Michael Spilotro
Encyclopedia
Michael Peter "Micky" Spilotro (September 12, 1944 - June 14, 1986) was the brother of Anthony "Tony the Ant" Spilotro
and was an associate of the Chicago
La Cosa Nostra organized crime organization referred to as "The Outfit
".
, on September 12, 1944. He was the son of Pasquale Spilotro, Sr. (1899–1954), a restaurant owner, and his wife, Antoinette. Michael had five brothers, Vincent, Victor
, Pasquale, Jr., called, "Pat," Tony and John. He stood at 5' 6" and no one ever called his "Mike" only "Michael". He attended Burbank Elementary School, and entered Charles P. Steinmetz Academic Centre
in 1953 with his brothers Victor, Vincent, Anthony and Pasquale. His parents, Pasquale Spilotro, Sr. (who emigrated from Triggiano, in the Italian province of Bari, from the southeastern region of Puglia, and arrived at Ellis Island in 1914) and Antoinette Spilotro, ran Patsy's Restaurant. When Pasquale, Sr. arrived in America, however, he had no money, education, or particular skill. Unlike most Italian immigrants who settled in "The Patch," (located around Taylor Street and Halsted Street, a mile from The Loop
), the Spilotros lived at 2152 North Melvina Avenue. Mobsters such as Salvatore "Sam" Giancana
, Jackie "The Lackey" Cerone
, Gus Alex
and Francesco Nitti ("Frank the Enforcer") regularly dined at Patsy's, which was on the west side at Grand Avenue and Ogden Avenue, using its parking lot for mob meetings. In 1954, Patsy, Sr. suffered a fatal aneurysm and died at the age of fifty-five. His brother Anthony would later drop out during his sophomore year and transfer to a trade school with Frank Cullotta. It is thought that Michael dropped out of school shortly after his brother Anthony to follow in Anthony's footsteps. Michael's brother, Pasquale, became an oral surgeon and dentist in the Chicago area, and Vincent lived a law-abiding life. Tony, John and Victor became criminals like Michael. Pasquale Sr. owned Patsy's Restaurant located at the corner of Grand Avenue
and Ogden Avenue
. It was a small place famous for its homemade meatballs that attracted people from all over town including Anthony Accardo, Paul Ricca
, Sam Giancana, Gus Alex and Jackie Cerone. As a child he and his brothers grew up in a two-story wooden bungalow just a few blocks from Frank Rosenthal
's childhood home. His mother Antoinette was a domineering mother. Michael spoke in a dapper Chicago accent and pronounced his vowels flat. He was husband to Anna Spilotro and father to Michelle Spilotro Capozzoli,Paula Spilotro, and the namesake of Michael Spilotro Jr.(born 1978). He had once been arrested for aggravated assault with Rocco Lombardo, the younger brother of future mob boss Joseph Lombardo
and Peter Schivarelli, a former Notre Dame University football player, but the trio had been acquitted. Spilotro's wife and daughter would later testify in 2007 for the prosecution regarding the Spilotro Brothers' involvement with James Marcello
. In 2007, Anna Spilotro testified at the Family Secrets trial about how she reached out to mob boss James Marcello
for help and allegedly was swindled after selling her husband's Chicago restaurant to state Democratic
Senator
James DeLeo
and attorney James Banks, the nephew of Chicago's 36th Ward Alderman William Banks
. Upon hearing the allegations, DeLeo expressed amazement at her complaint to reporters. DeLeo said he and James Banks converted the restaurant into a pizza parlor that later failed.
and through Conrad, also became close friends with Robert's fellow Hollywood actor
Larry Manetti
(one of the supporting stars of Magnum P.I.) and his wife Nancy DeCarl. In a 2008 interview, Conrad described the late Chicago Mafia associate and burglar Michael Spilotro as his "best friend". Michael first met Robert Conrad in May 1954, when Robert was only 25 years old. At the time Conrad had eloped with a lawyer's daughter and lied about his age to gain employment as a longshoreman down at the Chicago waterfront. He was later fired in December of that year for handing out a petition to have his union steward
fired. The two remained close and Michael later appeared as a stick-up man in Conrad's TV series The Duke
in 1979. On the Internet Movie Database
(IMDb) website, Michael is labeled as a dramatic actor. Through Conrad he became close with actors Patrick Wayne
, Dennis Hopper
and Nick Adams. He later was featured in Will: The Autobiography of G. Gordon Liddy
released in 1982, and with Tom Selleck
in the first season of the TV series Magnum, P.I.
