'Family secrets' heading to jury

Wrapping up arguments in the "Family Secrets" mob trial Thursday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Mitchell Mars methodically went through defense attorneys' explanations and sought to show why jurors should put no stock in them.

Chief among his tasks was to beat back the discrediting those defense attorneys had tried to put on the government's star witness, Nicholas Calabrese, the brother of defendant Frank Calabrese Sr. of Oak Brook.

While admitting Nicholas Calabrese is a cold-blooded murderer, he pointed out his testimony was corroborated by physical evidence and testimony of other witnesses, many of whom have no motive to lie.

First among Mars' subjects was the 1986 Spilotro murders, which Calabrese said took place in a subdivision near Bensenville or Wood Dale.

Defense attorneys had said the tale was implausible for several reasons, including the fact that Calabrese claimed he and about a dozen other mobsters had gloves on when they attacked Anthony and Michael Spilotro in the home.

Defense attorneys had claimed the brothers -- who were lured to the home under the ruse of being promoted in the mob -- would have quickly been alarmed by the gloves and drawn guns or ran away.

But Mars recalled testimony that the mobsters were in the basement, and that as soon as they entered they were set upon. They wouldn't have had time to react to the gloves, he argued.

Once "they got down those stairs, they weren't getting out of that house alive," thundered Mars. "Everybody could have worn T-shirts (saying) 'I'm here to kill the Spilotros.'"

He also scoffed at the defense theory that the murder wouldn't have taken place in a quiet subdivision because a dozen mobsters gathering there would have drawn attention.

On the contrary, said Mars, the Spilotros' assailants were looking for a peaceful setting so as not to raise suspicions.

"You bring them to a place that's going to look comfortable," he said. "You drive them somewhere where their guard is down."

And he also took on a hole in Calabrese's story that mobster Ernest "Rocco" Infelise may have been at the murders and definitely was at a meeting at a Baker's Square restaurant after the killings.

Defense attorneys had played government wiretaps of Infelise's phones that showed him home on the day of the murders until at least 7 p.m. Calabrese said he was picked up in the afternoon by defendant James Marcello of Lombard the day of the murders.

But, Mars pointed out, there was a delay -- possibly of hours -- between when Calabrese said he was picked up and when the murders were committed.

"The big problem for the argument is none of us know exactly what time of the day the Spilotros were murdered," he said.

Mars then turned his attention to another defendant, Joseph Lombardo of Chicago, and ridiculed his contention that a series of coincidences had made it look like he had something to do with the murder of Daniel Seifert in Bensenville in 1974.

Look at the evidence, Mars said. Lombardo's fingerprint on the title for the getaway car used in the murder, two witnesses who said he bought the police scanner used in the murder, his friendship with the car dealer who sold the second car used in the murder, and a solid motive: Seifert was set to testify against him in a pension theft case.

"You could not put together a run of (coincidental) events like this and have it be statistically possible," Mars scoffed.

And the coup de grace? Lombardo took the stand to admit he often bought police scanners under a false name -- J. Savard. The name was the same one used to purchase the scanner used in the murder, although Lombardo denied buying that scanner under J. Savard.

Lombardo also testified he used the fake name because his boss ordered him to and because his boss liked the Savard family of professional hockey fame.

"My God, what a lame story," Mars said.

Mars didn't forget the other two defendants, Paul Schiro of Phoenix and Anthony Doyle of Wickenburg, Ariz. -- the first accused of murder and the second accused of using his status as a police officer to inform the mob on investigations in a mob murder.

He blasted a contention by Doyle's lawyer that a date Doyle gave Calabrese Sr. on when evidence had been transferred to the FBI could have no significance. In fact, recordings show Calabrese Sr. and others trying to link the date with the date another mobster got out of prison, speculating they might be related.

"He (attorney Ralph Meczyk) said such a disclosure could cause no harm to anyone. Why do you think a man who's committed 13 murders wants to know who the snitch is?" said Mars, implying they would have killed Nicholas Calabrese if they could have. "Here you have a Chicago police officer helping a convicted murderer figure out who the snitch is."

"The only fair and just verdict that you can render in this case is that all five of these defendants are guilty," Mars concluded to the jury.

Thursday's arguments only got under way after a long delay, with lawyers huddled in chambers with Judge James B. Zagel.

Zagel released a statement saying a hearing had been necessary about a matter under seal that would be revealed at the end of the trial. Sources indicated it was a matter related to a jury issue, but was "no big deal."

Jurors elected a foreperson before retiring Thursday and will begin their deliberations Tuesday morning after the Labor Day weekend.