Jurors to Hear Suit Against Killer Serrano

BARTOW | When jurors today begin hearing the wrongful death lawsuit against condemned murderer Nelson Ivan Serrano, they won't decide whether Serrano is liable in the case.

Circuit Judge Jay Yancey already ruled he's legally responsible for the death of George Patisso Jr., 28, one of four people murdered in the 1997 massacre at Bartow's Erie Manufacturing that remains the worst mass killing in Polk County.

What the jurors are expected to decide today is how much the pain and suffering that his parents experienced is worth.

"Given the nature of this case," Bartow lawyer Jonathan Stidham, representing Mary Ann and George Patisso Sr., told prospective jurors Monday, "we will be talking about a lot of money."

After Monday's proceedings, Stidham declined to say how much the Patissos are seeking, or whether Serrano, 69, has the assets to pay a jury verdict.

Lawyers in the case selected a six-member jury Monday and will begin testimony in the case today. The only witnesses scheduled to testify are the victim's parents and his sister, Ann Marie Patisso Ferraro.

Bartow lawyer Bob Norgard, representing Serrano, indicated in court Monday that he won't present any evidence or witnesses in the case.

Norgard has, however, challenged the timeliness of the Patissos' lawsuit, which was filed in April 2003. He has argued state law allows two years to file a wrongful death case, and in this instance, that period expired in December 1999, two years after Patisso and three others were gunned down at Erie Manufacturing in Bartow.

Stidham said he maintains the clock on the two-year limit began in May 2001, when the Polk County grand jury issued a sealed indictment against Serrano for the murders. In August 2002, Serrano was deported from his native Ecuador and returned to Florida to stand trial.

That timeliness issue is expected to be resolved today, either by Yancey or the jury, Stidham said.

As the lawyers went about selecting a jury Monday, Serrano remained on death row at Florida State Prison in Starke.

"He made a choice that he didn't want to be here in this courtroom while this case was presented," Norgard told prospective jurors Monday.

After court, he said the rules in civil cases are different from criminal proceedings, and defendants aren't required to attend civil court proceedings.

Serrano was convicted in October 2006 for the execution-style slayings of his former partner, George Gonsalves, 69; George Patisso Jr., 27, and his wife, Diane Dosso Patisso, 28, a 10th Circuit prosecutor; and Frank Dosso, 35, who was Diane Dosso Patisso's brother and the son of another former partner, Phil Dosso.

The case marked the worst mass murder in Polk County history.

Authorities said Serrano acted out of greed and revenge after being ousted as president of Erie Manufacturing and a sister business, Garment Conveyor Systems, six months earlier.

Prosecutors argued Serrano had gone to the Erie offices that December night to kill Gonsalves and was surprised to find Frank Dosso and the Patissos there. Not wanting to leave any witnesses, prosecutors said, Serrano killed them as well.

Authorities said he staged a business trip to Atlanta and returned to Polk County for one day using assumed names to book airline and rental car reservations. By the time investigators unraveled the scheme, Serrano had returned to his native Ecuador, but authorities finally were able to have him deported in 2003.

After nearly two months of testimony, jurors deliberated about six hours in October 2006 before convicting Serrano on all counts. Circuit Judge Susan Roberts sentenced him to death in June 2007.