'Secrets' trial taking a week off

The jury in the Family Secrets case completed a second day of deliberations Thursday without reaching a decision on whether four Outfit figures can be held responsible for the 18 murders.

In a surprise, U.S. District Judge James Zagel's office issued a statement saying the jury wouldn't resume deliberations until next Thursday.

During the trial, the jury heard evidence four days a week, taking Fridays off. It has made its own schedule during deliberations.



The jury's extended break next week was not explained, but some associated with the case said they understood that the time off was anticipated in the panel's schedule. Zagel already had planned to be out of town until Thursday.

On Monday the jury convicted James Marcello, Joey "the Clown" Lombardo, Frank Calabrese Sr., Paul "the Indian" Schiro and former Chicago Police Officer Anthony Doyle of racketeering conspiracy. It is now considering whether Marcello, Lombardo, Calabrese and Schiro can be blamed for any of the 18 murders in the sweeping indictment against the Chicago Outfit. If found responsible, they would face up to life in prison. Doyle wasn't charged with murder.

Mob trial jury asks about 'intimidation'

A federal court jury considering the biggest Chicago mob trial in years has asked for the legal definition of the word "intimidation."

Federal Judge James Zagel told attorneys about the jurors' request late this morning. He asked attorneys to return at 1:30 with proposals on how the word should be defined.

The five defendants are accused of engaging in a racketeering conspiracy including 18 murders dating back to 1970, illegal gambling, loan sharking and extortion.



In the indictment, the Chicago Outfit is accused of using threats, violence and intimidation to discipline members and associates -- and also to collect street tax and juice loan debts.

The jury is in its third day of deliberations

Jury Deliberates Chicago Mob Case

Jurors in Chicago's biggest mob trial in years began deliberating the fate of five defendants Tuesday in a case described by defense attorneys as built on the testimony of "a walking piece of deception."

Prosecutors said the testimony of mob hit man Nicholas Calabrese - who linked four of the five men to a murder scene - matched up with physical evidence at the scene and with recorded jailhouse conversations with one of the defendants.

Jurors also heard from more than 100 witnesses, listened to hours of secretly recorded audio tapes, and saw dozens of photos of crime scenes, victims and suspected members of the Outfit, as the city's organized crime family is known.

Jurors left at 2 p.m. Tuesday, despite indicating last week that they planned to work from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. The office of U.S. District Judge James B. Zagel gave no explanation for the early departure.

The defendants are all in their 60s or 70s, and one alternated between using a cane and wheelchair in court. They are accused by prosecutors of engaging in a racketeering conspiracy, detailed in a 43-page indictment, that included illegal gambling, extortion, loan sharking and 18 murders between 1970 and 1986.

The men on trial 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. If convicted, all but Doyle could face life in prison.

Defense attorneys attacked the case as one built largely on the testimony of Nicholas Calabrese - Frank Calabrese's brother - who the defense said admitted lying to authorities in the past and was only cooperating with the government now to escape the death penalty.

Defense attorney Joseph Lopez labeled Nicholas Calabrese a "grim reaper," a "walking piece of deception" and a man who would "shoot you in the head over a cold ravioli."

Prosecutors said Nicholas Calabrese's testimony matched up with stories that his brother told his son Frank Calabrese Jr. while in prison. The younger man secretly wore a wire for the government.

Nicholas Calabrese linked all the defendants except Doyle to a murder scene. Doyle is not accused of killing anyone, but he is charged with being part of a racketeering conspiracy that included murder.

Taking the stand in his own defense, Doyle testified that during a secretly recorded conversation with Frank Calabrese Sr. in prison, he agreed with much of what the prisoner wanted without knowing what it was, and that the code words Calabrese used were "mind-boggling gibberish."

Lombardo lived up to his "clown" moniker by wisecracking on the stand. He told jurors he's not a member of the Outfit and learned everything he knows about the mob from James Cagney and Edward G. Robinson movies.

Frank Calabrese Sr. told jurors he did business with Outfit members but never took the oath of a made guy.

The prosecutors and witnesses detailed grisly killings, with so-called friends allegedly luring men to their deaths, and bodies buried at construction sites.

In one notorious case, Tony "The Ant" Spilotro, known as the mob's man in Las Vegas and the inspiration for Joe Pesci's character in the 1995 movie "Casino," was beaten to death and buried in an Indiana cornfield.

This is about "the history of organized crime in Chicago," Assistant U.S. Attorney Mitchell Mars told the jurors in his closing arguments last week.

Prosecutors mocked many of the explanations offered by defense attorneys as unbelievable or ridiculous, and they asked jurors to disregard the claim by Lombardo's defense that he withdrew long ago from any criminal activity he might have been engaged in.

