MANUEL PARDO JR

Aliases:
MANNY MANUEL PARDO JR
MANUEL PARDO JR. 

Military Records

Inmate Population Information Detail
(This information was current as of 11/30/03)
 
DC Number:  111983
Name:  PARDO, MANUEL JR.
Race:  WHITE
Sex:  MALE
Hair Color:  BROWN
Eye Color:  BROWN
Height:  6'00''
Weight:  144
Birth Date:  09/24/1956
Initial Receipt Date:  06/09/1988
Current Facility:  UNION C. I.
Current Classification Status:  DEATH ROW
Current Custody:  MAXIMUM
Current Release Date:  DEATH SENTENCE

Identifiers:
FINGERPRINT CLASS - PO0611171421CM141517

Current Prison Sentence History:
Offense Date Offense Sentence Date County Case No. Prison Sentence Length
01/22/1986 1ST DEG MUR,COM.OF FELONY 04/20/1988 MIAMI-DADE 8612910 DEATH SENTENCE
04/23/1986 ROBBERY W/FIREARM OR D/WEAPON 04/20/1988 MIAMI-DADE 8612910 15Y 0M 0D
01/28/1986 1ST DG MUR/PREMED. OR ATT. 04/20/1988 MIAMI-DADE 8614719 DEATH SENTENCE


Note: The offense descriptions are truncated and do not necessarily reflect the crime of conviction. Please refer to the court documents or the Florida Statutes for further information or definition.Detainers: (Further information may be obtained by contacting the detaining agency)
Detainer Date Agency Type Date Canceled
06/14/1988 US MARSHAL MIAMI DETAIN 12/13/1990

Incarceration History:
Date In-Custody Date Out-of-Custody
06/09/1988 Currently Incarcerated

Local News

Burned By Inmate's Scam, Local Woman On A Mission

By LOU WILIN

Staff Writer

Scammed out of money and love by a man on death row in Florida, a Findlay woman is now on a mission.

Barbara Ford, 46, wants to prevent Manuel Pardo Jr. from profiting any more at the expense of lonely, vulnerable women.

While awaiting execution for nine 1986 slayings, Pardo has been placing lonely-hearts ads in tabloids and starting correspondences with women. The death row Romeo promises fidelity to each of his loves, and they- all 26 of them at last count- have given him their hearts and money in return.

Like the others, Ford thought she was Pardo's one true love. She sent Pardo $430 from May to November 1995. That was a big chunk of her income, since Ford earned $7,500 last year cleaning houses.

At one point, Pardo had $3,530 in his prison canteen account, affording him Cuban espresso coffee, a radio with headphones, shampoo, potato chips, candy bars and shorts, among other things, Ford said.

And it's all legal. Nothing bans Pardo from requesting or receiving small sums of money, according to prison officials. But Ford is trying to stop the flow of money. She was on the "Hard Copy" television show in February to tell her story, and some more television and newspaper interviews are coming.

"I'm going to try my damndest to pursue every avenue I can so he will not make one more penny on death row," Ford said.

She first responded to one of Pardo's tabloid ads in April 1995 out of "intrigue." She was depressed at the time and was reflecting on her life, which has been painful, she said. Ford said she has a history of strained family relationships, and dealings with abusive men.

"I had no trust. I had been burned," Ford said. "I wasn't even trying to meet anybody around here. I had just given up on finding a good man."

She also had seen her brother and mother die in recent years.

"I was alone and lonely," she recalls.

Then she saw the ad in the tabloid.

"FLA. 116-156 CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTE INMATE," the ad began. "Ex-cop Vietnam vet. Took law into own hands and ended up on Death Row. He needs letters from sensitive-understanding female, for real-honest relationship."

Ford said she never condoned Pardo's killings. But the law enforcement and military background intrigued her. There also seemed to be an element of safety.

"I was thinking, "This one's safe. He's not going to hurt me. He's behind bars ... He's in Florida and I'm in Ohio,"' she recalls.

About three weeks after Ford responded, a letter arrived from Pardo, along with favorable newspaper clippings about his career as a police officer.

"I want one special lady in my life," he wrote. "I don't play emotional games cause I hate emotional games. I also hate liars and users."

His letters kept coming.

Her concerns about Pardo's killings were "cushioned" by his explanations: He said he killed only dope dealers and that he snapped after a child died in his arms of an overdose.

A decorated veteran who had served in the Marines, he mailed her a wallet-size photo of himself in uniform. Ford had it enlarged to a 5-by-7 and, for awhile, kept it next to an Army photo of her father, Joseph Egbert, who died when she was 7 years old.

In the fall of 1995, the illusion about Pardo started to collapse. She learned of a television interview with Pardo and obtained a videotape of it. The Manuel Pardo discussing his slayings on the tape was cold and very different from the sensitive, caring man Ford thought she knew through the letters, she said. She also found that not all those he killed were drug dealers, she said.

Then in October 1995, she got a letter from Betty Ihem of Oklahoma, and Ford learned that she was not the only woman writing and sending money to Pardo. Somehow, a letter Pardo sent to Ford mysteriously had ended up in Ihem's mailbox.

When the two women compared the letters they had received- Ford received 71 and Ihem had received 275 letters- they found nearly identical letters. Ihem had sent Pardo $1,200. The two women contacted prison officials, who explained that others also had been fooled.

"I was telling him in letters that I loved him ... I must confess, I was under his spell and totally mesmerized," Ford said. "I used poor judgment. It's as simple as that."

Since Ford has gone public, Pardo has threatened to "embarrass" and sue her, but Ford will not be intimidated, she said.

"My goal is for some way the laws could be changed so prison scams are minimized or stopped," she said. "I think when you kill somebody - nine somebodies - you don't have any rights."

From: http://www.angelfire.com/fl3/starke/penfriendban.html

The ways this rule will directly affect our websites are:

This rule change bans all mail containing advertising, that means all newspapers, magazines, and other publication, including my Open Letters, that 'advertise' resources for prisoners.

The proposed rule bans inmates from soliciting for pen pals or for money, goods or services such as any inmate support groups.  Services is a broad term applicable to nearly anything the DOC wants to apply it to.

It bans inmates from conducting any business activities such as managing their bank accounts or stock investments. Why this is part of punishment or rehabilitation eludes me.

Rule Change #33-210.101 is clearly unconstitutional but will be adopted unless it is fought in court by the ACLU or some similar organization.

Thanks to Lisa Stein for the searches and time that made all of the above information available.

Hanoi Jane Fonda