Daisy Ricard, a 38-year-old woman from Hialeah, FL, was found dead on April 23, 1986. Her body was discovered in a secluded wooded area in Hialeah, having been shot in the head by two different .22 caliber pistols. The following day, the body of her boyfriend, Ramon Alvero, was found in the trunk of a car about a mile away from where Daisy had been found. He had also been shot with the same two guns.
The investigation into their deaths revealed that Daisy Ricard's watch had fingerprints matching those of Manuel Pardo, a former Florida police officer.
Manuel Pardo, who was later convicted of eight counts of first-degree murder, admitted to intentionally killing nine victims, including Daisy Ricard and Ramon Alvero. Pardo claimed that he believed all his victims were drug dealers who "have no right to live." He was apprehended in a New York City hospital, where he sought medical attention for a bullet lodged in his foot. The bullet matched those taken from the bodies of Daisy Ricard and Ramon Alvero. Pardo's trial revealed that he had gone on a killing spree in 1986, murdering six men and three women. He took photographs of his victims and wrote detailed accounts of the killings in his diary.
During the trial, the state presented the case that Pardo and his accomplice, Rolando Garcia, were drug dealers, and the murders were motivated by a desire to eliminate the competition. Pardo was eventually sentenced to death and was executed by lethal injection in December 2012. His attorneys had tried to block his execution, claiming that he was mentally ill, but their request was denied. Pardo's case remains a chilling example of how a former law enforcement officer turned into a serial killer, targeting individuals he believed were involved in the drug trade.
