Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Mob Wives Chicago: Frank “The German” Schweihs

Frank "The German" Schweihs

We have all been curious as to the stories of the mobsters behind the “mob wives.” It’s their stories, after all, that has gotten all the women on a reality television show. How do the wives and daughters of mobsters go on after their men are incarcerated or die?

One of the mobsters we have yet to research, until now, is Frank “The German” Schweihs, father of Nora Schweihs. Frank has quite a reputation for being an alleged enforcer for The Outfit or Chicago mob. He is also reported to have been greatly feared, if not the most feared mobster, especially among members of The Outfit. After two years in prison awaiting trial, Schweihs died of cancer at the age of 78 in 2008 without ever standing trial.

According to what Federal authorities have to say, The German was allegedly feared for his beatings and murders. An indictment in 2005 included 18 unsolved murders and conspiracy charges. Prosecutors believed that Schweihs was allegedly responsible for two murders, that of a Phoenix man who was going to be a witness, and a Chicago business man whose testimony may have caused another mobster to go to prison.

Interestingly, I found a connection between Frank “The German” Schweihs and Big John Fecarotta, the uncle of another cast member, Renee Fecarotta Russo. It seems both men were allegedly connected to the murder of the Spilatro brothers. Schweihs was said to have planned the gun down of the brothers with a Uzi, according to informant Nicholas Calabrese, but the plan fell through. However the Spilatro brothers were later said to have been allegedly murdered by Big John Fecarotta and buried in a shallow grave in an Indiana cornfield.  An autopsy of the bodies determined that there was sand in the brothers lungs, indicating they may have been buried alive. Nicholas Calabrese "turned witness" after FBI showed him DNA evidence linking him to Big John’s murder. That case was dubbed the “Family Secrets Trial” by the FBI. The department of justice has made the indictment available online.

An interesting article online talks about the alleged murder of an 18 year old girl, who was said to have been the girlfriend of Schwiehs, 50 years ago this month. The article can be found at the following link: Frank The German Schweihs Killer Thats All, The Killer of a Girl  And what about his alleged connection to the death of Marilyn Monroe? That remains a mystery, but there has been plenty of speculation as to his involvement.

THE GERMAN
Wine Trademark

And today, Nora is creating a fine, exquisite wine, called The German," to honor her dear father's memory. Stay tuned for the rest of the episodes of Mob Wives Chicago, to see what the reports on the remains in the casket reveal and if Nora finally gets closure to her father's death.

Picture Credit: trademarkia.com

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

You claim you want your wine to fine and as exquisite as the Kennedy's. The Kennedy's have been described as "America's Royalty". You want this wine to be representative of your father. You want to commemorate him in a positive light. So why would you, before this went "public" on the show go on Twitter and disclose that you choose a German Shepherd Dog to go on the label of the wine because it reminded you of the one you had as a child. There is nothing about your family that can be compared to the Kennedy's, except that both families have an unknown connection to Marilyn Monroe, face it Nora. Then honor your Dad with one of the most vicious dogs there is?! Yes, I say that as there is one at my feet before anyone says anything about that! Strange animal to represent your Dad a vicious dog especially since you stated you didn't want him to be known as "The German" any longer.

Chiara, as usual, you have written an excellent blog. Thanks so much for allowing me to add my comments freely. :-)

Chiara Soprano said...

Thank you Anon and I would add that it would be hard to erase all that mob history with the finest of wines and more royal picture. The name of the wine is "The German" right? That name alone is going to overshadow anything positive about the wine.

Unknown said...

It seems to me that Nora’s whimsical and fictitious account of who her father was is nothing more than a flimsy ill-conceived plan for the creators/producers to spin their web of tales about Mob life. I find it interesting that Nora was presented (in my opinion) as a “Lone Ranger” on a mission to do right by her dad as far as his burial was concerned. It never occurred to me that she had other family members and that they might know what actually went down. The lady at the funeral home told Nora that she had to get her entire family’s approval in order to “resume”…lol…exhume the body. So my thought is; why the hell didn’t she seek her family’s wisdom/blessing/concerns/etc. before the show began? Why are we watching her duke it out in meaningless feuds with women who act like they’re still in Jr. high school?

The premise of the show is pathetic and most of the credibility is all but shot to hell. Nora is not going to get what she wants if she doesn’t go through the proper channels. And we’re left with is brawling old broads with funny accents and crazy one-liners.

Are we the viewers suppose to pretend that we don't know the gig is up? I guess I'll have no choice if I want to breeze away the rest of the summer.

Chiara Soprano said...

Ridikulous, Nora has exhumed the body about four weeks ago and there is a blog on that. She got permission from a judge. Sometimes a reality show can't bring in too many people and details for one cast member. We will learn, in the course of the remaining shows, more about the situation as the remains are analyzed.

Unknown said...

As far as having his body exhumed, yes a court order was issued and DNA testing is in the works. I may be mistaken on the last part of that statement though. I would venture to guess that given the way things were handled, an envelope at the funeral home, no family at the burial, her going through the court system & her family not being seen involved in any of this wine making or being mentioned in the process of it, that they don't speak maybe? There may be some bad blood there. That would make sense to me. My biggest issue with Nora is this. It seems to me that she's trying to make herself out to be a "victim" in the sense Pia & Renee hating on her. In my opinion, how can you tell if Nora is telling a lie, she is talking. Yesterday on Twitter someone asked her how long she worked at the strip club and she said 3 weeks. On the show she said that she worked there for 3 months. I did ask Nora about it on Twitter and she DID correct herself to 3 months. Pia has said it was 4 or 5 months. Nora first said she never took off her clothes though. On Twitter she admitted that Christina was correct that "they did lose money with me dancing". Yet something else she has lied about. To get your Masters Degree, you just have to pass your classes, nobody says they have to be A's! Just my opinion!