, in the episode 12 entitled "Thicker Than Blood" as an unnamed Federal Bureau of Investigation
agent. After moving to Las Vegas, shortly before his death, Michael helped run The Goldrush Ltd. with Anthony and his other brother John who worked as a bookmaker. Michael soon became involved in bookmaking, drug dealing, prostitution
, robbery, and extortion
. Through his relationship with Larry Manetti he had connections in the Plaza Hotel & Casino
when it was under the ownership of the Barrick Gaming Corporation
. Lifelong friend and fellow actor Larry Manetti told reporters from The Chicago Tribune during the Family Trial, "I didn't know Michael was a gangster. I knew him as a guy I grew up with in the neighborhood. Michael wanted to be on TV, that's all. Who wouldn't.... He was trying to be a movie star or an actor, he was having fun. Manetti commented to reporters about Michael's acting ability stating, "He was OK as an actor, he wasn't so stiff." It is unknown if Michael approached any movie production studios for acting jobs, but his performances on television were said to be given "two-thumbs down" by critics. Robert Conrad had the integrity to attend funerals of the Spilotros family, and made to effort to hide his appearances from the press there. But there was no attempt on the part of either Robert Conrad or Larry Manetti to attend the funerals of Anthony or Michael. Manetti had the sense to stay out of the public spotlight. He didn't appear publicly with either brother even when they were alive. Conrad attempted to keep his association sub rosa also and when he struck the jackpot at Anthony Spilotro's Monte Carlo restaurant he quickly left before attention could be drawn.
Spilotro, in 1976, formed a burglary ring with his brother Michael and Herbert Blitzstein
, utilizing about eight associates as burglars. The crew became known as the Hole in the Wall Gang because of its penchant for gaining entry by drilling through the exterior walls and ceilings of the buildings they burglarized. The Hole in the Wall Gang operated out of The Gold Rush, Ltd. Other gang members included his younger brother John Paul Spilotro, Polish-American brothers Peanuts Pancsko, Butch Pancsko and Pops Pancsko, Frank DeLegge, Michael LaJoy, Joseph D'Argento, Gerald Tomasczek, Peter Basile of Wilmette, Illinois
, Carl Urbanotti of Chicago, Illinois, Ernest Lehnigg of Addison, Illinois
, Samuel Cusumano, Joseph Cusumano, Ernesto "Ernie" Davino, 34, Las Vegas, "Crazy Larry" Neumann, Wayne Matecki, Salvatore "Sonny" Romano, Leonardo "Leo" Guardino, 47, Las Vegas, Frank Cullotta, 43, Las Vegas, and former Las Vegas Sheriff's Department Detective, Joseph Blasko, 45, Las Vegas, who acted as a lookout and who later worked as a bartender at the Crazy Horse Too, a gentleman's club, and died of a heart attack in 2002.[5]
Following the botched burglary at Bertha's Household Products on July 4, 1981, Cullotta, Blasko, Guardino, Davino, Neumann, and Matecki were arrested and each charged with burglary, conspiracy to commit burglary, attempted grand larceny and possession of burglary tools. They were locked into the Las Vegas police department's holding cell in downtown Las Vegas. The only members of Spilotro's gang not arrested for the July 4 burglary were Blitzstein, Michael Spilotro, Romano and Cusumano. Meanwhile, Cullotta had turned state's witness, testifying against Anthony and to a lesser extent Michael Spilotro. But the testimony was insufficient, and Tony was acquitted.
" of the Outfit if his brother Tony had not ended up in trouble with the organization. In the end, the Outfit bosses allegedly decided to kill both brothers.
On June 14, 1986, the bodies of Michael and Tony Spilotro were uncovered from a cornfield near rural Morocco, Indiana
. The two brothers had been severely beaten, strangled, and then buried in shallow graves. An autopsy performed by Dr. John Pless, a forensic pathologist who helped conduct the autopsies on Michael and Anthony stated, "Michael Spilotro's Adam's apple was fractured, his nose was broken and kidney was torn, and "there was so much bleeding, almost (his) entire right lung was filled with blood". Their brother Pasquale, Jr., could only identify them with the help of dental records. Spilotro's black Cadillac Deville
was later found at a Schiller Park Howard Johnson's
motel parking lot.
