Anthony Spilotro
Anthony Spilotro | |
---|---|
Blunt force trauma, Asphyxia | |
Body discovered | June 22, 1986 Enos, Indiana, U.S. |
Resting place | Queen of Heaven Cemetery, Hillside, Illinois, U.S. |
Other names | "Tony the Ant" |
Spouse | Nancy Spilotro |
Relatives | Vincent, Victor, Pasquale, Michael and John (brothers) |
Allegiance | Chicago Outfit |
Anthony John Spilotro (May 19, 1938 – June 14, 1986), nicknamed "Tony the Ant", was an American
Spilotro managed the Outfit's illegal
He was the leader of the "Hole in the Wall Gang", which he formed in Las Vegas when he moved there in 1971.Spilotro eventually ran afoul of his organized crime overseers who disapproved of his handling of their Las Vegas affairs, and who then arranged his murder on June 14, 1986. Spilotro served as the basis for the character Nicky Santoro in Martin Scorsese's 1995 film Casino.[2]
Early life
Spilotro was born in
Tony and four of his brothers (John, Vincent, Victor, and Michael) became involved in criminal activity starting at an early age; after Tony and Michael's death, his brother Victor would be inducted into the Outfit a year later in 1987. The remaining brother, "Patrick" Pasquale Jr., became a dentist. Spilotro was a boyhood friend of Frank Cullotta, and started a criminal career together as teenagers, engaging in theft, burglary, and murder.[4]
He was nicknamed "Tony the Ant" by the media after
The Hole in the Wall Gang
In 1971, Spilotro moved to Las Vegas to manage the affairs of the Chicago Outfit there.[6] He formed the "Hole in the Wall" Gang, a group of experienced thieves, safecrackers and killers.[4] The crew became known in the media as the "Hole in the Wall Gang" because of its penchant for gaining entry to homes and buildings by drilling through the exterior walls and ceilings of the locations they burglarized.[7] In early 1979, Frank Cullotta moved to Las Vegas to join Spilotro.[4]
On July 4, 1981, the Hole in the Wall Gang robbed Bertha's Gifts & Home Furnishings on
Around this time, Spilotro had an affair with Frank Rosenthal's wife, Geri McGee.[8]
In 1982, Cullotta was imprisoned and approached by the FBI with a
At a trial in October 1983, Cullotta admitted that he was involved in over 300 crimes, including four murders, perjury, robberies, and burglaries.[10] He also testified that Spilotro, his boss in Las Vegas, ordered him to make a telephone call that lured one of the 1962 murder victims, William McCarthy, to a fast food restaurant.[10] McCarthy and James Miraglia were found dead in the trunk of a car on May 14, 1962. McCarthy's head had been placed in a vise and his throat slashed, while Miraglia was strangled.[9] Spilotro was acquitted later that year.[11] Spilotro's defense attorney was future Las Vegas mayor Oscar Goodman.
Death and aftermath
Spilotro and his brother Michael disappeared on June 14, 1986, after they drove away together from Michael's Oak Park home.[12] Michael's wife, Anne, reported both brothers missing on June 16.[4] Michael's car, a 1986 Lincoln, was recovered several days later in a motel parking lot near O'Hare International Airport.[12] On June 22, their bodies were found, one on top of the other and stripped down to their undershorts, buried in a cornfield in the Willow Slough preserve near Enos, Indiana.[12] The freshly turned earth had been noticed by a farmer who thought that the remains of a deer killed out of season had been buried there by a poacher and notified authorities.[12]
An
The Spilotro brothers' fate had been sealed in January 1986. In the wake of the imprisonment of
Although the original reports stated the Spilotros were beaten and buried in the Enos, Indiana cornfield, mobster Nicholas Calabrese testified at the "Operation Family Secrets" in 2007 that the brothers were killed in a Bensenville, Illinois basement first, where the Spilotros believed Michael would be inducted into The Outfit, then their bodies were transported to the cornfield. According to court testimony, when Tony entered the basement and realized what was about to occur, he asked if he could "say a prayer".[17]
