Stubborn Chicago mafia lieutenant Anthony (Tony the Hatchet) Chiaramonte was slain on Thanksgiving eve 15 years ago, November 22, 2001, shot dead at close range in the vestibule of a local fast-food joint, the first victim of a fierce power struggle at the top of the Windy City mob for control of the Outfit’s Cicero crew. The notorious 67-year old gangland enforcer’s murder has never been solved.
Nicknamed for his weapon of choice on collections, Chiaramonte showed up for a meeting at the Brown’s Chicken & Pasta in suburban Lyon Township, Illinois, just outside Chicago after he ate his holiday meal with his family and met his fate: the Hatchet got pumped full of bullets as he fled a parking lot confrontation with his killer and tried to take refuge inside the restaurant. He never made it in the front door. The assassin fled in a waiting van.
The Chiaramonte hit was the first salvo fired in what turned out to be a five-year period of unrest and acrimony in the Chicago mafia, pitting two factions of the storied Cicero regime against each other in a quest for day-to-day authority in Outfit affairs and bookended by high-profile mob executions. After acting boss John (Johnny Apes) Monteleone died of cancer in January 2001 and the Outfit’s proverbial county seat swung from Johnny Apes’ Southside stomping grounds back to the syndicate’s historic Cicero wing, intense jockeying amongst the Cicero crew elite for the right to call shots ensued.
One side of the feud was headed by the ambitious and power-hungry Michael (Fat Mike) Sarno, the other perceived heir-apparent James (Jimmy the Man) Marcello, at that time still in prison for another two years on a racketeering conviction. Chiaramonte had been convicted in and served time behind bars for the same case Marcello was locked up for. FBI records refer to Chiaramonte as Marcello’s “main muscle” on the streets. In the weeks prior to Chiaramonte’s killing, Marcello’s second-in-command Anthony (Little Tony) Zizzo, was released from prison. He would disappear in August 2006 and is presumed dead.
Marcello, Zizzo and Tony the Hatchet belonged to the branch of the Cicero crew that came up under deceased don Sam (Wings) Carlisi, who was indicted and incarcerated with them in 1992. Carlisi mentored Marcello. Sarno was groomed by Carlisi’s underboss Ernest (Rocky) Infelise.
Chiaramonte began stepping on a lot of toes after he was sprung from the can in 1998, per police documents based on informant intelligence files. On the morning of November 15, 2001, an FBI surveillance unit watched on as Chiaramonte got into a public spat at a Cicero pancake house with Jimmy Marcello’s brother Michael (Big Mickey) Marcello and infamous Westside Outfit strong arm Francis (Frank the German) Schweihs. The argument started at a table inside the restaurant and quickly escalated, spilling over to the parking lot. Tony the Hatchet shoved both Marcello and Schweihs in full view of the two FBI agents stationed in a nearby car prior to speeding off in his brand new $75,000 BMW.
Exactly a week later, Chiaramonte was clipped. Arriving at Brown’s Chicken & Pasta at around 6:00 p.m., he parked his Beamer and went inside to use a pay phone. As he left the restaurant and headed back towards his car, a green minivan pulled up intercepting his progress, causing Chiaramonte to bolt for the Brown’s vestibule with one of the van’s occupants, a burly, gun-toting assailant with a dark-complexion wearing a dark blue Chicago Bears jacket, in hot pursuit. Tony the Hatchet tripped entering the vestibule and the pursuing hit man unloaded five shots into Chiaramonte’s head, chest, face and neck. The heavily-feared mobster was announced dead on arrival at an area hospital.
Outfit associate Bobby Cooper has admitted to being the getaway driver in the Chiaramonte hit. Cooper named Fat Mike Sarno loyalist Anthony (Tough Tony) Calabrese as the shooter. Calabrese is in the midst of a 50-year prison stint for armed robbery and extortion.
Jimmy Marcello emerged from behind bars in 2003 and lasted just two years on the street as the Outfit’s acting boss. He was one of the lead defendants in the landmark Operations Family Secrets case, which was handed down in April 2005. Marcello, 73, was convicted of murder at a 2007 trial.
Sarno, 58, got convicted of extortion at trial in 2010 and is in prison today. He’s considered a top suspect in ordering both the Chiaramonte murder and the Little Tony Zizzo slaying. Zizzo and Sarno locked horns over poker-machine vending routes. Little Tony vanished on his way to a reported sit down with Sarno on ritzy Rush Street downtown.
The post Chicago Mob Still Does Business On Turkey Day: The Outfit’s ‘Tony The Hatchet’s’ Thanksgiving Slaying Set Tone For 5 Yrs. Of Instability appeared first on The Gangster Report.