On September 27, 2007, a jury in U.S. District Court found longtime Chicago mob boss James Marcello
guilty in the Spilotro brothers' murders. In February 2009, Marcello was sentenced to life in prison for the murders.
's character "Dominick Santoro" in the 1995 film Casino
is based on Michael Spilotro. Santoro is shown assisting his brother and his crew in beating up a man outside of a bar, spitting in a police officer's sandwich, and later gunning a cop's home. In the infamous cornfield scene at the film's climax, Dominick is the first of the Santoro brothers to be brutally beaten. While Dominick appears to be killed with two particularly lethal blows to the head before being dumped into the hole, the narrator states that both were still breathing when they were buried.
Anthony Spilotro
Anthony "The Ant" Spilotro was an Italian-American mobster and enforcer for the Chicago Outfit in Las Vegas during the 1970s and 1980s. His job was to protect and oversee the Outfit's illegal casino profits...
and was an associate of the Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
La Cosa Nostra organized crime organization referred to as "The Outfit
Chicago Outfit
The Chicago Outfit, also known as the Chicago Syndicate or Chicago Mob and sometimes shortened to simply the Outfit, is a crime syndicate based in Chicago, Illinois, USA...
".
Family background
Michael was born in Chicago, IllinoisIllinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
, on September 12, 1944. He was the son of Pasquale Spilotro, Sr. (1899–1954), a restaurant owner, and his wife, Antoinette. Michael had five brothers, Vincent, Victor
Victor Spilotro
Victor P. Spilotro was the older brother of Chicago Outfit mobster Tony Spilotro and Outfit wannabe brother, Michael. It was not until the 1980s that Victor started to get public attention.-Biography:...
, Pasquale, Jr., called, "Pat," Tony and John. He stood at 5' 6" and no one ever called his "Mike" only "Michael". He attended Burbank Elementary School, and entered Charles P. Steinmetz Academic Centre
Charles P. Steinmetz Academic Centre
Charles P. Steinmetz Academic Centre, formely known as Steinmetz High School, is a public 4-year high school located in the Belmont Cragin neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. It is a part of the Chicago Public Schools District 299...
in 1953 with his brothers Victor, Vincent, Anthony and Pasquale. His parents, Pasquale Spilotro, Sr. (who emigrated from Triggiano, in the Italian province of Bari, from the southeastern region of Puglia, and arrived at Ellis Island in 1914) and Antoinette Spilotro, ran Patsy's Restaurant. When Pasquale, Sr. arrived in America, however, he had no money, education, or particular skill. Unlike most Italian immigrants who settled in "The Patch," (located around Taylor Street and Halsted Street, a mile from The Loop
Chicago Loop
The Loop or Chicago Loop is one of 77 officially designated Chicago community areas located in the City of Chicago, Illinois. It is the historic commercial center of downtown Chicago...
), the Spilotros lived at 2152 North Melvina Avenue. Mobsters such as Salvatore "Sam" Giancana
Sam Giancana
Salvatore Giancana , better known as Sam Giancana, was a Sicilian-American mobster and boss of the Chicago Outfit from 1957-1966...
, Jackie "The Lackey" Cerone
Jackie Cerone
John "Jackie The Lackey" Cerone was a Chicago mobster and boss of the Chicago Outfit, during the late 1960s. He was the younger brother of mobster Frank "Skippy" Cerone and father of lawyer, John Peter Cerone and husband to the late Clara Cerone.He was born to John Cerone Sr. and Rose Valant. He...
