consisted of red beans and rice , roasted pork chops , plantains , avocado and tomato slices with olive oil , eggnog and pumpkin pie , she said . Pardo was sentenced to death after being convicted in 1988 of nine counts of first-degree murder . His attorneys had argued that Florida 's recent change in the drug combination it uses for lethal injections would violate their client 's civil rights . A judge denied the complaint . In another legal filing , the Supreme Court of Florida denied Pardo 's argument that he should have never been tried because he was incompetent to stand trial . David Waksman , who prosecuted the case , dismissed the claim , saying , `` He was just a cold-blooded killer who used to be a cop . '' Pardo 's life started on the other side of the law , according to court documents filed by his attorneys . At age 17 , he enlisted in the Navy and served honorably from 1974 to 1978 . In 1981 , Pardo re-enlisted in the Marines and remained a reservist while he worked for the Florida Highway Patrol and the Sweetwater Police Department . In 1985 , Pardo was fired from the police department and left the reserves when , according to court documents , `` he falsely testified in court about police corruption in the Bahamas . '' His attorney said the stress of losing his job , compounded with a serious undiagnosed disease , turned him into `` someone he was not , '' a killer . During his trial , Pardo took the stand and admitted to the murders . `` He came up with this vigilante story , '' recalls Waksman . `` He said , ' I 'm ridding the community of this vermin and technically it is not murder because they 're not human beings . ' '' Previously on CNN.com : Execution set in Florida for convicted cop .
Manuel Pardo , 56 , was convicted of two murders in the 1980s . He was pronounced dead at 7:47 p . ET . His last meal was red beans and rice , roasted pork chops , eggnog and apple pie .