Gerald Scarpelli

Gerald Hector Scarpelli (January 22, 1938 – May 2, 1989) was an American mobster and hitman for the Chicago Outfit crime family who later became a government witness.

Early life Scarpelli was born in Manhattan, New York and raised in Chicago, where he grew up the son of a baker in the Italian-American enclave of Taylor Street on the city's Near West Side. Scarpelli, a lifelong fitness fanatic, boxed as an amateur in his youth and graduated from Austin High School in 1957.

A Chicago Outfit associate in the Cicero crew headed by caporegime Joseph Ferriola for several years, Scarpelli gained a reputation as a leading loan shark. He oversaw illegal gambling operations in the suburban neighborhoods of Southwest Chicago. Scarpelli had dreams of being a legitimate business owner, but never realized them. He opened a boutique at one point, but it failed in a few months. His other ambition was to open an automobile salvage yard, but could not achieve it due to his criminal record.

Arrest and suicide On July 31, 1988, Scarpelli was arrested by federal agents for a robbery in Michigan City, Indiana. After being confronted with wiretap conversations from James "Duke" Basile, a Scapelli crew member, discussing assassination methods, Scarpelli agreed to become an informant. Scarpelli eventually admitted his involvement in the 1980 Dauber murders as well as the murders of mob chauffeur Gerald Carusiello and chop shop owner Timothy O'Brien.

On May 2, 1989, two days before a court ruling on his robbery charges, Gerald Scarpelli died after hanging himself in a shower stall at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Chicago. Scarpelli allegedly killed himself because a judge had recently ruled against him regarding the Basile tapes.