Pardo also praised Spain for winning a World Cup title in soccer, and urged the country to keep the tradition of bullfighting. Then, he claimed to “accept the consequences” of his actions — and urged his daughter: “Remember, Michi, you are Airborne and Hardcore … No tears!”

“Now, I am ready to ride the midnight train to Georgia,” he wrote.

In the final hours of his life, Pardo visited with eight relatives and friends, and enjoyed a Cuban-style last meal. A corrections spokeswoman said Pardo dined Tuesday morning on roasted pork chunks, white rice and red beans, fried plantains with tomato and avocado, topped with olive oil. He finished with pumpkin pie and Cuban coffee.

Outside, about 45 death penalty protesters crowded a field across from the prison. In Miami, the Archdiocese of Miami — which opposes the death penalty — held a vigil for Pardo.

Just past 7 p.m., with the U.S. Supreme Court denying his last-minute appeals, seven loved ones of the dead were ushered into a small room facing the death chamber at the prison. A glass pane separated them from the killer. The silence was cut only by the drone of a wall air-conditioning unit.

They watched, grim-faced and calm, as Tim Cannon, a corrections official, announced the final procedure was under way. Without incident, the lethal combination of drugs entered Pardo’s body through a tube attached to his arm. Gaunt, bald and pale, he mumbled his last words, unintelligible to the gallery through the speaker system.

Then he yawned, his eyes darting briefly to Cannon, drew a few last breaths and sank into sleep. His mouth fell open and, for the next 15 minutes, his life seeped away quietly.

Finally, a doctor brushed aside a brown curtain. He shined a flashlight into the killer’s eyes, checked his chest with a stethoscope, looked up to Cannon and nodded, pronouncing Pardo dead.