, Gus Alex
Gus Alex
Gus Alex was a Greek-American mobster and high ranking member of the Chicago Outfit, who succeeded Jake Guzik as the Syndicate's main political "fixer".-Early life:...
and Francesco Nitti ("Frank the Enforcer") regularly dined at Patsy's, which was on the west side at Grand Avenue and Ogden Avenue, using its parking lot for mob meetings. In 1954, Patsy, Sr. suffered a fatal aneurysm and died at the age of fifty-five. His brother Anthony would later drop out during his sophomore year and transfer to a trade school with Frank Cullotta. It is thought that Michael dropped out of school shortly after his brother Anthony to follow in Anthony's footsteps. Michael's brother, Pasquale, became an oral surgeon and dentist in the Chicago area, and Vincent lived a law-abiding life. Tony, John and Victor became criminals like Michael. Pasquale Sr. owned Patsy's Restaurant located at the corner of Grand Avenue
Grand Avenue (Chicago)
Grand Avenue is a major east-west arterial surface street in the city of Chicago and nearby DuPage County, although it deviates somewhat from Chicago's grid system, as it is diagonal west of Western Avenue. The street runs from the Kingery Highway Grand Avenue is a major east-west arterial surface...
and Ogden Avenue
Ogden Avenue (Chicago)
Ogden Avenue is an arterial street extending from the Near West Side of Chicago to Aurora, Illinois.The street follows the route of the Southwestern Plank Road, which opened in 1848 across swampy terrain between Chicago and Riverside, Illinois, and was extended to Naperville by 1851.The 1909 Plan...
. It was a small place famous for its homemade meatballs that attracted people from all over town including Anthony Accardo, Paul Ricca
Paul Ricca
Paul Ricca, also known as "The Waiter" , was a Chicago mobster who served as the nominal or de facto leader of the Chicago Outfit for forty years.-Early life:...
, Sam Giancana, Gus Alex and Jackie Cerone. As a child he and his brothers grew up in a two-story wooden bungalow just a few blocks from Frank Rosenthal
Frank Rosenthal
Frank Lawrence "Lefty" Rosenthal was a professional sports bettor, former Las Vegas casino executive and organized crime associate. The film Casino is loosely based on his life.-Early years:...
's childhood home. His mother Antoinette was a domineering mother. Michael spoke in a dapper Chicago accent and pronounced his vowels flat. He was husband to Anna Spilotro and father to Michelle Spilotro Capozzoli,Paula Spilotro, and the namesake of Michael Spilotro Jr.(born 1978). He had once been arrested for aggravated assault with Rocco Lombardo, the younger brother of future mob boss Joseph Lombardo
Joseph Lombardo
Joseph Patrick “Joey the Clown” Lombardo Sr. , also known as "Joe Padula," "Lumbo," and "Lumpy", is an imprisoned American mafioso and a high-ranking member of the Chicago Outfit crime organization...
and Peter Schivarelli, a former Notre Dame University football player, but the trio had been acquitted. Spilotro's wife and daughter would later testify in 2007 for the prosecution regarding the Spilotro Brothers' involvement with James Marcello
James Marcello
James J. “Little Jimmy, Jimmy Light” Marcello , also known as Jimmy "the Man" Marcello, is an imprisoned crime boss who was a front boss for the Chicago Outfit criminal organization in the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s...
. In 2007, Anna Spilotro testified at the Family Secrets trial about how she reached out to mob boss James Marcello
James Marcello
James J. “Little Jimmy, Jimmy Light” Marcello , also known as Jimmy "the Man" Marcello, is an imprisoned crime boss who was a front boss for the Chicago Outfit criminal organization in the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s...
for help and allegedly was swindled after selling her husband's Chicago restaurant to state Democratic
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
Senator
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
James DeLeo
James DeLeo
James A. DeLeo was a Democratic member of the Illinois Senate, representing the 10th district since 1992, and is an Assistant Majority Leader. Earlier he served in the Illinois House of Representatives. He announced his retirement from the State Senate in 2010, and left office in August 2010....
and attorney James Banks, the nephew of Chicago's 36th Ward Alderman William Banks
William Banks
William Joseph Panebianco Banks was alderman of the 36th ward in Chicago from 1983 to 2009.- Early career :Banks is Italian-American; to avoid anti-Italian bigotry, Banks' father, currency exchange owner Vincenzo Giuseppe Panebianco, anglicized his name to James Joseph and added "Banks" to their...
. Upon hearing the allegations, DeLeo expressed amazement at her complaint to reporters. DeLeo said he and James Banks converted the restaurant into a pizza parlor that later failed.
