Read Online PROFESSIONAL KILLERS (True Crime) by Gordon Kerr - Free Book Online
Authors: Gordon Kerr
Ads: Link
overseer of the Mob-controlled casinos there, setting up his office in the gift shop of the Circus Circus casino. It was handy having a desert nearby as that is where several of the people he tortured and murdered during this period ended up. In fact, immediately following his arrival in Vegas, the murder rate increased by 70 per cent.
Spilotro’s job here was to manage the ‘skim’ operation that brought millions of dollars to the Mob every year. He oversaw the employees of the casinos who were embezzling money and ensured that it made its way back to the Mob in the mid-west.
In 1972, ‘Mad’ Sam was living up to his reputation, behaving bizarrely and drawing attention to himself and his associates in his various trials. It was decided to eliminate him and Spilotro was selected to make the hit. He shot Sam twice with a shotgun in the garage of his Northwest Side home, fatally wounding him. ‘Mad’ Sam’s brother, Mario, was convicted of complicity in the murder and was a sentence of 20 to 40 years in prison. Amazingly, Spilotro walked again.
In late 1974, the manager of the International Fiber Glass Company Danny Siefert, was to be a principal witness in a fraud case involving Joey ‘the Clown’ Lombardo, later to become head of the Chicago Mafia, and insurance agent Allen Dorfman. These two men were accused of syphoning off $1.4 million from the Teamsters Union pension fund. But Siefert never had his day in court; he was shot in front of his wife and four-year-old son in September 1974 by Anthony Spilotro and, needless to say, he got away with this one, too.
In 1975, Allen Glick, front man for the Mafia-controlled Stardust and Fremont Hotel and Casinos in Vegas, was having problems with wealthy real estate owner and investor Tamara Rand, over a $2 million loan she had made to him. Rand claimed to have been threatened in May of that year after filing suit against him, although she never made clear by whom. To make matters worse, a couple of months previously she had also filed criminal fraud charges against Glick. Glick complained to Mafia boss Joe Aiuppa about Rand and in November of that year she was shot dead in the kitchen of her home in Mission Hill, San Diego by Tony Spilotro with the help of Frank ‘Bomp’ Bompensiero, another well-known Mafia hitman.
Shortly afterwards, it was Bompensiero’s turn. Consigliere of the Californian Cosa Nostra – known as the ‘Mickey Mouse Mafia‘ – ‘Bomp’ was believed to be an FBI informant and was becoming something of an embarrassment. He was shot to death at close range with a silenced .22 calibre handgun while standing in a phone booth in San Diego. The killer? Anthony Spilotro, of course.
The biggest hit of Spilotro’s illustrious career, if indeed he did it, involved the Godfather himself. Sam Giancana had been head of the Chicago Mafia for ten years, from 1956 to 1966. But he had become unpopular due to his lavish lifestyle and his refusal to cut underlings into the profits of his highly lucrative gambling operations in Iran and South America. ‘Momo’, as he was known, was eventually deposed and went into exile in Mexico. A few years later, however, he was arrested by the Mexican authorities and deported back to the United States.
Not long after his return, in June 1975, Momo was frying Italian sausages and peppers in the basement of his home in Oak Park, Illinois, when he was shot in the back of the head. When he fell to the floor, the body was turned over and shot a further six times in the face, just to be sure. The assassin had to be someone that Giancana knew well for him to be in such close proximity to his victim. It is believed to have been Anthony Spilotro working under the orders of the new boss of the Chicago Mafia, Joey Aiuppa.
In 1976, Spilotro opened The Gold Rush Ltd with his brother Michael and Chicago bookmaker Herbert ‘Fat Herbie’ Blitzstein. The Gold Rush, located one block from The Strip, purported to be a combination
Spilotro’s job here was to manage the ‘skim’ operation that brought millions of dollars to the Mob every year. He oversaw the employees of the casinos who were embezzling money and ensured that it made its way back to the Mob in the mid-west.
In 1972, ‘Mad’ Sam was living up to his reputation, behaving bizarrely and drawing attention to himself and his associates in his various trials. It was decided to eliminate him and Spilotro was selected to make the hit. He shot Sam twice with a shotgun in the garage of his Northwest Side home, fatally wounding him. ‘Mad’ Sam’s brother, Mario, was convicted of complicity in the murder and was a sentence of 20 to 40 years in prison. Amazingly, Spilotro walked again.
In late 1974, the manager of the International Fiber Glass Company Danny Siefert, was to be a principal witness in a fraud case involving Joey ‘the Clown’ Lombardo, later to become head of the Chicago Mafia, and insurance agent Allen Dorfman. These two men were accused of syphoning off $1.4 million from the Teamsters Union pension fund. But Siefert never had his day in court; he was shot in front of his wife and four-year-old son in September 1974 by Anthony Spilotro and, needless to say, he got away with this one, too.
In 1975, Allen Glick, front man for the Mafia-controlled Stardust and Fremont Hotel and Casinos in Vegas, was having problems with wealthy real estate owner and investor Tamara Rand, over a $2 million loan she had made to him. Rand claimed to have been threatened in May of that year after filing suit against him, although she never made clear by whom. To make matters worse, a couple of months previously she had also filed criminal fraud charges against Glick. Glick complained to Mafia boss Joe Aiuppa about Rand and in November of that year she was shot dead in the kitchen of her home in Mission Hill, San Diego by Tony Spilotro with the help of Frank ‘Bomp’ Bompensiero, another well-known Mafia hitman.
Shortly afterwards, it was Bompensiero’s turn. Consigliere of the Californian Cosa Nostra – known as the ‘Mickey Mouse Mafia‘ – ‘Bomp’ was believed to be an FBI informant and was becoming something of an embarrassment. He was shot to death at close range with a silenced .22 calibre handgun while standing in a phone booth in San Diego. The killer? Anthony Spilotro, of course.
The biggest hit of Spilotro’s illustrious career, if indeed he did it, involved the Godfather himself. Sam Giancana had been head of the Chicago Mafia for ten years, from 1956 to 1966. But he had become unpopular due to his lavish lifestyle and his refusal to cut underlings into the profits of his highly lucrative gambling operations in Iran and South America. ‘Momo’, as he was known, was eventually deposed and went into exile in Mexico. A few years later, however, he was arrested by the Mexican authorities and deported back to the United States.
Not long after his return, in June 1975, Momo was frying Italian sausages and peppers in the basement of his home in Oak Park, Illinois, when he was shot in the back of the head. When he fell to the floor, the body was turned over and shot a further six times in the face, just to be sure. The assassin had to be someone that Giancana knew well for him to be in such close proximity to his victim. It is believed to have been Anthony Spilotro working under the orders of the new boss of the Chicago Mafia, Joey Aiuppa.
In 1976, Spilotro opened The Gold Rush Ltd with his brother Michael and Chicago bookmaker Herbert ‘Fat Herbie’ Blitzstein. The Gold Rush, located one block from The Strip, purported to be a combination
Similar Books
