Mafia man tells of murder that inspired 'Casino'
By Tom Leonard in New York
Last Updated: 1:47am BST 20/07/2007



A former gangster has recounted the gruesome details of more than a dozen murders in the trial of five Mafia leaders in Chicago, including a killing that helped to inspire the Hollywood film Casino.

Nicholas Calabrese, the star prosecution witness and self-confessed killer in two of the murders, has been giving evidence against his alleged former cronies, including his brother Frank, in a Mob trial hailed as the biggest in the city since Al Capone's.

The five - Frank Calabrese Snr, Joseph "Joey the Clown" Lombardo, James Marcello, Paul Schiro and Anthony Doyle - are now in their 60s and 70s. They are charged with taking part in a racketeering conspiracy that included gambling, loan sharking, extortion and 18 long-unsolved murders.

advertisementThey deny the charges. Frank Calabrese's lawyers claim he is the victim of a spiteful brother who has told lies about him, but the accused has also had to listen to his son testify against him.

One of the killings by the Chicago Mafia - known as the "Outfit" - to be recounted in court concerned the Spilotro brothers. Their bloody deaths were dramatised in Martin Scorsese's Casino.

Nicholas Calabrese said that Tony "The Ant" Spilotro - the model for Joe Pesci's character in the film - had run the Outfit's interests in Las Vegas but had angered his superiors by attracting too much attention.

He was lured to a basement with the promise that he would become a mafia "capo", or captain, while his brother, Michael, would be inducted into the organisation as a "made guy". Within seconds of their arrival, Nicholas Calabrese had grabbed Michael's legs as an accomplice slipped a rope around his neck.

While they were strangling him, Calabrese said he heard Tony Spilotro, say: "Time to say a prayer", as he realising he had walked into a trap.

The trial continues.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/07/20/wmafia120.xml