Nelson Iván Serrano Sáenz (born September 15, 1938) is a former Ecuadorian businessman and a naturalized American citizen (since 1971) who was convicted of murdering Frank Dosso, Diane Patisso, George Patisso, and George Gonsalves in the town of Bartow, Polk County, Florida, on December 3, 1997. The jury pronounced him guilty and recommended the death penalty for Serrano in October 2006 after he was convicted of the murders. On June 26, 2007, Judge Susan Roberts sentenced him to death by lethal injection for each of these crimes. Serrano's conviction is controversial, and his culpability has been disputed. Background On December 3, 1997, Frank Dosso, Diane Patisso, George Patisso, and George Gonsalves were found shot execution-style at the Erie Manufacturing plant in Bartow. Diane Patisso, a young state prosecutor, had gone to pick up her brother Frank and her husband George at the factory that evening, and prosecutors say she was murdered to prevent her from identifying the killer. Dosso and Gonsalves accused Serrano of graft, then theft, but investigators, including the FBI, dismissed these accusations. Although there was no physical evidence at the scene to link Nelson Serrano to the crime, relatives of the victims immediately suspected Nelson Serrano, a former partner and CEO of the business. They had been in a bitter dispute with the others over his partners' removal of $1 million without his knowledge. However, millions of dollars were removed from corporate bank accounts after Serrano left the company, and only Dosso and Gonsalves had access to them. The money's whereabouts were never presented during the trial and remain unknown. During the summer of 1997, Nelson Serrano opened a separate business checking account with a different bank. He deposited two checks totaling over $200,000 from Erie's sister company Garment Conveyor Systems, as requested by corporate counsel to keep monies safe from Dosso and Gonsalves. There were disagreements about the distribution of assets and accusations by Serrano that there were two sets of books. Serrano instituted a civil suit against his partners. Ultimately, Serrano was removed as president by a vote of the other two partners, and Serrano left the companies. After that, the locks were changed on the building. Shortly before Serrano was ousted as CEO, Phil Dosso and George Gonsalves had fired Serrano’s son, Francisco. Prosecutors said Serrano was angry because Gonsalves and Felice "Phil" Dosso, the third partner in the business, had ousted him and