Sergio Pino, 67, was regarded by many in his Coral Gables, Florida, community as something of an only-in-America success story. At 12 years old, he arrived in Miami from Cuba and built his company, Century Homebuilders Group, into what is said to be the largest Hispanic-owned homebuilder in America. A success at nearly everything he did, he failed miserably at one thing: his persistent attempts to kill his wife, Tatiana, 55, who, as an alleged hit man explained, “wanted half of what Pino owned and would not settle [their divorce] for the offered 20 million dollars,” and instead began a fight for 50 percent of his $153 million fortune.
First, Pino tried poisoning her—with cyanide, arsenic, and fentanyl, which is suspected to have tainted the brussels sprouts Tatiana brought to a “Friendsgiving” dinner that ended with 10 powerful Miami women, including her, in the hospital. But his subsequent attempts included a gun, arson, a car ramming, and what a Miami F.B.I. agent would call two “Murder Crews” consisting of nine hit men. They were also more intimately violent.