B-movie Hollywood career
Michael was childhood friends with actor Robert ConradRobert Conrad
Robert Conrad is an American actor. He is best known for his role in the 1965 CBS television series The Wild Wild West, in which he played the sophisticated Secret Service agent James T. West, and his portrayal of World War II ace Pappy Boyington in the television series Baa Baa Black Sheep...
and through Conrad, also became close friends with Robert's fellow Hollywood actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
Larry Manetti
Larry Manetti
Larry Manetti is an American actor best known for his starring role as Orville "Rick" Wright on the long-running CBS television series Magnum P.I. which starred Tom Selleck as the title character. He also starred as Maj. Pappy Boyington's pilot partner, Lt. Bobby Boyle, in Baa Baa Black Sheep...
(one of the supporting stars of Magnum P.I.) and his wife Nancy DeCarl. In a 2008 interview, Conrad described the late Chicago Mafia associate and burglar Michael Spilotro as his "best friend". Michael first met Robert Conrad in May 1954, when Robert was only 25 years old. At the time Conrad had eloped with a lawyer's daughter and lied about his age to gain employment as a longshoreman down at the Chicago waterfront. He was later fired in December of that year for handing out a petition to have his union steward
Union steward
A union representative, union steward, or shop steward is an employee of an organization or company, who represents and defends the interests of her/his fellow employees but who is also a labor union official...
fired. The two remained close and Michael later appeared as a stick-up man in Conrad's TV series The Duke
The Duke (TV miniseries)
The Duke was a TV series shown on NBC from April 5 - May 18, 1979,This mini-series was about an aging boxer who became a private investigator. This Chicago, Illinois-set series starred Robert Conrad as Oscar "Duke" Ramsey; Conrad was actually a professional fighter in his own early years.The...
in 1979. On the Internet Movie Database
Internet Movie Database
Internet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...
(IMDb) website, Michael is labeled as a dramatic actor. Through Conrad he became close with actors Patrick Wayne
Patrick Wayne
Patrick John Morrison, better known by his stage name Patrick Wayne , is an American actor, the second son of movie star John Wayne and his first wife, Josephine Alicia Saenz. He made over 40 films in his career, including nine with his father...
, Dennis Hopper
Dennis Hopper
Dennis Lee Hopper was an American actor, filmmaker and artist. As a young man, Hopper became interested in acting and eventually became a student of the Actors' Studio. He made his first television appearance in 1954 and appeared in two films featuring James Dean, Rebel Without a Cause and Giant...
and Nick Adams. He later was featured in Will: The Autobiography of G. Gordon Liddy
G. Gordon Liddy
George Gordon Liddy was the chief operative for the White House Plumbers unit that existed from July–September 1971, during Richard Nixon's presidency. Separately, along with E. Howard Hunt, Liddy organized and directed the Watergate burglaries of the Democratic National Committee headquarters in...
released in 1982, and with Tom Selleck
Tom Selleck
Thomas William "Tom" Selleck is an American actor, and film producer. He is best known for his starring role as Hawaii-based private investigator Thomas Magnum on the 1980s television show Magnum, P.I.. He also plays Police Chief Jesse Stone in a series of made-for-TV movies based on the Robert B....
in the first season of the TV series Magnum, P.I.
Magnum, P.I.
Magnum, P.I. is an American television series starring Tom Selleck as Thomas Magnum, a private investigator living on Oahu, Hawaii. The series ran from 1980 to 1988 in first-run broadcast on the American CBS television network....
, in the episode 12 entitled "Thicker Than Blood" as an unnamed Federal Bureau of Investigation
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
agent. After moving to Las Vegas, shortly before his death, Michael helped run The Goldrush Ltd. with Anthony and his other brother John who worked as a bookmaker. Michael soon became involved in bookmaking, drug dealing, prostitution
Prostitution
Prostitution is the act or practice of providing sexual services to another person in return for payment. The person who receives payment for sexual services is called a prostitute and the person who receives such services is known by a multitude of terms, including a "john". Prostitution is one of...
, robbery, and extortion
Extortion
Extortion is a criminal offence which occurs when a person unlawfully obtains either money, property or services from a person, entity, or institution, through coercion. Refraining from doing harm is sometimes euphemistically called protection. Extortion is commonly practiced by organized crime...