Unknown said...

I'm glad Nora was able to exhume her dad and whatnot, since that is what the show is supposed to be about.

There are no victims when it comes to the Nora/Pia/Renee mess. Pia needs to realize that everybody on the show look down on her for 1 reason or another.

The fact that Nora doesn't want to be lumped in with Pia as as a "hopeless stripper" shouldn't be surprising. These girls are big on labeling each other and not wanting to be put in the same category as someone they deem as lower in status. Pia is at the bottom of the list. Even if Nora admitted she was also a real stripper it wouldn't help Pia's position.

Anonymous said...

Who should really be looked down at for the "stripping industry" the "strippers" or the "patrons"? That's my question for all of you that keep hating on Pia for what she does. If it weren't for the business man going in there paying her money there wouldn't be a "stripping industry" at all. Meanwhile he probably has a wife & two kids fast asleep at home. So which of those two people are really the worse person. Most of you haters have never looked at it that way have you? No I have never been a "stripper", but I do not judge. God does.

Ridikulous_Moi
Nora first said she didn't take off her clothes. Then said she did but not like Pia does. Then said yeah I danced the pole but I got fired. Just admit it Nora, you were a "stripper". So what and who cares. Just quit with all the damned lies already.

Her not wanting to be "lumped in with all these girls" is because she can't be. She is not one of these girls. This show is NOT ABOUT NORA IT IS ABOUT ALL OF THEM! What these girls are big on is holding people accountable for their words. Do they go about it the right way, not always. Not everyone on the show looks down on Pia for one reason or another, get your facts straight. Just last night on Twitter Leah said if she had Pia's body she would be a stripper too.

Now on to the Renee, Pia, Nora fight. There are no victims? Nora called Pia a whore because she is a stripper. Nora herself was a stripper. Let someone call me a whore. I would punch there ass too. Next is Renee. First I hope you lose your kid, then I have food poisoning and finally the comment about her father! Nora would have been in the hospital if that would have been me! The victims here are anyone that has ever come into contact with Nora. She has proven herself to be nothing but a user, backstabber & liar. It is all on tape for all of America to see & hear.

Pia is far from a "hopeless stripper" by the way. If you payed attention, she got Nora the job and Nora got fired. Strippers generally get fired for giving "favors, doing drugs or not showing up" as I was informed by a friend that used to work at one. They said other than that, it is really damned hard to get fired.

Anonymous said...

What alot of people are failing to understand is that a stripper takes their clothes off and exposes their body to paying patrons. A dancer,Pia, does not get nude. Anyone with sense knows that about strip clubs, night clubs. Learn the facts.
If I opened my home up to my friend, gave her money, clothes, cell phone, etc..I would expect her not to a)let someone bash me and b)talk about me herself. A person can only take so much.If the end result is punching her in the face, well so be it. And I dont understand how anyone could NOT support Renee and Pia in attacking her. What Nora said was down right cruel and offensive to viewers, Let alone Renee and Pia themselves. I myself was uncomfortable hearing what Nora said. Shame on her. Funny how everyone is criticizing Renee and Pia for what happened, but not for Nora for what she said? Or maybe, just maybe, Christina for instigating it? She TOLD Pia to confront Nora, didnt anyone hear that? She called Nora back knowing that Renee was coming and Nora was uncomfortable. Troublemaker much?

Unknown said...

I am not interested in pointing out the fine qualities of a stripper verses a pole dancer. Neither can be compared to a school teacher or cashier at walmart, which is what other people do to support their kids. I am new to twitter so I only comment on what I see on the show. On the show EVERYONE talks negative about Pia and talks down to her like she's a 12 year old.

Who cares if Nora does or doesn't want to admit she was a stripper? Does it really change anything for anyone? Holding her accountable for her "words" ain't going to make a difference 1 way or another.

I never said the show was just about Nora but, her story line was presented at the center piece on the premiere. Besides her dead daddy mission, who else is doing anything really important? Nobody else has a particular goal that they are working towards. Everybody watches the show for different reasons. I don't care to watch the ladies going shopping, or drinking at cafes in the daytime and drinkin at clubs all night. So my particular focus is on Nora's story. To each his own.

I am not well versed in the etiquette of street brawls but, I do know if your ready to lay hands on someone else to harm them you better not cry foul when you get your feelings hurt in the process. Nora talked a lot of smack, but Pia and Renee were also calling her every ungodly name under the sun as well. Why isn't Nora allowed to fight back? She didn't do it with her fist but, she dug in just as deep as they hit her. Too bad if Renee can't handle people talking about her family. Maybe she shouldn't get into fights and she wouldn't find herself in that situation. It's not like Nora just out of the blue decided to go there, she was provoked on both times. If we are going to talk about accountability everyone needs to own up to their part.

Mob Mistress said...

Nora actually started the violence. It seems you've missed some episodes. She actually struck Renee Fec first.

Dancing, stripping, cashiering, teaching are all jobs/careers where individuals earn money to provide for themselves and/or family.

Unknown said...

Nora got snatched down to the ground for hitting Renee, I didn't miss a thing. She took her lumps, that should've been the end of it. Renee wanted to continue to fight with Nora and got what she deserved. It was a fight...as far as I'm conerned, anything goes. You can't pick and choose who gets to do what in the heat of them moment.

Stripping, pole dancing, and what ever else going on in that kind of business will always be looked down on in society. It always has and that will never change. It is what it is. Anyone who chooses those professions needs a thick skin. It is useless to try to argue that they aren't so bad. If that is what you do, own it and shuffle on. People are still going to talk.