Nelson Serrano

Nelson Iván Serrano Sáenz (Quito, 1938) is a former Ecuadorian businessman and nationalized US-citizen (since 1971) who was convicted of murdering Frank Dosso, Diane Patisso, George Patisso, and George Gosolves in 1997 in Bartow, Florida. A jury 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.

Life and trial

On June 26, 2007 Judge Susan Roberts sentenced Nelson Serrano to death by lethal injection even though not a shred of evidence, except for a parking ticket containing his fingerprint, which contradicted his statements to investigators that he was in an Atlanta hotel room the entire day the murders took place, could connect Mr. Serrano with the crime scene or the murders. A footprint matching shoes he was known to have, was also found on a chair below a ceiling tile in his factory office where he was known to have stashed a gun, the caliber of which was used on Diane Patisso. His lies to investigators were further proven when his own nephew admitted renting a car for him in Florida the day of the murders. Serrano never bothered to explain to the jury why this was done. He chose not to testify at the trial though his life depended on it, instead relying on legal manuevers that did not work. It is currently under appeal at the Florida Supreme Court. More info can be found at www.nelsonserrano.org [1].

During the trial Serrano's lawyers fought for a mistrial claiming that that Serrano was illegally deported from Ecuador to the US. Nelson Serrano is an Ecuadorian citizen by birth and a naturalized US Citizen, entered Ecuador as an Ecuadorian prior to his abduction and so proven and agreed to by Ecuadorian officials as well as the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. These evidences can be confirmed using proprietary documents from the Ecuadorian government and this human rights commission and can be found on the website, [2]. These evidences were also presented during trial and were confirmed by the Ecuadorian Ombudsman through his testimony. Judge Roberts chose to ignore these facts and denied defendant's motion to dismiss this case. She also denied the motion for a Change of Venue despite the fact that one of the victims, Diane Patisso, was an assistant District Attorney that worked in that courthouse and was known to her.

On March 6, 2009, the Ecuadorian government delivered an official and written letter of protest to the U.S. Embassy in Ecuador requesting U.S. cooperation in Nelson Serrano's return to Ecuador to face charges according to law and the extradition treaty these two countries have with each other. As of the press conference held on April 6, 2009 in Miami, the U.S. State Department has yet to respond. Copies of these documents can also be found at www.nelsonserrano.org[3].

External links

• Full coverage of the quadruple murder trial of Nelson Serrano
• http://www.nelsonserrano.org - coverage for reporters, law students, etc.