Mobster, Tony Spilotro, Fought Killers to Death

Friends of ours: Tony "the Ant" Spilotro, Frank Calabrese Sr., Nick Calabrese, James Marcello, Joseph "Joey the Clown" Lombardo, Paul "The Indian" Schiro, Anthony Doyle
Friends of mine: Michael Spilotro, Frank Calabrese Jr.

A mobster who inspired a movie character warned his attackers before they beat him to death that they would get in trouble, an organized crime insider testified Monday.

Tony "The Ant" Spilotro, and his brother, Michael, had been lured to a basement on the pretext that Michael would be initiated as a "made guy" into the mob, Frank Calabrese Jr. said.

"He came into the basement and there were a whole bunch of guys who grabbed him and strangled him and beat him to death," Calabrese said at Chicago's biggest mob trial in years. "Tony put up a fight. He kept saying, 'You guys are going to get in trouble, you guys are going to get in trouble,'" the prosecution witness said.

Five defendants, including Calabrese's father, reputed mob boss Frank Calabrese Sr., are charged with taking part in a racketeering conspiracy that included 18 killings, gambling, loan sharking and extortion. The slayings of the Spilotro brothers - Michael was killed the same night - were among the murder charges.

Despite his graphic narrative, Calabrese was not a witness to the June 1986 death of Tony Spilotro, known as the Chicago Outfit's man in Las Vegas and inspiration for the Joe Pesci character in "Casino."

Calabrese testified that he heard what happened from his uncle, Nicholas Calabrese, who has pleaded guilty and also is expected to testify at the trial. The younger Calabrese testified he was told Tony Spilotro would be killed because he was engaging in unauthorized activities in Las Vegas.

Calabrese Sr., 69, is on trial along with James Marcello, 65; Joseph "Joey the Clown" Lombardo, 78; convicted jewel thief Paul Schiro, 70; and former police officer Anthony Doyle, 62.

Prosecutors on Monday began playing tapes made secretly by Calabrese Jr. in talks with his father when they both were imprisoned for loan sharking. Calabrese Jr. said he wrote to an FBI agent volunteering to make the tapes because he wanted to change his life and get away from his father, whom he described as manipulative and unwilling to give up crime. The father sat expressionless as his son, who now runs a carry-out near Phoenix, said he wanted to "expose my father for what he was."

Also Monday, convicted bookie Joel Glickman, who went to jail rather than testify against Calabrese Sr., told jurors he paid thousands in "street tax" to the mob and once got a "juice loan" from Calabrese.

Glickman, looking haggard after spending a week behind bars for contempt because of his earlier refusal to testify, said he paid as much as $400,000 in "street tax" over 25 years of working as a bookmaker.

If he hadn't paid the mob for permission to do business, he would have lived in a state of fear, he said.

"Fear of what?" asked Assistant U.S. Attorney Markus Funk. "Fear of getting hurt," Glickman said.

Glickman said that he stopped working as a bookie for six years in the 1970s and went into the insurance business, but that while doing so he got a $20,000 loan for his boss from Calabrese.

"A juice loan?" Funk asked, using a mob term for usury.

"I'd say so," said Glickman, testifying under immunity from prosecution.

Calabrese attorney Joseph Lopez tried to soften the impact of that testimony, asking Glickman whether "Calabrese ever threatened you."

"Never," Glickman said. He agreed with Lopez that Calabrese had always been polite and diplomatic with him.

Thanks to Mike Robinson

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Analyzing Crime Scene Clues

Imagine the heartbreak of having your young child mysteriously disappear from a holiday party…as happened to a northern Virginia family some years ago.

Now imagine you’re the FBI agent trying desperately to solve the case, but with no sign of the missing 5-year-old and little evidence to go on. Your prime suspect is the maintenance man at the apartment complex where the child lived. In his car you find tiny bits of hair and clothing fibers. Will this evidence be your link to the missing child, the break you need to solve the investigation?

In this case…as in many cases like it before and since…the answer was yes—thanks to the work of forensic experts in our FBI Laboratory. After careful analysis, our scientists found that the hairs were highly similar to the missing girl’s and that the fibers were no different from those on a rabbit hair coat worn by the child’s mother. Even though the 5-year-old was never found, this trace evidence—as we call it because it’s small and easily transferred—played a key role in putting the killer behind bars.

Each year, some 10,000 bits of this kind of evidence—shards of glass, strands of hair and fur, paint chips, soil clods, feathers, rocks and minerals, building materials of all kinds, you name it—come pouring into what we call our Trace Evidence Unit on the third floor of our FBI Lab in rural Virginia, courtesy of not just FBI investigators but also any law enforcement agency nationwide looking for help in a case.

There, it is compared, contrasted, and analyzed every which way for whatever clues may lie hidden, usually invisible to the naked eye. A lot can be learned in the process.

Just a few examples: We can tell if a strand of hair is dyed or burned; whether it’s from an animal or human being; what part of the body it’s from; and whether it was shed or pulled out. When glass is fractured, we can determine the direction of the blow and what did the damage. We can take the smallest pieces of building materials and figure out if they are insulation, fiber glass, building tile, bricks, cement blocks, etc.

“It’s amazing how the smallest clues can end up yielding so much information and making such a big difference in cases,” says Cary Oien, chief of the unit.

Here are some more details about the work of the unit:

The people. Highly professional and well-schooled. Along with Oien, the 18-person staff includes: forensic examiners who do the evidence comparisons, write reports, and testify in court … physical scientists who prepare and process the evidence … and a geologist who specializes in mineralogy and soil comparisons.

Tools and techniques. For soil, a technique called “x-ray diffraction” is used. For glass, it’s the glass refractive index measurement (yes, “GRIM” for short). For fiber, we use tools like the microspectrophotometer and infrared spectrophotometer to discriminate between colors and types of polymers (polyester vs. wool, for example). And of course, there are plenty of powerful microscopes on hand.

Cases. More than we can name. But including: 9/11, the D.C. snipers, the ’01 anthrax attacks, O.J. Simpson, and plenty of violent crimes and kidnappings.

Final words. “We’re all about using science to solve crimes,” says Oien. “But there is a very personal side to what we do. Some of the cases we’re involved in—whether it’s a missing child or a brutal murder—are heart wrenching. It’s a great feeling when our analysis helps take a dangerous criminal off the streets. That’s what makes every day here interesting and worthwhile.”

Thanks to the FBI

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Searching for Carmie Guido

I had a reader ask me for some information on a relative of theirs that has passed on that they thought might have a mob association. The terms of the association are unclear. The gentleman's name in question is Carmie Guido. Carmie ran a restaurant on Taylor Street called Guido's. Apparently, you had to place your order through an intercom system.

If anybody has any information that they can share, please pass it along.

Thanks!

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