Chicago mobster Joey ‘The Clown’ Lombardo, serving life in jail for the murder of a friend who was shot by masked men in front of his four-year-old son, dies in prison aged 90
- Lombardo, mob boss of the Chicago Outfit, was sentenced to murder in 2009
- Guilty of killing Daniel Seifert after finding out he was to testify against him
- Continued to claim he had ‘positive proof’ of his innocence up until July this year
Infamous mobster, Joey ‘The Clown’ Lombardo, has died in prison aged 90 while serving a life sentence for murder.
Lombardo, who gained his Clown nickname for his jokey demeanor, was a former boss of the Chicago Outfit, an Italian-American organized crime syndicate that was founded in 1910.
A cause of death wasn’t reported but Lombardo had previously suffered from throat cancer, according to the Chicago Tribune.
He was sentenced to murder in 2009 for killing his friend, Daniel Seifert, while his wife and four-year-old child were present in 1974.
Infamous mobster, Joey ‘The Clown’ Lombardo has reportedly died in prison aged 90 while serving a life sentence for murder
Lombardo is believed to have ordered masked men to beat and shoot Seifert to death after finding out that he was planning on testifying against him in court.
Seifert’s son, Joseph, told a court how he ‘stood frozen’ while he watched his father’s blood ‘splatter the walls and the floor’.
He had been the boss of the Chicago Outfit, an Italian-American organized crime syndicate that was founded in 1910
Lombardo continuously denied having anything to do with Seifert’s murder and up until July claimed he had ‘positive proof’ of his innocence, according to the Chicago Sun Times.
‘In the end, we are judged by our actions, not by our wit or smiles,’ said U.S. District Judge James Zagel when he sentenced Lombardo.
‘In cases, like this, we are judged by the worst things we have done, and the worst things you have done are terrible.’
He earned his nickname for his supposedly jokey demeanor, showcased when he was leaving court in 1981 holding up a newspaper with a rectangle cut out for his eyes.
Lombardo was also sentenced to prison in 1983 for conspiring to bribe a US senator and his role in a scheme to steal $2million from a casino in Las Vegas.
Born in 1929, Lombardo was raised alongside 10 siblings.
He started as a young thief before becoming a driver the the Outfit and rising through the ranks.
Defense attorney Joseph ‘The Shark’ Lopez, remembered Lombardo as a ‘very knowledgeable, very intelligent person’, according to the Chicago Tribune.
At the climax of the 2009 Family Secrets trial – the biggest mob trial in decades – a jury convicted Frank Calabrese Sr. and James Marcello alongside Lombardo for their involvement in ten gruesome murders.
At the climax of the 2007 Family Secrets trial – the biggest mob trial in decades – a jury convicted Frank Calabrese Sr. (left) and James Marcello (right) alongside Lombardo for their involvement in ten gruesome murders