ANARCHY IN THE OUTFIT

If he was a real “Mafioso” or a “wiseguy”, Vince Moretti should’ve taken this as doing a favor for the top boss, but instead he felt betrayed obviously because the Outfit previously killed his twin brother Salvatore, and on top of that Vincent and his whole family kept their mouths shut and never did any type of retaliation, besides knowing the whole truth. It is possible that Moretti didn’t hate Accardo personally since the killers of his brother and those who ordered it were already murdered or died in jail, such as the late Giancana and Daddono, meaning “justice” has been done, but it is possible that Vincent’s “vendetta” was far worse both for him and his associates. His brother’s murder allegedly constantly fueled his hatred towards the Outfit’s leadership which was responsible for the murder “contract”, and Accardo was the last one from that same ruling panel that controlled the Outfit during those days. One day when the cops raided Vincent’s apartment, the first thing they spotted was the diamond handcuffs which belonged to his late brother, a sign that confirms my previous statement.

So, Moretti decided to “gamble” or in other words, he decided to test the old man’s power by simply targeting Accardo home, and obviously his close associate Mendell also felt the same rage because being a professional burglar is not an easy job, since there’s a lot of pressure and danger involved. Mendell was in his early 30’s and so he didn’t fully understand the respect towards the older mobsters such as Accardo and so, he made one quite foolish decision which will bring the deaths of many Chicago burglars. The so-called dangerous decision was to retaliate directly, or in other words, they targeted Accardo’s "modest" 18 room ranch house at 1407 N. Ashland Avenue. There was nothing really special about Accardo’s house, except for the “small” detail which was a safe that was located in the home of one the country’s most dangerous crime bosses. Or in other words, it was a place no one dared to touch even if the loot was placed on the grass in front of the yard.


First of all, the boys needed for someone from the inside to inform them regarding the location of the safe, meaning Accardo’s basement, and also regarding the safety systems in and around the residence. Finally, they received information regarding Accardo’s travel to Palm Springs, California; on January 5, 1978, and that same evening, the boys managed to disable the house alarm, got in, found the wall safe in the basement, they opened it, took the stash and fled the scene. I really don’t know how much money was gone from Accardo’s safe but when the old man heard about the bad news, he instantly arrived to Chicago and when he looked at the scene within his home, Accardo allegedly became quite mad and “wanted blood”. The problem wasn’t only about Accardo’s ego and boss status, but instead if he didn’t retaliate, the whole organization might become chaotic and won’t follow the rules. Also, if other ethnic gangs heard about the burglary, they might start considering the Outfit as a “weak” criminal organization.


Accardo’s home

Old man Accardo was still a “gangster’s gangster” and so he didn’t need much time to figure it out on why he was robbed and that he was probably betrayed by some of his own people from around his own house, and also instantly ordered the murders of whoever was involved in the burglary. Accardo called upon his old protégé and underboss for the syndicate, Jackie Cerone, and also the capo for the Grand Avenue crew Joey Lombardo. At first story goes that the two bosses, meaning Cerone and Lombardo, allegedly tried to show their loyalty by planning to make few examples of “innocent bystanders”, from their own and also from other ethnicities, just to prove a point so no burglar in near future would think of the same idea, but old man Accardo wanted only the men involved. So, they instantly called both Spilotro and Carusiello to find out on who was involved in the operations, and again in no time they found out on who was responsible which brings the question on whether Spilotro or Carusiello previously knew something about the “job” on Accardo’s home, and if they did or didn’t, backstabbing or betrayal is always the best “exit” to safety within the criminal underworld.

WAIT FOR ME, BROTHER

Either Spilotro or Carusiello allegedly told their bosses that the only guy they knew in the city of Chicago that had special skills on how to disable almost every high-tech security system, was John Mendell. The bosses also received information that Mendell worked for Moretti, who in turn probably planned the whole burglary, and there were also other people involved in the operation. Who knows, maybe when Accardo heard Moretti’s name possibly realized the real picture behind the problem, or he didn’t even remember about it, which I believe was the latter choice. So, as I previously stated, Accardo ordered the murders of everyone involved and also added one small detail such as cutting the throat from ear to ear of every possible target or victim, which in many cases is the sign of many organized crime groups especially the Mafia when the boss orders a murder or murders to be executed in a certain or “ritualistic” way.

Accardo’s “cut-throat” campaign started with the murder of Mendell, mainly because he was responsible for disabling the alarm system and letting the rest of thieves to enter Accardo’s home. In January 1978, Mendell received a phone call from Cicero-South Side associate Ronnie Jarrett who in turn told Mendell that he had something “good” for him. Story goes that Jarrett brought Mendell to a garage where he was greeted by the Calabrese brothers and Frank Saladino from the Chinatown crew, and everyone wore plastic gloves on their hands, except for Mendell. He was first tortured for a while and in the end, they killed him. Mendell’s dead corpse appeared almost a month later or on February 20, 1978, in a trunk of car on the city’s South Side. He had countless cigarette burns all over his body and multiple stab wounds and his throat was cut from ear to ear, a sign of respect for old man Accardo.


