Sep 12, 2007 7:56 am US/Central
Mob Trial Jury To Decide On Life Sentences
Convicted Mobster Frank Calabrese Sr. Lashes Out In Court Tuesday
CBS 2's John Drummond and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
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Those convicted are alleged mob capo Joseph "Joey the Clown" Lombardo, 78, reputed mob boss James Marcello, 65, convicted loan shark Frank Calabrese, 70, convicted jewel thief Paul Schiro, 70, and retired Chicago police officer Anthony Doyle, 62.
CBS
The jury in the "Family Secrets" mob trial begins deliberations Wednesday on which of four defendants is responsible for which murder among 18 cases, and whether they should get life in prison.
Five alleged mobsters and mob associates on Monday were convicted of charges in a racketeering scheme involving cases going back more than 30 years. Those convicted are alleged mob capo Joey "The Clown" Lombardo, 78, convicted loan shark Frank Calabrese Sr., 70, convicted jewel thief Paul Schiro, 70, reputed mob boss James Marcello, 65, and retired Chicago police officer Anthony Doyle, 62.
Doyle is not accused of committing any murders, but the others all are.
On Tuesday, jurors heard from attorneys on both sides on whether the four defendants accused of murder should get life sentences.
The jury heard a litany of grisly murders performed by outfit enforcers, a Chicago version of Murder Incorporated.
Prosecutor Mitch Mars charged "murder is a staple of the Outfit… a tool… to eliminate witnesses."
Many of the murders were carried out because mobsters were afraid the victims would cooperate with the federal government in its efforts to crack down on organized crime, prosecutors told the jury during closing arguments.
Late Tuesday afternoon Mars said in rebuttal "[Calabrese] has left a trail of bodies."
Calabrese yelled out "Them are lies!"
Marshals closed in on Calabrese, but Calabrese did not get up; he sat sneering and scowling.
Calabrese is accused of 13 murders, the most among the convicted men . During the trial, he denied being a mob member and said he did not kill anyone.
Marcello is blamed for the June 1986 murders of Tony Spilotro, long the Chicago mob's man in Las Vegas and the inspiration for Joe Pesci's character in the movie "Casino." He and his brother were fatally beaten and buried in an Indiana cornfield.
The government's star witness, Nicholas Calabrese, brother of Frank Calabrese Sr., testified that he helped kill Michael Spilotro while other mobsters murdered Tony Spilotro in the basement of a suburban home. He testified that Marcello lured the Spilotros to their death.
But Marcello defense attorney Thomas Breen appealed to jurors to disregard the testimony of Nicholas Calabrese, saying he was an admitted hit man who would say anything to get a deal from prosecutors that would keep him from the execution chamber.
Joseph Lopez, representing Frank Calabrese Sr., noted that the star witness had put the late Cicero mob boss Rocky Infelice at the scene of the Spilotro murders, which he said took place in a suburban basement.
Lopez pointed to evidence that when the Spilotros were murdered, Infelice "was lying on a couch like a beached whale watching television."
Lopez said his client's brother performed on the stand "like a trained seal -- I thought the government was going to throw a fish in his mouth."
(© MMVII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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