Lombardo, at 78, is arguing he has long retired from any mob activities and should not be convicted of taking part in any recent mob conspiracy. But Assistant U.S. Attorney Mitchell Mars said Lombardo "dummied up" on the witness stand when asked about the Outfit.
Lombardo, at 78, is arguing he has long retired from any mob activities and should not be convicted of taking part in any recent mob conspiracy. But Assistant U.S. Attorney Mitchell Mars said Lombardo "dummied up" on the witness stand when asked about the Outfit.
"Outfit? Doesn't know anything about that," Mars said.
After Mars finished his rebuttal argument, the jury got the case and will begin deliberations on Tuesday, taking the holiday weekend off.
"I submit to you it's now time to hold accountable four defendants, Lombardo, Marcello, Calabrese and Schiro, who've gotten away with murder for far too long," Mars told the jury, referring to alleged mob bosses Lombardo and James Marcello, alleged mob killer Frank Calabrese Sr. and the Outfit's reputed man in Phoenix, Paul Schiro. In all, the government alleges 18 mob murders in the indictment.
Mars also asked the jury to convict retired Chicago police officer Anthony "Twan" Doyle of trying to help his friend Calabrese Sr. learn the identity of a mob snitch. Doyle is not accused of any of the murders.
In his argument, Mars focused on Lombardo and his alleged participation in the murder of Daniel Seifert in 1974. Seifert was a businessman who was to testify against Lombardo in a Teamster pension fund fraud case. But when Seifert was executed, the case against Lombardo was dropped.
Mars presented 17 reasons why Lombardo should be convicted in Seifert's murder, from Lombardo's fingerprint being found on a title application for a car used in the murder, to trial testimony from Seifert's brother, who said Lombardo warned him to straighten out his brother in the weeks before the murder.
Mars also attacked a defense argument involving the murders of mobsters Anthony and Michael Spilotro in 1986.
The government's star witness, confessed mob hitman Nicholas Calabrese, the brother of Frank Calabrese Sr., said he was one of about a dozen mob killers who pounced on the Spilotro brothers as they descended into the basement of a Bensenville area home.
Nicholas Calabrese said all the killers were wearing gloves. Defense attorneys pounced on that detail to bolster their argument Calabrese was never there. They argued the killers wouldn't have worn gloves because it would have been a dead giveaway to the Spilotros that they were about to be killed. But Mars said the Spilotros had no time to react when they were jumped and beaten to death when they entered the basement.
"Everybody could have worn T-shirts saying, 'We're here to kill the Spilotros.' They weren't getting out of the house alive," Mars said.
Thanks to Steve Warmbir
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