Ronald Jarrett

Before he was killed or during the torture, Mendell probably “sang” a little bit regarding the question on who planned the burglary and so, next in line on the Outfit’s “hit list” became Vince Moretti, followed by his whole burglary crew, meaning from that point on, the so-called domino effect of the fallen victims began that same moment. The second unlucky guy was Bernard Ryan who fell on the same old trick by allegedly receiving a phone call from Elmwood Park caporegime John DiFronzo, who in turn told Ryan that he had some job which involved golden coins. Later, Ryan’s corpse appeared in the trunk of his 1976 Lincoln, which was parked in Stone Park area. Ryan’s throat was also cut multiple times and on top of that, he was shot four times in the head, the same violent death which the late Mendell previously received.

It seems that after the murders of both Mendell and Ryan, none of the other burglars made any type of move, like fleeing the country or kill some of Accardo’s men. It was like they knew that it was all over, and acted like some type of “kamikaze” on a suicide mission. For example, Vince Moretti was walking the city’s streets like nothing ever happened, and so in January 1978, Moretti together with his longtime associate Donald Renno were driving around the Cicero area, when suddenly a black van crossed their path, while three guys with ski-masks and guns pulled them out of their car, placed them in the back of the van, and sped off into an unknown direction. The two dead bodies of Moretti and Renno appeared on February 4, in the trunk of Renno’s Cadillac which was parked in the lot of Esther’s Place at 5009 South Central Avenue, Stickney. The victims’ faces were all burned with an acetylene torch, their torsos were all cut open and some of the internal organs were removed, and they were also castrated, and the finally their throats were slashed.

Two days before the two bodies were discovered, the well-dressed corpse of Moretti’s close associate Steve Garcia also popped up in the trunk of a rental car, which was parked at the Sheraton O’Hare Hotel on Manheim Road. Same as the other victims, Garcia’s throat was also cut multiple times which indicates that it was the same killers. Because of all of the numerous Outfit-related murders that occurred during the 1970’s, not just because of the burglary of Accardo’s home but also about many other stuff, other local crime gangs began using the same methods in eliminating their rivals, so the cops would think that it was a Mafia-related murder.


Garcia’s corpse

For example, one drug dealer known as Bobby Hertogs disappeared on March 30, and on April 6, 1978, his body was found in the trunk of a stolen car which was left on a parking lot at 3552 West Grand Avenue on the city’s Near West Side. He was shot several times and his throat was cut from ear to ear. In reality, Hertogs was killed on the orders of Chicago drug kingpin Jack Farmer, who in turn copied the same method of the Outfit’s hit teams and so many investigators were manipulated and at the same time confused regarding most murders, after the Hertogs’ situation. Another example is when one prominent burglar known as John McDonald was found shot in the head and neck in an alley behind 446 North Racine Avenue on the city’s Northwest Side. The investigators again had trouble in connecting the murder to a certain criminal organization, but the reality was that McDonald was lured or killed on the orders from the Outfit by his long-time companions John Borsellino and Gerry Carusiello. Some speculated that McDonald’s murder was sanctioned by the Outfit but for a different reason which allegedly had nothing to do with Accardo’s home. Anyways, as the alleged murder list went on, in September 1979, Carusiello was also killed on the Outfit’s orders and according to witnesses, his last words were “Don’t shoot me!”.

I personally believe that Accardo’s “hunt” ended with his caretaker Mike Volpe who in turn previously gave some “touchy” testimony regarding the murders and so one day, Volpe left Accardo’s home and was never seen or heard from ever again. In Accardo’s mind Volpe talked and was probably the “inside man” for the burglary of his home, and so he had to go. Same as many other researchers, I also have one detailed article regarding the burglary of Accardo’s home which I personally wrote back in 2017 or around seven years ago, but this project is mainly about the Moretti family since none of those same researchers ever made a project on the brothers, and so I’ll stop here regarding the Accardo situation.

EPILOGUE

The Moretti family was like any other Italian family that chose the wrong path and ended up in a great disaster with two sons, brothers, husbands and also fathers being killed by members of the local Italian Mafia. In fact, both Sal and Vince Moretti were associates of the so-called Chicago Outfit, especially Sal who almost became a “made member” of the Mafia but because of one small mistake, he ended up dead and never got what he really wanted, and that was to become a member of the city’s most powerful crime syndicate. As I previously stated, I also believe that their mother’s political connections played a major role in the releases of the notorious brothers whenever they did something wrong, and even Mike Moretti served only 16 years out of a life imprisonment, which was a big deal and also a national scandal, meaning not even the most powerful imprisoned crime bosses at the time weren’t able to pull off such a thing.

No matter the power and money, in the end the brutal deaths of the twins, Sal and Vince, remained as two “black spots” on the souls of their loved ones, who in turn possibly carry them even today. Seven years after the murder of Vince Moretti, in November 1985, his older brother Lorenzo aka Lawrence “Hornsby” Moretti died of natural causes, followed by Pasquale aka Patrick Moretti in October 1992. It seems that none of their siblings were involved in crime, including Mike Jr. and Daniel Moretti who during their younger days were no different than their father and uncles. I personally believe that the real “antidote” for the “bad blood” within the Moretti family was probably their numerous children, grandkids and also great-grandchildren, meaning the family’s dark history was easily erased by their long and quite fruitful legacy.

Cheers