. Through his relationship with Larry Manetti he had connections in the Plaza Hotel & Casino
Plaza Hotel & Casino
The Plaza Hotel & Casino is a casino-hotel located in downtown Las Vegas, Nevada owned by the Tamares Group and Play LV is the leaseholder and operator of the property. It currently has 1,037 rooms and suites, as well as an casino and there is more than of event space...
when it was under the ownership of the Barrick Gaming Corporation
Barrick Gaming Corporation
Barrick Gaming Corporation is a private company that was founded by D.W. Barrick and Stephen Crystal. The company formerly operated several hotels and casinos in Las Vegas, Nevada...
. Lifelong friend and fellow actor Larry Manetti told reporters from The Chicago Tribune during the Family Trial, "I didn't know Michael was a gangster. I knew him as a guy I grew up with in the neighborhood. Michael wanted to be on TV, that's all. Who wouldn't.... He was trying to be a movie star or an actor, he was having fun. Manetti commented to reporters about Michael's acting ability stating, "He was OK as an actor, he wasn't so stiff." It is unknown if Michael approached any movie production studios for acting jobs, but his performances on television were said to be given "two-thumbs down" by critics. Robert Conrad had the integrity to attend funerals of the Spilotros family, and made to effort to hide his appearances from the press there. But there was no attempt on the part of either Robert Conrad or Larry Manetti to attend the funerals of Anthony or Michael. Manetti had the sense to stay out of the public spotlight. He didn't appear publicly with either brother even when they were alive. Conrad attempted to keep his association sub rosa also and when he struck the jackpot at Anthony Spilotro's Monte Carlo restaurant he quickly left before attention could be drawn.
The Hole In The Wall Gang
he Hole in the Wall GangSpilotro, in 1976, formed a burglary ring with his brother Michael and Herbert Blitzstein
Herbert Blitzstein
Herbert "Fat Herbie" Blitzstein was a loanshark, bookmaker and lieutenant to Tony "The Ant" Spilotro and the Chicago Outfit in Las Vegas, Nevada.-Biography:...
, utilizing about eight associates as burglars. The crew became known as the Hole in the Wall Gang because of its penchant for gaining entry by drilling through the exterior walls and ceilings of the buildings they burglarized. The Hole in the Wall Gang operated out of The Gold Rush, Ltd. Other gang members included his younger brother John Paul Spilotro, Polish-American brothers Peanuts Pancsko, Butch Pancsko and Pops Pancsko, Frank DeLegge, Michael LaJoy, Joseph D'Argento, Gerald Tomasczek, Peter Basile of Wilmette, Illinois
Wilmette, Illinois
Wilmette is a village in New Trier Township, Cook County, Illinois, United States. It is located north of Chicago's downtown district and has a population of 27,651. Wilmette is considered a bedroom community in the North Shore district...
, Carl Urbanotti of Chicago, Illinois, Ernest Lehnigg of Addison, Illinois
Addison, Illinois
Addison is a village located west of the Chicago Metropolitan Area, in DuPage County, Illinois, United States. The population was 35,914 at the 2000 census. The estimated population was 36,378 as of 2002.The Village of Addison lies on Salt Creek...
, Samuel Cusumano, Joseph Cusumano, Ernesto "Ernie" Davino, 34, Las Vegas, "Crazy Larry" Neumann, Wayne Matecki, Salvatore "Sonny" Romano, Leonardo "Leo" Guardino, 47, Las Vegas, Frank Cullotta, 43, Las Vegas, and former Las Vegas Sheriff's Department Detective, Joseph Blasko, 45, Las Vegas, who acted as a lookout and who later worked as a bartender at the Crazy Horse Too, a gentleman's club, and died of a heart attack in 2002.[5]
Following the botched burglary at Bertha's Household Products on July 4, 1981, Cullotta, Blasko, Guardino, Davino, Neumann, and Matecki were arrested and each charged with burglary, conspiracy to commit burglary, attempted grand larceny and possession of burglary tools. They were locked into the Las Vegas police department's holding cell in downtown Las Vegas. The only members of Spilotro's gang not arrested for the July 4 burglary were Blitzstein, Michael Spilotro, Romano and Cusumano. Meanwhile, Cullotta had turned state's witness, testifying against Anthony and to a lesser extent Michael Spilotro. But the testimony was insufficient, and Tony was acquitted.
