there were allegations that nelson serrano had stolen a quarter of a million dollars. after threatening lawsuits and one shouting match too many, the founding partners, dosso and gonsalves, fired serrano and his son and then they changed the locks to the office. but serrano didn t leave quietly. within weeks of being ousted, he tried to force his way back into the building. partner george gonsalves called the cops. 911 emergency. do you need police, fire or ambulance? someone s breaking a door down. is it someone you know or a former employee or what? yes, former employee. okay, what is his name? nelson serrano. reporter: then six months later, december 3, 1997, came another 911 call from erie manufacturing. four dead, shot execution style. given serrano s stormy relationship with his partners, homicide detectives asked him to give a taped statement the day
reporter: the prosecutor introduced the gruesome crime scene photos, bullet casings and bodies that accompanied the story that he told the jury about a one-time business partner s homicidal revenge, the bitter loser in a fight for control of the company. and when jurors went to tour the murder scene itself, the prosecution explained its theory of why that ceiling tile had been moved and why there was a dusty footprint on the chair beneath. employees testified that serrano, a gun enthusiast, kept handguns in his office and may have stashed at least one away in the dropped ceiling. same day you see him getting something out of the ceiling is the day you see the gun? yes. reporter: behind the tile, likely prosecutors say where he kept the .32, one of the two guns used that night. there was only one person that we heard about that would have an interest in that ceiling tile and that s the guy that maybe left a gun up there that he don t want the cops to find. reporter: and as f
weeks later, the uncle told the nephew to keep his mouth shut about the incident. he said you can t say anything about this, you know that. first, it could jeopardize my marriage and, second, the cops are not going to buy it with the lawyers. they re going to try to do something to me. reporter: and the prosecution played maybe its best evidence. played maybe its best evidence. the orlando airport date-stamped parking ticket with nelson serrano s fingerprints on it. there s no doubt that that man left that fingerprint on that card? no, sir. the only way it could have gotten there is if nelson serrano s index finger touched the card? yes. reporter: and prosecutors especially wanted jurors to listen closely to that taped statement that serrano gave police the day after the murders. it was weirdly as though he were reciting the state s own theory of the crime. i don t think it was a robbery.
were you able to determine from them anything about the veracity of those prints? no, i can t. can fingerprints be planted and not detected, even by experts? i had a great deal of experience with the so-called forged and altered fingerprints. are you saying that the cops did it? i don t know who. the cops planted a bogus fingerprints on this there s a high likelihood that that print was an act of desperation after years of frustration in this very high profile, very significant case. reporter: had the defense made the jury wonder? had they put some cracks in the prosecution s theory of the crime? after 60 witnesses, 400 exhibits, five weeks of trial, closing arguments were at hand, the defense going first. not a single person on the planet earth, not one single person has put mr. serrano at