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CBS 2's John Drummond and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
CHICAGO (CBS) ― The historic "Family Secrets" mob trial finally began Thursday, pitting brother against brother and son against father. The trial is sure to reveal some of the Chicago mob's darkest secrets.

CBS 2's John Drummond has spent five decades covering the mob. He explained the case is based on 18 grisly killings.

The crux of the government's case is that the 18 gangland murder victims were shot, strangled, beaten and blown-up.

The defendants – Joseph "Joey the Clown" Lombard, James "the Little Guy" Marcello, Frank Calabrese and Paul "the Indian" Schiro – have all been described by federal prosecutors as killers. Calabrese himself was personally involved in 13 of the murders.

"It's about murder, extortion and gambling, but it doesn't involve my client," said Joe Lopez, attorney for Frank Calabrese Sr.

Scully described Calabrese, now 70, as a man who strangled people with ropes and cut their throats. He told of how alleged victims were ambushed in their cars and gave jurors graphic descriptions of the slayings.

And he told them how Tony "The Ant" Spilotro, once the Chicago mob's man in Las Vegas and the inspiration for Joe Pesci's character in the movie "Casino," and his brother, Michael Spilotro, allegedly were lured into a basement and beaten to death. The men were buried in an Indiana cornfield.

A fifth defendant, Anthony "Twan" Doyle, a former Chicago police officer, allegedly acted as a mob go-between. He is not charged in any of the murders.

All five defendants have pleaded not guilty.

Prosecutor John Scully came out of the gate reciting a grisly litany of murders. "This is not 'The Sopranos' or 'The Godfather.' This case," Scully says, "is about real people and real victims."

Scully added, "The [Chicago] Outfit is a secret organization hidden in the shadows."

Scully's statements followed two days of jury selection, during which U.S. District Judge James B. Zagel questioned more than 70 potential jurors before seating an anonymous panel that defense attorney said comprised 19 people, including seven alternates.

Thursday's opening statements were the panel's first chance to hear details of a case that grew out of an FBI investigation, dubbed "Operation Family Secrets," which prosecutors allege exposed a racketeering conspiracy including 18 murders.

The jurors will be identified only by court-issued numbers. Defense attorneys, prosecutors and Zagel's chambers declined to release the numbers of the panel chosen Wednesday.

Zagel asked all the questions of potential jurors, who did not state their names, ages, exactly where they worked or where they lived.

But answers to questions that included whether they have relatives or friends in law enforcement, and their experience with the criminal justice system, offered glimpses into the lives of some of the people who may be on the jury.

"I kept it a secret," said a certified occupational health nurse when asked about what happened when she was a victim of a crime. The judge did not press for details.

A retired candy store owner recalled how her nephew was convicted of what she called "date rape." She answered with a simple "no" when asked if she believed he was treated fairly by the criminal justice system.

And a woman whose brother was convicted of child molestation said her son was discharged from the Navy after he went AWOL. The woman, a security guard at a mental health facility, said her son believed he wasn't treated fairly, but she wasn't sure that was true.

Virtually every potential juror said their experiences wouldn't prevent them from being impartial. The closest anyone came to acknowledging a problem was a general manager for a large janitorial firm who said he had read or heard about the case on the news.

When asked by Zagel whether he could decide the defendants' guilt or innocence based solely on evidence, the man answered, "I suppose."

When pressed to explain, he said he could "probably" put aside what he'd heard if asked to be on the jury.

Meanwhile, federal authorities continued to investigate a fake explosive device found Tuesday outside the suburban Kenilworth home of a son of Frank Calabrese Sr. No arrests had been made, FBI spokeswoman Cynthia Yates said.

Public records show the home belongs to Kurt Calabrese, who is not expected to testify in the case. His brother, Frank Calabrese Jr. -- who recorded conversations with his father while in prison -- may take the stand. Neither son is charged in the case.

Sources said it was not the first time troubling items have turned up at the Kurt Calabrese's house.

A source told CBS 2 Tuesday night that ominous messages have been left in recent weeks on a car belonging to Kurt Calabrese, the nephew of Nick Calabrese. The source also says that dead rats have been found on Calabrese's doorstep.

Those dead rats left on Calabrese's car would appear to be a message from a very interested party with the message, "Don't rat out your friends."

Frank Calabrese Sr.'s attorney, Joseph Lopez, made a motion Wednesday to restart jury selection, concerned the suspicious package incident was too fresh in people's minds.

"We don't want jurors to be fearful," Lopez said. "We don't want them not to come."

Zagel planned to consider the motion Thursday.

The government's case may rise or fall on the testimony of its two key witnesses: Nick Calabrese, a brother of defendant Frank, and Frank Calabrese Jr., the defendant's son. Nick Calabrese says he has been a "made guy" in the Outfit for decades and knows who is responsible for many of the alleged mob murders.

The attorney for the elder Calabrese, Joe Lopez, scoffed at the government's portrayal of his client. "He's like a next-door neighbor fella, a family man," he said.

But it's the Calabrese family feud that threatens to reveal the mob's secrets.

A friend of Calabrese Jr., Frank Coconate, said the son was fed up with being forced to toil in his father's outfit vineyard.

"He's doing this to keep his father in jail," said Coconate. "The father did nothing but abuse."

For mobologists, there was a goldmine of information Thursday. For example, "Big John" Fecarotta, slain in front of a Belmont Avenue bingo parlor, was killed over a turf dispute, not because – as many thought – he botched the burial of the Spilotro brothers.

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