Editing Michael Spilotro (section)

==Death==
Spilotro and his brother Anthony disappeared on June 14, 1986, after they drove away together from Michael's [[Oak Park, Illinois|Oak Park]] home.<ref name=death>{{Cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1986-06-25-8602150373-story.html|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180926015813/https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1986-06-25-8602150373-story.html|archive-date = 2018-09-26|title = Spilotros Found Beaten to Death| website=[[Chicago Tribune]] | date=25 June 1986 }}</ref> Michael's wife, Anne, reported both brothers missing on June 16.<ref name=book1>{{cite book|author1=Dennis N. Griffin|author2=Frank Cullotta|author3=Dennis Arnoldy|title=Cullotta: The Life of a Chicago Criminal, Las Vegas Mobster and Government Witness|year=2007|publisher=Huntington Press In|isbn=978-0-929712-45-1|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780929712451|url-access=registration|page=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780929712451/page/196 196]|quote=Bertha's Gifts and Jewelry robbery 1981.}}</ref> Michael's car, a 1986 Lincoln, was recovered several days later in a motel parking lot near [[O'Hare International Airport]].<ref name=death/> 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 Fish and Wildlife Area|Willow Slough preserve]] near [[Enos, Indiana]].<ref name=death/> 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 [[Poaching|poacher]], and notified authorities.<ref name=death/> An [[autopsy]] completed on June 24, identified their cause of death by [[blunt force trauma]], and had been dead since June 14.<ref name=death/> They were identified by dental charts supplied by their dentist brother, Patrick Spilotro.<ref name=death/><ref>{{cite book |last= Roemer |first= William F. Jr. |title= The Enforcer- Spilotro: The Chicago Mob's Man Over Las Vegas |publisher= The Ballantine Publishing Group |year= 1994 |isbn= 0-8041-1310-6 |page= [https://archive.org/details/enforcer00will/page/272 272] |url= https://archive.org/details/enforcer00will/page/272 }}</ref> The two were buried in a family plot at [[Queen of Heaven Cemetery]] in [[Hillside, Illinois]] on June 27.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1986-06-28-8602160143-story.html |title=SLAIN SPILOTRO BROTHERS ARE BURIED - Chicago Tribune |website=www.chicagotribune.com |date=28 June 1986 |access-date=12 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180926210608/https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1986-06-28-8602160143-story.html |archive-date=26 September 2018 }}</ref>

In January 1986, in the wake of the imprisonment of [[Joseph Aiuppa]] and [[Jackie Cerone|John Cerone]] for skimming Las Vegas casino profits,<ref>The New York Times. ''Joseph Ferriola, 61, Reputed Mobster''. 8 November 2007</ref> a meeting was held at the Czech Lodge in [[North Riverside, Illinois]]. Most of the "upper echelon" were there, including Outfit boss [[Tony Accardo|Tony "Joe Batters" Accardo]]. Accardo had decided to appoint [[Samuel Carlisi]] as the "Street Boss" in charge of Outfit operations to replace Aiuppa. Carlisi told the group that Accardo would stay on as ''[[consigliere]]'' and would have final say, as well as [[Gus Alex]] staying head of the connection guys. He then went on to the first problem: Spilotro, and how things had gone down since he took over Vegas. Mobster and mob enforcer Rocco Infelice said, "Hit him." Everyone else at the meeting agreed. Spilotro was replaced in Las Vegas by [[Donald Angelini|Donald "The Wizard of Odds" Angelini]].

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 where the Spilotros believed Michael would be [[Initiation ritual (mafia)|inducted]] into The Outfit, then 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".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-070718mobtrialjul18-story.html|title = A plea for a prayer before mob slayings| website=[[Chicago Tribune]] | date=19 July 2007 }}</ref>