Grisly execution
By 1983, Michael was the main point of contact for mobster Joey Lombardo, in Chicago. Michael probably would have become a "made memberMade man
A made man, also known as a Mafioso , made guy, man of honor, or uomo d'onore , is someone who has been officially inducted into the Sicilian or American Mafia . They may also be referred to by some as a goodfella or wiseguy...
" of the Outfit if his brother Tony had not ended up in trouble with the organization. In the end, the Outfit bosses allegedly decided to kill both brothers.
On June 14, 1986, the bodies of Michael and Tony Spilotro were uncovered from a cornfield near rural Morocco, Indiana
Morocco, Indiana
Morocco is a town in Beaver Township, Newton County, Indiana, United States. The population was 1,129 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Morocco is located at ....
. The two brothers had been severely beaten, strangled, and then buried in shallow graves. An autopsy performed by Dr. John Pless, a forensic pathologist who helped conduct the autopsies on Michael and Anthony stated, "Michael Spilotro's Adam's apple was fractured, his nose was broken and kidney was torn, and "there was so much bleeding, almost (his) entire right lung was filled with blood". Their brother Pasquale, Jr., could only identify them with the help of dental records. Spilotro's black Cadillac Deville
Cadillac DeVille
The de Ville was originally a trim level and later a model of General Motors' Cadillac marque. The first car to bear the name was the 1949 Coupe de Ville, a prestige trim level of the Series 62 luxury coupe. The last model to be formally known as a de Ville was the 2005 Cadillac Deville, a...
was later found at a Schiller Park Howard Johnson's
Howard Johnson's
Howard Johnson's is a chain of hotels and restaurants, located primarily throughout the United States and Canada. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Howard Johnson's was the largest restaurant chain in the United States, with over 1,000 restaurants...
motel parking lot.
On September 27, 2007, a jury in U.S. District Court found longtime Chicago mob boss James Marcello
James Marcello
James J. “Little Jimmy, Jimmy Light” Marcello , also known as Jimmy "the Man" Marcello, is an imprisoned crime boss who was a front boss for the Chicago Outfit criminal organization in the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s...
guilty in the Spilotro brothers' murders. In February 2009, Marcello was sentenced to life in prison for the murders.
In popular culture
Philip SurianoPhilip Suriano
Philip Suriano is an American actor, probably best known for playing the doomed Dominick Santoro in Martin Scorsese's Casino, based on real-life mobster Michael Spilotro...
's character "Dominick Santoro" in the 1995 film Casino
Casino (film)
Casino is a 1995 crime drama film directed by Martin Scorsese. It is based on the non-fiction book of the same name by Nicholas Pileggi, who also co-wrote the screenplay for the film with Scorsese...
is based on Michael Spilotro. Santoro is shown assisting his brother and his crew in beating up a man outside of a bar, spitting in a police officer's sandwich, and later gunning a cop's home. In the infamous cornfield scene at the film's climax, Dominick is the first of the Santoro brothers to be brutally beaten. While Dominick appears to be killed with two particularly lethal blows to the head before being dumped into the hole, the narrator states that both were still breathing when they were buried.
Sources
- The Enforcer: Spilotro-The Chicago Mob's Man in Las Vegas by William F. Roemer, Jr.William F. Roemer, Jr.William F. Roemer, Jr. was an FBI agent for 30 years. He is known for his battle against organized crime and being the most highly decorated agent in FBI history. After retirement he became a private attorney for businesses being muscled by the mob...
ISBN 0-8041-1310-6 - Honolulu Star Bulletin Vol. 12 Issue 175 "Maui fest shows film stars under the stars" John Heckathorn
- "Mistress Humiliates Marcello" The Chicago Sun Times Steve Warmbir August 3, 2007
- Doctor At Mob Trial Says Spilotros Beaten To Death by Chicago Associated Press
External links
- Michael Peter "Micky" Spilotro at Find A GraveFind A GraveFind a Grave is a commercial website providing free access and input to an online database of cemetery records. It was founded in 1998 as a DBA and incorporated in 2000.-History:...