Here's what is in the Chicago Sun-Times tomorrow on the Frank Calabrese Sr. sentencing. More to come.
For decades, Frank Calabrese Sr., one of Chicago mob's most prolific hitmen,
worked in the shadows, escaping punishment for the devastation he left on
the streets and in his own home.
On Wednesday, came his reckoning.
Calabrese Sr., 71, was sentenced to life in prison for what a federal judge
called "unspeakable" crimes in one of the most dramatic sentencing hearings
at federal court in Chicago in recent memory as part of the Family Secrets
mob case.
A jury had found Calabrese liable for seven of 13 murders he was accused of
at trial. But U.S. District Judge James Zagel sentenced Calabrese for all 13
slayings after finding prosecutors had proven them by clear and convincing
evidence, which is allowed by federal law.
Calabrese was confronted by testimony from 10 people who described the
wreckage of their lives after Calabrese killed their fathers, their
brothers, their sons, their loved ones.
"You broke my heart," said Charlene Moravecek, whose husband, Paul Haggerty,
Calabrese Sr. murdered in 1976.
"But you didn't take my dignity," Moravecek said, staring daggers at
Calabrese Sr. "You'll never take my dignity."
"God bless you," the mob killer said.
"Don't even try," Moravecek replied.
The judge noted the case against Calabrese Sr. was unique. Not only did his
brother, Nick, testify against him, but so did his son, Frank Jr.
Nick Calabrese was a mob hitman turned government witness who told the jury
about the murders he and his brother committed.
Frank Calabrese Jr. secretly recorded his father while they were in prison
and got him to brag and laugh about mob murders he took part in.
On Wednesday, another son not involved in the Family Secrets case, Kurt
Calabrese, also testified as a victim, saying his father would beat him "at
a moment's notice" since he was a child.
Calabrese Sr. would threaten to bite the nose off his son's face and said he
could make him disappear whenever he wanted, Kurt Calabrese said.
Still, Kurt Calabrese said he forgave his father.
Calabrese Sr. was having none of it.
"You better apologize for the lies you told," Calabrese Sr. snapped back.
"You, Kurt, were treated like a king," Calabrese Sr. later said.
"You never hurt me, you never beat me, you never threw me down," Kurt
Calabrese asked.
"I hit you with a strap and a paddle when you were younger," his father
replied.
For his part, Calabrese Sr. gave a 40-minute speech to the judge, in which
he denied killing anyone, expressed sympathy for the victims' families and
attacked his two sons as liars.
"I'm not no big shot," Calabrese Sr. said. "All I can want is peace. I would
love to have my boys back again."
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