Nicholas Seifert, a son of slain federal witness Daniel Seifert, has been checking out the Outfit on Trial blog, and some of the posts concern him, Seifert said in an interview Monday.
Several posters have questioned why federal prosecutors are going after Joseph Lombardo, who is now 78, for the Seifert murder in 1974 and other alleged misdeeds that are decades old.
"Lombardo may have supposedly changed his ways and everything else, it doesn't change any crimes he did in the past," Seifert said.
Seifert believes some people who comment on the blog are forgeting about the families of the victims.
"I think rather than snapping to a decision, people should think of the families affected by this," Seifert said.
He came to the defense of Pat Spilotro, a dentist and brother of slain gangsters Anthony and Michael Spilotro.
Pat Spilotro turned Joseph "Joey the Clown" Lombardo into the FBI when he was on the lam. Spilotro had spent years trying to get answers on who killed his brothers - just as Nick Seifert has concerning his father's killers.
Spilotro took the stand in the federal case, earning him the moniker "Dr. Rat" Spilotro from some posters.
"I find it offensive, the people who are making these comments, they don't know the grief or pain that Pat Spilotro went through," Seifert said.
"That's one thing you can't do in life, you can't pick your family.
"Sure, he wasn't ignorant of what his brother did, but he can't take responsibility for what his brother did.
"It took great courage to get up on the stand."
Clearly, whether or not Lombardo has changed his ways doesn’t make up for the crimes he has done in the past.
The bloggers defending Lombardo aren't necessarily defending Lombardo. They are stating that in their opinion the government’s case against Lombardo is weak and that they feel he shouldn’t have been brought up on these charges.
I understand that the Seifert family wants justice; if Nicholas Calabrese never flipped the government would have never brought up this case against Lombardo.
The evidence in the case really hasn’t changed that much since 1975, what has changed is that the federal prosecutor (with the help of Nicholas Calabrese) has an opportunity to put a major dent into organized crime.
So they figure they might as well try anyone they can under this cloud of guilt brought on by Nicholas Calabrese even if one of the men tried doesn’t get convicted the Feds are going to come out of this looking like Elliot Ness.
They really have nothing to lose. It is kind of like the logic of lets throw enough s*** on the wall and see what sticks.
I realize the Seifert family would like some closure on Daniel Seifert's death, but at the same time Lombardo is considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
"I think rather than snapping to a decision, people should think of the families affected by this," Seifert said , does that mean we should ignore the whole innocent until proven guilty thing ?
Also, I assure you that Nicholas Seifert’s view on Dr. Pat Spilotoro would be much different if the Spilotoro brothers were implicated in his father’s murder.
In regards to Dr. Spilotoro his brothers chose a different path with their lives than himself and they unfortunately they had to abide by that lifestyles rules.
When a doctor makes an error or several errors that doctor is disbarred and can no longer practice, in organized when you mess up you pay with your life.
The Spilotoro brothers new what they were getting into when they decided to live this lifestyle.
They were allegedly responsible for a number of murders and I hate to sound cliché but "You live by the sword, you die by the sword".
In short, this is a blog people are going ask questions and express opinions not everyone is going to agree.
If you can't handle reading the opinion of others, I suggest you stick to reading the "facts" that are printed in the daily paper and stay off of the blogs !
STEVE WARMBIR RESPONDS: Point of clarification on the above post.
Anthony Spilotro was implicated in the Seifert murder in court testimony.
I remember the day your dad was murdered, Nicholas. I have no doubt who did it. Not then, not now. Keep the faith.
Alright, already, I know steve can't answer this, was Lombardo ever a high=ranking member of the Outfit? Because I think so.
I think he's not as vicious as the other capos, which is misleading, so I think he's directly involved with the outfit.
It may be DiFronzo, Marcello and then Lombardo.
Am I wrong?
Mr Seifert
We are sympathetic to your loss, and that of your entire family.
Unfortunately, your dad was involved with a situation in which he had no qualms about gaining for his own personal interest.
We can't pick our parents nor are we responsible for what they do and we love them no matter what.
Your dad chose to affiliate with these people ,if he wasn't involved he wouldn't have been granted access to information that he was sharing with the FEDs. He must have been trusted on some level, I'm sure you realize that.
Of course it painful to lose your father, no one is suggesting otherwise.
Perhaps part of the pain is having to come to terms with the fact that your dad knowingly stepped into a situation which cost him his life,both getting involved with the outfit in the first place and then working with the government.
Don't you think he knew what he was doing? If it was all innocent, I'm interested in knowing what you think he thought he was doing.
There are only tales of Lombardos involvement as far as I can see, which amount to nothing in the true justice system.
No one wants a murderer set free but we all want to know the system works the way its designed to.
Lombardo doesn't deserve to live the rest of his life behind bars based on a partial print and a bunch of hearsay.