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.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/26/us/in-mob-sweep-feds-hope-to-send-up-the-clown.html|title = In Mob Sweep, Feds Hope to Send up the Clown|newspaper = The New York Times|date = 26 April 2005|last1 = Davey|first1 = Monica}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1990-05-15-9002090006-story.html|title=Mob Chief Tocco Gets 200 Years|website=[[Chicago Tribune]] |date=15 May 1990 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|date=2018-07-05|title=Albert Tocco, 77, Chicago Mob Boss, Dies - The New York Times|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/02/national/albert-tocco-77-chicago-mob-boss-dies.html|access-date=2021-03-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180705152146/https://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/02/national/albert-tocco-77-chicago-mob-boss-dies.html|archive-date=2018-07-05}}</ref> Another suspect in the murders was [[Frank Schweihs|Frank "The German" Schweihs]], a convicted extortionist and alleged Chicago assassin who was suspected of involvement in several murders including the Spilotros, [[Allen Dorfman]] (of the Teamster's Pension Fund), and a former girlfriend. Schweihs was arrested by the FBI on December 22, 2005. At the time, he was a fugitive living in a [[Berea, Kentucky]] apartment complex. Schweihs had slipped away before prosecutors were able to arrest him and 13 others, including Marcello.

On May 18, 2007, the star witness in the government's case against 14 Chicago mob figures, Nicholas Calabrese, pleaded guilty to taking part in a conspiracy that included 18 murders, including the hits on Anthony and Michael Spilotro.<ref>{{cite news |first=Steve |last=Warmbir |title=Star witness Calabrese admits  |work=[[Chicago Sun-Times]] |page=2 |date=May 19, 2007 }}</ref> 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 [[James Marcello#Family Secrets Trial|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.<ref name=calabrese>{{Cite web|url=http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2009/03/mobster-turncoat-gets-12-years-4-months.html|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090402224052/http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2009/03/mobster-turncoat-gets-12-years-4-months.html|archive-date = 2009-04-02|title = Chicago Breaking News - Chicago Tribune}}</ref>

In September 2007, Frank Calabrese, Sr. and four other men&nbsp;− Marcello, Joseph Lombardo, Paul "The Indian" Schiro, and former Chicago police officer Anthony "Twan" Doyle&nbsp;− were convicted of mob-related crimes.<ref name="Las Vegas Review">{{cite web |author=Mike Robinson |title=CHICAGO'S ORGANIZED CRIME FAMILY: Guilty plea entered in Spilotro hits in '86 |url=http://www.lvrj.com/news/7590527.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090818010544/http://www.lvrj.com/news/7590527.html |date=19 May 2007 |archive-date=18 August 2009 |publisher=Las Vegas Review-Journal |access-date=22 September 2009 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-familysecrets.sunjun17,1,7479574.story?coll=chi-news-hed&?track=sto-topstory |title=Topic Galleries |publisher=chicagotribune.com |access-date=2009-10-11}} {{Dead link|date=September 2009}}</ref> 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 [[Hung jury|deadlocked]] on that count.<ref>{{Cite news | url=http://www.suntimes.com/news/mob/1415863,james-marcello-sentence-family-secrets-020509.article | work=Chicago Sun-Times | title=Ex mob boss sentenced to life in prison | first=Steve | last=Warmbir | date=February 5, 2009  | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090207134428/http://www.suntimes.com/news/mob/1415863,james-marcello-sentence-family-secrets-020509.article | archive-date=February 7, 2009 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2009/02/former-top-mob-boss-marcello-to-be-sentenced.html|title = Chicago Breaking News - Chicago Tribune| date=6 August 2023 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://blogs.suntimes.com/mob/2008/09/sentencing_dates_for_family_se.html |work=Chicago Sun-Times |title=Sentencing dates for Family Secrets 5 |first=Steven |last=Warmbir |date=September 15, 2008  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080925024222/http://blogs.suntimes.com/mob/2008/09/sentencing_dates_for_family_se.html |archive-date=September 25, 2008 }}</ref> On March 26, 2009, Nicholas Calabrese was sentenced to 12 years and four months imprisonment.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2009-04-02|title=Mob turncoat gets 12 years, 4 months - Chicago Breaking News|url=http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2009/03/mobster-turncoat-gets-12-years-4-months.html|access-date=2021-03-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090402224052/http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2009/03/mobster-turncoat-gets-12-years-4-months.html|archive-date=2009-04-02}}</ref>