No arrests were made until April 25, 2005, when 14 members of the Chicago Outfit (including reputed boss James Marcello) were indicted for 18 murders, including the Spilotros'.[18] The suspected murderers included capo Albert Tocco from Chicago Heights, Illinois, who was sentenced to 200 years in prison in 1990, after his wife testified against him. She testified that, in 1986, she drove her husband from an Indiana cornfield where he told her he had just buried Spilotro.[19][20]
On May 18, 2007, the star witness in the government's case against the 14 Chicago mob figures, Nicholas Calabrese, pleaded guilty to taking part in a conspiracy that included 18 murders.[21] Under heavy security, Calabrese admitted that he took part in planning or carrying out 14 of the murders including the Spilotro killings. He became the key witness against his brother, Frank Calabrese Sr., and other major mob figures charged in the government's Family Secrets Trial. Calabrese agreed to testify after the FBI showed him DNA evidence linking him to the murder of fellow hit-man John Fecarotta who was also allegedly involved in the Spilotro slayings.[22]
In September 2007 Frank Calabrese Sr. and four other men—Marcello, Joseph Lombardo, Paul "The Indian" Schiro, and former Chicago police officer Anthony "Twan" Doyle—were convicted of mob-related crimes.[23][24] On September 27, 2007 Marcello was found guilty by a federal jury in the murders of both Spilotro brothers. On February 5, 2009 Marcello was sentenced to life imprisonment for the Spilotro murders, and United States District Judge James Zagel, agreeing with the presentation made by federal prosecutor Markus Funk, also found Marcello responsible for the D'Andrea murder as well even though the jury had deadlocked on that count.[25][26][27] On March 26, 2009, Nicholas Calabrese was sentenced to 12 years and four months imprisonment.[22]
In a 2010 interview with Maxim magazine, while promoting the opening of the Las Vegas Mob Experience at the Tropicana Hotel, Tony Spilotro's son Vincent claimed that the real target of those who killed the Spilotro brothers was Michael Spilotro and that Tony was killed to prevent any revenge.[28]
Suspect in gangland slayings
By the time of his death in 1986, the FBI suspected Spilotro was involved in 22[29] or 25 murders[30] including:
- The murder of Sam DeStefano on April 14, 1973.[31][32]
- The murder of former Chicago Outfit boss Sam Giancana on June 19, 1975.[33]
- The murder of William McCarthy and James Miraglia.[34][35]
- The murder of William "Action" Jackson.[36]
In popular culture
- In the 1980s Crime Story, the character of mobster Ray Luca is based on Anthony Spilotro.
- Martin Scorsese's film Casino (1995) is based on the Las Vegas careers of Spilotro and Rosenthal, on whom the characters Nicholas "Nicky" Santoro (played by Joe Pesci) and Sam "Ace" Rothstein (played by Robert De Niro) were based. Nearing the end of the film, Nicky and his brother Dominick (Philip Suriano), based on Tony's brother Michael Spilotro, are shown being beaten with metal baseball bats (Nicky's skull being fractured in the process) and then buried alive in an Indiana cornfield by their associate Frank Marino (Frank Vincent), based on Frank Cullotta, and the rest of Nicky's crew.
See also
References
- ISBN 978-0-8020-9403-2.
- ^ "Tony Spilotro". Biography. 6 July 2020.
- ISBN 0-8041-1310-6.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-929712-45-1.
Bertha's Gifts and Jewelry robbery 1981.
- ^ Engber, Daniel (February 7, 2008). "Where do mob nicknames come from?". Slate.
- ISBN 978-1-5040-4162-1.
- ^ Curreri, Frank (November 28, 2002). "News: Former detective fired for Mafia link dies at 67". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Archived from the original on December 1, 2002. Retrieved 2009-10-11.
- ^ "Lefty Rosenthal, Kingpin in Las Vegas, Dies at 79". The New York Times. October 18, 2008.
- ^ a b "A judge refused Wednesday to dismiss murder charges against..." upi.com. October 26, 1983.
- ^ a b c "Indicted in murder, Spilotro free on bond". upi.com. September 15, 1983.
- ^ "Spilotro Killings Not Typical of Mob's Pattern". Los Angeles Times. June 25, 1986.
