THE government's star witness was an admitted hit man who casually described how he strangled, stabbed, beat or shot his victims, often not bothering to know why the mafia targeted them.
A federal prosecutor on Monday acknowledged that it would be "hard to come up with somebody more cold-hearted" than Nicholas Calabrese, who testified against his brother Frank in Chicago's biggest mob trial in years.
But Assistant U.S. Attorney Markus Funk urged jurors during closing arguments not to discount Calabrese's testimony. The prosecution was expected to wrap up its arguments Tuesday, to be followed by the defense.
Five defendants are accused of taking part in a conspiracy that included 18 long-unsolved killings, illegal gambling, loan sharking and extortion. They are reputed mobster Joseph "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 policeman Anthony Doyle, 62.
Frank Calabrese Sr.'s son also testified against his father.
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"The reality is, as the old saying goes, swans don't swim in the sewer," he said. "... If you want to figure out how the mob (works), you go to a mobster."
Prosecutors said Frank Calabrese Jr. secretly recorded conversations with his father that were loaded with code words but still offered a look into the inner workings of the Chicago Outfit, as the city's organized crime family calls itself.
Nicholas Calabrese testified that his brother led a ruthless wave of murder aimed at silencing government witnesses and rebels from within organized crime. He also admitted to taking part in a number of the killings.
Nicholas Calabrese said he never joined the mob but admitted to doing business with Outfit members.
Funk spent most of Monday afternoon reminding the jury of what he called the "grimmest chapter" of the indictment — the often gruesome details of more than a dozen killings, and how the government alleges various defendants are tied to the crimes.
Funk said one victim was reported to have said "I'm not going to jail by myself," before he was strangled and had his throat slashed, his naked body dumped in a hole at a construction site.
Two other victims were allegedly lured to a closed restaurant, made to appear open by a lit-up beer sign in the window and a jukebox playing "Strangers In the Night." The men were beaten, strangled and had their throats slashed, Funk said, before their bodies were dumped in the back seat of one of their cars
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