STARKE, Fla. (AP) — A former Florida police officer is scheduled to be executed for the murder of nine people 26 years ago.

The execution by lethal injection of 56-year-old Manuel Pardo is set for 6 p.m. Tuesday at Florida State Prison in Starke. A federal judge denied Pardo’s request for a stay Monday.

Officials said most of Pardo’s victims were involved with drugs. Pardo contended that he was doing the world a favor by killing them in 1986.

Pardo’s attorneys are trying to block his execution. They are arguing in federal appeals court that he is mentally ill, something his trial attorney believed more than two decades ago.

Pardo was dubbed the “Death Row Romeo” after he corresponded with dozens of women and persuaded many to send him money.