"Once you belong to the Outfit, you belong for life," Mars said. "These are people that cheat, steal and kill each other. They can make who they want, they can break who they want."

Lopez urged jurors to think of Frank Calabrese Sr.'s presumed innocence like the white cloak surrounding the cartoon character "Casper the Friendly Ghost."

"As you shut the (jury room) door," Lopez said, "he's still presumed innocent

Two mob trial jurors kicked out by judge

FAMILY SECRETS | Made up minds too early

After a federal judge removed two jurors for already having made up their minds, the jury in the Family Secrets mob trial began its first full day of deliberations Tuesday but went home early without reaching a verdict.

Last week, two jurors in the case communicated to the judge that they had already made up their minds, and the judge, after consulting with attorneys in the case and holding a closed-door hearing, removed them.

Jurors are supposed to enter deliberations with an open mind.


RELATED STORIES
• Mob blog: The Outfit on trial
• Special section: Family Secrets
On trial are reputed Chicago mob bosses James "Little Jimmy" Marcello and Joseph "Joey the Clown" Lombardo; reputed Outfit killer Frank Calabrese Sr., accused of 13 murders; the mob's alleged man in Phoenix, Paul "The Indian" Schiro; and retired Chicago Police officer Anthony "Twan" Doyle, accused of helping Calabrese Sr. track down a mob snitch.
Speculation centered on Schiro as presenting the most challenge for the jury.

Out of all the defendants, Schiro is the only one who wasn't caught on audio or videotape.

Also, only one witness -- Outfit killer and star government witness Nicholas Calabrese -- directly put Schiro in the one murder he's accused of: the 1986 slaying of Schiro's friend and business partner, Emil Vaci, who had the misfortune of getting called before a grand jury on a topic of interest to the Chicago mob.

No Credibility and they are still trying to build a case

Do you believe "The Clown" or an admitted hit man?

Common sense says you dont believe a snitch ratting out someone to save there own ass.

Jurors will have to decide when they begin deliberations Tuesday in Chicago's biggest mob trial in years. They got the case Thursday night after prosecutors made a last pitch to sway them to believe the testimony of their star witness, admitted hit man Nicholas Calabrese.

Defense lawyers have pegged Calabrese as "a walking piece of deception" whose testimony shouldn't be believed, even suggesting that if Calabrese says it's raining, someone ought to go outside to check.

But prosecutors say it's the five men on trial who can't be believed, including reputed mobster Joseph "Joey the Clown" Lombardo, whose lawyers have claimed he turned his back on the mob long ago and therefore isn't part of the illegal activity prosecutors allege.

"Lombardo's word is no good," prosecutor Mitchell Mars told jurors. Mars tossed off Lombardo's so-called withdrawal defense saying, "he withdrew from nothing."

Lombardo, 78, and the others are accused in a racketeering conspiracy that allegedly includes 18 long-unsolved murders, illegal gambling, loan sharking and extortion tied to the Outfit, as Chicago's organized crime family is known.

The other defendants are reputed mob boss James Marcello, 65; convicted jewel thief Paul Schiro, 70; retired Chicago policeman Anthony Doyle, 62; and convicted loan shark Frank Calabrese Sr., 70, who is Nicholas Calabrese's brother.

The trial started in June and prosecutors wrapped up the final two hours of the rebuttal portion of their closing arguments on Thursday.

Prosecutors have used Nicholas Calabrese's testimony to link all but Doyle to the scene of at least one murder.

Calabrese agreed to blab mob secrets to avoid the death penalty after his DNA was matched to blood on a glove at a 1986 murder scene, defense attorneys say. During the trial, he has admitted to taking part in about a dozen of the killings laid out in the indictment.

Marcello's attorney Marc Martin has accused Calabrese of inventing a tale about the most high-profile homicide in the case "because he felt he had to solve the crime to get his deal to save his life."

That's the killing of Tony "The Ant" Spilotro, who was beaten to death along with his brother, Michael, in 1986 and buried in an Indiana cornfield.

Tony Spilotro, known as the mob's man in Las Vegas, was the inspiration for the Joe Pesci character in the 1995 movie "Casino." In the film, Pesci's character was beaten with bats and buried alive.

Calabrese testified that Michael Spilotro was strangled and died quickly, leaving behind only a spot of blood.

Mars told jurors Calabrese doesn't have to account for any lack of blood at the scene, but he explained that the fatal injuries were internal and didn't break the skin.

Mars also told jurors Calabrese didn't immediately give up Marcello when he began cooperating with federal officials because Marcello was paying him $4,000 a month to keep his mouth shut.

"That's what he was paid to do," Mars said.