John Fecarotta was part of the hit team that was sent to Las Vegas in the mid-1980s to kill the Outfit's man in Las Vegas, Anthony Spilotro.
Spilotro was bringing heat to the mob's cash cow, and he had to go.
The team didn't get the job done, and what's worse, Fecarotta made some grievous errors, according to testimony in the Family Secrets trial this week. Frank Calabrese Jr. told jurors what he learned of the botched hit from his uncle, admitted Outfit killer, Nick Calabrese, who was part of the hit team.
For starters, there was talk that Fecarotta brought his girlfriend along on the job.
Fecarotta was also spending a lot of money, which made people ask questions.
When Fecarotta won big in the casino, he had Nick Calabrese sign his name for the winnings.
This displeased the Outfit back home because the members of the hit team were traveling under fake identities. By having Nick Calabrese sign the paper, it put him in Las Vegas at the time of the planned hit.
Soon after, once the team returned home, "Big John" Fecarotta was dead, the victim of an Outfit hit at the hands of Nick Calabrese.
What "botched" the hit? From what i've read they didn't even realize how stupid they were to be so high profile until they returned to Chicago...so what was it that this guy supposedly did so wrong that he was killed?
WARMBIR RESPONDS: Prosecutors have presented a few reasons for the death of Tony Spilotro.
He was sleeping with the wife of a mob associate, Lefty Rosenthal.
As Frank Calabrese Sr. says in one of the secret recordings made of him in prison: "That's a no, no."
Spilotro also tried to blow up Rosenthal, without Outfit permission.
And Spilotro was talking big, saying he was going to take over the mob.
The hit attempt in Las Vegas on Spilotro was a failure. One hit team member, Frank Schweihs, allegedly suggested shooting Spilotro as he was coming down the courthouse steps after he left a court hearing.
But this was rejected as impractical.
A member of the hit team, John Fecarotta, erred in a few ways out in Las Vegas.
He allegedly brought his girlfriend, spent too much money and had Nick Calabrese sign his real name to casino winnings that Fecarotta made.
Hit team members went to great lengths to have fake IDs, so if the hit was completed, Nick Calabrese's signature would have established he was in Las Vegas at the time.
The hit team, however, did accomplish one goal. They killed another man, Emil Vaci, in Arizona. Outfit leaders believed Vaci was to be a witness in a grand jury and got rid of him.
Thanks for your response. I didn''t realize that they had called off the hit when they realized they were too high profile in Vegas. I was under the impression they tried and failed. I haven''t heard who the "hit team" on the first attempt was, in fact I'm not even clear on who all were (allegedly) present in Tony Spilotro's murder. Can you enlighten me....and also tell me more about the "success" of the trip with the killing of Emil Vaci.
Thanks again ! I enjoy your website very much , it helps keep me up to date on the happenings even when i miss a day .
WARMBIR RESPONDS: The men called off the hit in Las Vegas because they were having problems finding an opportune time to do it.
Prosecutors haven't yet specified all the members on the Vegas hit team, but some of the men allegedly involved were John Fecarotta, Frank Schweihs and Nick Calabrese.
The men allegedly involved in the killing of Emil Vaci were John Fecarotta, Joseph Hansen, James DiForti, James LaPietra, Nicholas Calabrese, Frank Schweihs and Paul Schiro.
Vaci was a long-time friend of Schiro's, but Schiro still allegedly helped the Outfit kill him when mob leaders feared Vaci was doing them damage as a grand jury witness.
Vaci was thrown into a van, and Nick Calabrese shot him in the head several times, prosecutors say.
More details on the Vaci hit and the attempt on Tony Spilotro out in Las Vegas will come out during the testimony of Nick Calabrese, the brother of Frank Calabrese Sr.
Also to clear up a point in another posting you submitted Laura,. Frank Calabrese Jr. has no charges pending against him.
Nick Calabrese decided to testify against his brother after DNA evidence linked him to a 1986 mob murder. Nick Calabrese has admitted to at least 14 murders and pleaded guilty in the case.
HAVE THEY SPELLED OUT THE VACI HIT? WE ALL APPRECIATE EVERY DETAIL OF WHO , WHAT AND HOW . WAS CALABRESE ALL ALONE ON THE FERACOTTA HIT? THAT SOUNDS A LITTLE WRONG DOESNT IT?
WARMBIR RESPONDS: Every day, I'll give details in a blog item on a hit that Nicholas Calabrese participated in- material there wasn't room for in the paper.
So in a shameless plug for the blog, keep on checking it out.