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by CBS 2's John Drummond
CHICAGO (CBS) ― The killing of the Spilotro brothers was the basis for the Hollywood film "Casino." On Wednesday their final words were revealed at the Family Secrets mob trial as one of their killers provided graphic details of the famous murder.

CBS 2's John "Bulldog" Drummond was in court for the unprecedented testimony of turncoat hit man Nick Calabrese.

For years Tony Spilotro looked after the Chicago mob's interests in Las Vegas. Diminutive in size, Spilotro was a feared enforcer who authorities said was responsible for a number of hits.

But Spilotro and his free-wheeling lifestyle had worn out his welcome with the mob brass back in Chicago, so he and his brother Michael were lured back to the Windy City.

Government witness Nick Calabrese on Wednesday described how the Spilotros were tricked.

"Use the ruse (Michael) would be made and (Tony) would be elevated to captain or a capo," Calabrese said.

The coup de grace would be administered in a Bensenville basement. Waiting to pounce was an all-star cast of mobsters to send the Spilotros on their way.

Calabrese was one of a dirty dozen assassins at the killing party.

He identified the rest as Jimmy "The Lapper" LaPietra, "Big John" Fecarotta, James "The Little Guy" Marcello, Joe "Mister Clean" Ferriola, John "No Nose" Di Fronzo, Louis Marino, Louis "The Mooch" Eboli and Sam "Wings" Carlisi, as well as three other unidentified men.

"I heard voices. I'm wound up. I'm tense. I'm focusing on what I'm gonna do," Calabrese said, describing the hit. "Michael came down the stairs. I Said 'how you doin' Mike?' I knew him. It happened so fast. I grabbed his legs. Mooch had a rope around (Michael)'s neck strangling him. (Tony) said 'can I say a prayer?' I didn't hear any more. There was a spot of blood where Tony had been. I tried to clean it up."

Chapter two of the Spilotro saga will unfold in federal court Thursday when Calabrese is expected to describe their botched burial.

The spectacular bombing death of a suburban trucking executive topped the parade of gangland slayings revealed Wednesday.

The death of Michael Cagnoni 26 years ago in broad daylight shocked even veteran detectives. Cagnoni, a Hinsdale resident, was killed because he was fed up with paying a street tax to the mob.

The fatal explosion on the Ogden Avenue entrance ramp to the North-South Tollway followed a seven-month surveillance of the businessman by the killers.

The mob put more resources into targeting Cagnoni than any other hit by outfit members. The spectacular blast killed Cagnoni instantly and blew his Mercedes Benz to smithereens.

Following several unsuccessful attempts on Cagnoni's life the decision was reached to take him out with a sophisticated remote-control bomb.

Spilling the secrets in court Wednesday, Nick Calabrese said "There was no way to set up on Mr. Cagnoni to shoot him or grab him. The idea was to put the bomb under the seat of Cagnoni's Mercedes sedan."

That was done outside a Chicago restaurant while the unsuspecting Cagnoni ate lunch. The killers then parked a trigger car near Cagnoni's Hinsdale home.

"The best way to this would be to park the car near the ramp Cagnoni used to get on the tollway," Nick Calabrese said. "A remote unit. Send the signal. Wait for him to take that exit."

"The bomb went off. My brother Frank...found out...it was done," he added.

Nick Calabrese seemed to choke up on the stand recounting that the bomb nearly killed Cagnoni's wife and young child.

"The wife had taken the car that morning with a kid in it and drove him to school," he said. "When I heard that I just don't know how I felt. This poor woman. The bomb could've gone off if she would have gone East instead of West."

Nick Calabrese was so enraged that he confronted his brother the architect of the scheme about innocent people being killed. Frank responded by hitting him in the face.

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