Another tall tale in closing arguments

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... Read more

Reputed Chicago mobster rips into son and brother who testified against him

A suspected mob hit man being questioned in his racketeering conspiracy trial ripped into relatives who have testified against him, likening his brother to Judas and saying his son “could make Jesus look like the devil.” “My brother was like Alfredo in the Godfather; if he wasn't running things and screwing them up he wasn't happy,” convicted loan shark Frank Calabrese Sr. testified. AdvertisementCalabrese, 70, was in his second day on the stand at the nine-week trial in which... Read more

Another Rat Snitch Surfaces

-- It started with a toothache......And another BeeferDr. Patrick Spilotro -- the brother of two men allegedly murdered by city mobsters -- testified Tuesday that he helped authorities nab one member of Chicago's organized crime family when the man came to his suburban Chicago dental office to have a tooth abscess treated. Spilotro, who said he had been funneling information and being a snitch bitch about the mob to the FBI for two decades, tipped off authorities when then-fugitive... Read more

Notable Mob Hits

Big Jim Colosimo -- killed in his own cafe at 22nd and Wabash Avenue on May 11, 1920. Colosimo was then the top mob boss of Chicago. His death, believed ordered by underlings Al Capone and Johnny Torrio, Colosimo's nephew, made way for Capone's rise as Chicago's... Read more

Tony Spilotro

Anthony Spilotro "The Ant"Anthony Spilotro was born in Chicago on May 19, 1938. His family was good to him and he was doing good in school, but he decided to drop out. He joined a gang of other dropouts from the same school soon after and started performing... Read more

Who Beefed on the Mob?

Listing of the Mob Rats, Snitches and BeefersRichard Cain(Sam Giancana's former driver)His role in Cook County Sheriff's HistoryJohn Christopher (Operation Silver Shovel)Robert Cooley (Operation Gambat) Salvatore "Sammy The Bull" Gravano(beefed on New York's... Read more

The Legacy of Tony Accardo

Summing up the late Tony Accardo's leadership abilities, a veteran Chicago mob figure once confided to Chicago American columnist George Murray that "...Accardo has more brains before breakfast than Al Capone ever had all day." Possessing a nimble mind and... Read more

Sam Giancana

Gilorma (Sam) Giancana was born in Chicago on 24th May, 1908. At the age of ten he was expelled from Reese Elementary School and was sent to St. Charles Reformatory. This did not have the desired effect and in 1921 joined the 42 Gang. Over the next few years... Read more

Chicago mob trial opens with blood and gore details

Chicago's biggest mob trial in years started Thursday with a prosecutor urging the jury to forget what they know about movie mobsters and see the now-elderly defendants for who they are: men who "committed brutal crimes on behalf of the Chicago Outfit.""This... Read more