Charles Albanese

Charles Michael Albanese (June 13, 1937 – September 20, 1995) was an American serial killer who poisoned three relatives with arsenic in McHenry, Illinois, from 1980 to 1981, in order to obtain their inheritance, bank funds, real estate, life insurance payouts and pension proceeds. He was sentenced to death in two separate trials and ultimately executed in 1995.

Early life Charles Michael Albanese was born on June 13, 1937, in Chicago, Illinois. He was the elder son of entrepreneur Michael Albanese Sr. and his wife Clara (née Kolasinski). Little is known of his childhood, but acquaintances would recall that Albanese was a "spoiled brat who always wanted to be a big shot", an ambitious young man who wanted to earn as much money doing as little work as possible. During the mid-1960s, he worked as a car salesman for Norwood Motors Inc., based out of Morton Grove.

His first known crime occurred on February 1, 1965, when Albanese and an unidentified accomplice, posing as detectives, broke into the home of 61-year-old CTA bus driver Emmett Farrell and stole $160 from him. Following his conviction, his first wife divorced him after six years of marriage and moved away with their three daughters to live in Wisconsin.

At some later point, he married his second wife, but not much is known of their relationship. While still legally married to his second wife, Albanese went on to marry Virginia Mueller in Las Vegas in 1972, during the Labor Day Weekend. The divorce with the latter woman was finalized the next year. Then, unbeknownst to anyone from his family, he contacted the operator of a metal plating company in Elkhorn, Wisconsin, to whom he sometimes sold scrap zinc, ostensibly to ask what would be the most efficient method to get rid of some "pests" in his home. On the man's recommendation, Albanese was supplied with arsenic and instructed how to use it, and over the next few months, he administered small doses of the poison in Mueller's food. Her cause of death was listed as a heart attack. Only twelve days later, Lambert was taken by a similar illness and rushed to the St. Therese Hospital in Waukegan, where she died from what was deemed "natural causes". The sudden death of the two women sparked fears in the locals, as well as rumors that the village's food and water supply had been contaminated.

After this discovery, the McHenry Police Chief, George Pasenelli, ordered a background check on all of the Albanese family members, which included Charles. As they delved deeper into his history, they uncovered his criminal record, possible motives for committing the crimes and the fact that he had been sold arsenic by the metal plating company operator. In the process, the task force learned through a travel agent that Albanese had planned another holiday trip to Jamaica for Thanksgiving, on which he would be accompanied by his wife and mother, Clara.

Trials, imprisonment and execution As two of the three murders were in a different jurisdiction, it was decided that Albanese would be charged in two separate trials: one in Lake County for the murders of Lambert, his father and the attempted murder of his brother, and another in McHenry County for the murder of Mueller. The first would be the Lake County trial, in which he pleaded innocent on all charges. Due to the pre-trial publicity surrounding the case, the trial venue was moved to Bloomington, and was scheduled for May 1982. After deliberation for just over seven hours, the jury found Albanese guilty on all counts on May 18. The prosecution sought a death sentence, saying that despite his lack of a serious criminal history, he deserved to die since he had shown no remorse. Two days later, Albanese was sentenced to die in the electric chair. As his sentence was read out by the judge, he showed no emotion and appeared tired.

That same October, Albanese was transferred to Lake County to stand trial in Lambert's murder. In spite of his claims that either his brother or a random killer was actually responsible for all the killings, as well as his attorney's unsuccessful motion to dismiss the charges due to circumstantial evidence, Albanese was convicted of Mueller's murder on October 26. Days later, he was again sentenced to death. Albanese also received a 60-year sentence for the attempted murder of his brother and 5 years for two theft counts.

In the following years, Albanese attempted to have his sentence appealed and convictions overturned, but all of them were shot down. Albanese made no final statement, but said "Thank you" to the warden before he was put to death.