- ^ a b c d e f "SPILOTROS FOUND BEATEN TO DEATH". Chicago Tribune. June 25, 1986. Archived from the original on September 26, 2018.
- ISBN 0-8041-1310-6.
- ^ "SLAIN SPILOTRO BROTHERS ARE BURIED". Chicago Tribune. September 26, 2018. Archived from the original on September 26, 2018.
- ^ "Joseph Ferriola, 61, Reputed Mob Leader". The New York Times. 13 March 1989. Retrieved 8 November 2007.
- ^ Shaughnessy, Rick (21 September 1989) "Silberman case unable to lure ex-FBI agent" The San Diego Union-Tribune p. B-1
- ^ Coen, Jeff (July 19, 2007). "A plea for a prayer before mob slayings". Chicago Tribune.
- ^ Davey, Monica (April 26, 2005). "In Mob Sweep, Feds Hope to Send Up the Clown". The New York Times.
- ^ O'Brien, John (May 15, 1990). "MOB CHIEF TOCCO GETS 200 YEARS". Chicago Tribune.
- ^ "Albert Tocco, 77, Chicago Mob Boss, Dies". The New York Times. October 2, 2005. Archived from the original on July 5, 2018.
- ^ Warmbir, Steve (May 19, 2007). "Star witness Calabrese admits". Chicago Sun-Times. p. 2.
- ^ Chicago Breaking News. March 26, 2009. Archived from the originalon April 2, 2009.
- ^ Robinson, Mike (19 May 2007). "Chicago's Organized Crime Family: Guilty plea entered in Spilotro hits in '86". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Archived from the original on 18 August 2009. Retrieved 22 September 2009. [dead link]
- ^ "Topic Galleries". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2009-10-11. [dead link]
- ^ Warmbir, Steve (February 5, 2009). "Ex mob boss sentenced to life in prison". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on February 7, 2009.
- Chicago Breaking News. Archivedfrom the original on August 9, 2011. Retrieved November 16, 2019.
- ^ Warmbir, Steven (September 15, 2008). "Sentencing dates for Family Secrets 5". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on September 25, 2008.
- ^ Kersten, Jason (November 30, 2010). "Gangsters Paradise". Maxim. Retrieved December 7, 2017.
- ^ "Chicago Mob Targeted: Goodman, family pleased wit". Las Vegas Review-Journal. April 26, 2005. Retrieved 2009-10-11.
- ^ "Gangster Saga gets put on the big screen". Sun Sentinel. December 29, 1994. Archived from the original on April 11, 2015. Retrieved April 5, 2015.
- ^ Roemer, Jr., William F., The Enforcer (1994), p.90
- ^ Roemer, Jr., William F., Accardo: The Genuine Godfather (1995), p.271
- ISBN 0-06-103048-1.
- ^ "A judge refused Wednesday to dismiss murder charges against... - UPI Archives". UPI. Retrieved 2024-01-24.
- ^ "Indicted in murder, Spilotro free on bond - UPI Archives". UPI. Retrieved 2024-01-24.
- ^ Dwyer, Bill (2021-02-11). "Details of Spilotro murders revealed in mob trial". Wednesday Journal. Retrieved 2024-01-24.
Further reading
- Coen, Jeff. Family Secrets: The Case That Crippled the Chicago Mob Chicago Review Press, Incorporated: 2009. ISBN 978-1-55652-781-4
- Griffin, Dennis. The Battle for Las Vegas : The Law Vs. the Mob Huntington Press: 2006. ISBN 0-929712-37-4
- Griffin, Dennis. Cullotta. The Life of a Chicago Criminal, Las Vegas Mobster, and Government Witness Huntington Press: 2007. ISBN 0-929712-45-5
- ISBN 0-684-80832-3
- ISBN 0-8041-1310-6
External links
- Anthony "Tony" Spilotro Archives
- Chicago Sun-Times: Ex-mobster weighs in on latest case Archived 2007-10-22 at the Wayback Machine by Robert C. Herguth
- Anthony "Tony The Ant" Spilotoro's FBI File
- The Free Information Society – Biography
- Anthony Spilotro at Find a Grave
- FBI file on Anthony Spilotro on the Internet Archive