For the first time in public, an Outfit killer described in detail who took part in the 1974 slaying of federal witness Daniel Seifert.
Hitman Nick Calabrese didn't take part in the hit.
But his friend and fellow mob killer John Fecarotta did and filled him in later, Calabrese testified this week.
Seifert was killed because he was going to testify against Joseph "Joey the Clown" Lombardo in a Teamster pension fund fraud case, the feds say.
Seifert was shotgunned to death as he opened up his fiberglass business one morning in northwest suburban Bensenville. His wife and 4-year-old son went to work with him that morning and were nearby.
Fecarotta told Calabrese that Fecarotta, James LaPietra, Tony Spilotro, Frank "The German" Schweihs, Joseph Hansen and Lombardo took part in the murder that day.
Fecarotta was a good driver and was allegedly behind the wheel of one of the cars involved in the hit.
Schweihs, one of the most feared alleged Outfit killers, made a mistake during the attack, Fecarotta told Calabrese.
Schweihs allegedly didn't handcuff Seifert properly, and Seifert got away.
Seifert ran across a parking lot to escape. That's when another gunman, allegedly Hansen, who was part of Schweihs' group, shot him.
Then Hansen allegedly walked up and shot Seifert in the head, pointblank, as Seifert lay on the ground.
Hmmm, does anyone think its convenient that Hansen is dead and suddenly the murder falls on him?
Your paper has by far the best coverage on the trial! I saw that Calabrese testified Wednesday to participating in a number of murders...did he say who else was involved?
WARMBIR RESPONDS: Thanks for your kind comment.
There was quite a bit of information about each killing that Nicholas Calabrese described - so much, in fact, that there wasn't room in the newspaper to put it all in.
That's why in the coming days, starting today, there will be more blog entries to detail that testimony.
So in a shamless plug, keep checking out the Outfit on Trial blog.
I look forward to your blogs, and now that you'll be adding the overview of daily testimony even more so. I appreciate it .....if i were in Chicago I would be trying to be in the courtroom every day. Are there many spectstors, is the judge permitting them ?
WARMBIR RESPONDS: There are quite a few spectators, and the trial is open to the public.