In the end, mobsters tend to put their faith and trust in God

If stone-cold murderer Nicholas Calabrese is to be believed -- and a Chicago jury will make that determination -- Las Vegas mobster Tony Spilotro's last request was: "Can I say a prayer?"

It didn't match the image I had of Tough Tony, Tony the Ant or, as I called him, Mr. Spilotro.

Of course, that image is formed partly by the memorable murder scene in the movie "Casino" and by FBI affidavits claiming he killed more than 20 people, although he was never convicted of any murders.

Was Spilotro's final request honored? Calabrese didn't know; he was wrestling with the legs of Spilotro's brother, Michael, while someone else was strangling him. As many as 11 other men joined in the murderous beatings of the brothers in June 1986 in a Bensenville, Ill., basement, according to the Chicago Tribune's accounts of trial testimony.

Afterward, the Spilotro brothers' bodies, clad only in their underwear, were dumped on top of each other in a farmer's cornfield in Indiana, where they weren't supposed to be discovered. The brothers weren't buried alive, as in the movie.

The beating deaths of Tony and Michael Spilotro 21 years ago are just two of the 18 murders alleged in the Operation Family Secrets trial under way in Chicago since June. Originally, 14 men were charged but two died, seven pleaded, and five are now on trial: Joseph "Joey the Clown" Lombardo, James Marcello, Paul Schiro, Anthony Doyle and Frank Calabrese Sr.

Two major witnesses are defendant Frank Calabrese Sr.'s son, Frank Calabrese Jr., and the defendant's brother, Nicholas Calabrese. (Lots of issues in this family.)

Nicholas Calabrese testified that he was part of a hit squad that went to Las Vegas to try to kill Tony Spilotro. He said they tracked Spilotro to his lawyer's office (that would be the former law office of Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman) and checked out Spilotro's home, evaluating both possible murder sites. The Tribune reported the plan was to use explosives or a silencer-equipped Uzi.

Can you image bombs and an Uzi at Goodman's law office on Fourth Street?

But those plans were scrapped, Nicholas Calabrese said, and instead they used a ploy to get the brothers back to Chicago, saying Michael was going to become a "made" member and Tony would become a "capo," or captain.

The Chicago Tribune reported that the reason for killing Tony Spilotro -- according to Nicholas Calabrese, who said he heard it secondhand -- was Tony's affair with Geri Rosenthal, wife of Frank Rosenthal, the Chicago mob's man running the Stardust, Fremont, Hacienda and Marina casinos. Another reason: Spilotro's entrance into the drug trade with motorcycle gangs.

The Chicago Sun-Times cited the affair, Spilotro's killing of people without permission from his mob bosses and his bombing attempt on Frank Rosenthal in 1982. (Rosenthal now lives peacefully in Florida, denying he was a mob front man. After all, he was never charged.)

But it looks as if we can discount speculation from 21 years ago that Tony Spilotro might have been killed because he was on the verge of becoming a government witness just before his second racketeering trial.

If Nicholas Calabrese is right, it was a far more mundane reason.

Self-preservation caused Nicholas Calabrese, 64, to turn government witness. He has admitted to taking part in 14 murders and at one of them, a bloody glove with his DNA would have provided prosecutors with the evidence to charge and likely convict him. So he reached out to the FBI in 2002 while he was in prison and cut a deal.

Frank Calabrese Sr., 70, is also being nailed by his oldest son and namesake, Frank Calabrese Jr., 47. His son wore a wire while visiting him in prison in 1999, sort of the ultimate betrayal in any family.

Junior testified that Senior told him, "The Outfit family came before your blood family. ... It also came before God," the Chicago Tribune reported. Frank Sr. has a religious side. When a mobster he suspected of dealing with the feds died in 2000, Frank Sr. told his son: "What did I tell you one time? Put your trust in God."

But be careful about trusting your relatives.

Jane Ann Morrison's column appears Monday, Thursday and Saturday. E-mail her at Jane@reviewjournal.com or call 383-0275.