On the night of May 24, 2000, Ramon Nazario, 44, was working his shift at a Wendy’s in Queens when two former employees, John Taylor and Craig Godineaux, entered the restaurant intent on robbery. The attackers forced seven employees into a walk-in refrigerator, bound their hands and covered their mouths with duct tape, then shot all seven. Nazario and four coworkers died; two survived and later testified. About $2,400 was taken from the restaurant.

Police arrested Taylor and Godineaux within 48 hours. A palm print linking Taylor was recovered at the scene and the murder weapon was found. Both men confessed, though their accounts differed about who fired the shots. Craig Godineaux pleaded guilty in January 2001 and received life without parole; John Taylor was convicted of five counts of first-degree murder in November 2002 and sentenced to death, a sentence later changed by higher-court action.