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Not long after Jerry Lisner’s murder, another event took place that impacted on the lives of the Rosenthals and Tony Spilotro.
As time went by, both Geri and Tony had become increasingly careless about keeping their adultery under wraps.
“Spilotro openly flaunted his relationship with Geri as a show of power. He could have had dozens of women, younger and prettier. It was a stupid thing to do,” Kent Clifford said.
For Geri’s part, early in the year she began appearing in her favorite haunts all decked out in a mink coat and diamond ring that generated ooohs and ahhhs from her cronies. She wasn’t shy about divulging the source of the adornments: Tony Spilotro.
The word was out. It had to be embarrassing for Lefty, but he chose to ignore rather than confront the situation. It was a strategy that worked for several months, until everything came to a head.
It was September 8, 1980. Geri Rosenthal had been out all night. When she got home at around 9 a.m., she was high on drugs, booze, or both. Finding herself locked out of the house, she became enraged. Getting back into her Mercedes, she repeatedly rammed her car into the rear of Lefty’s parked Cadillac. There was damage to each vehicle, but they both remained drivable. The commotion brought Lefty out to his front porch and a number of neighbors onto their lawns. A security guard called the police.
At the sight of her husband, Geri exited her car and took up a position on the lawn, shouting at him. She said the FBI wanted to talk with her and she just might go see them. She also announced that Tony Spilotro was her “sponsor” (protector) and wanted to know what Lefty planned to do about it.
During her tirade a police car pulled up and the officers tried using their verbal skills to calm down the out-of-control woman. Soon after the police got there, another car arrived. Nancy Spilotro was the driver.
“As I remember that morning, Lefty called me and said that Geri was outside the house raising hell. He asked if I’d come over and see if I could help,” Nancy Spilotro said in a 2004 interview. “I went right over. I was still in my pajamas, covered by a robe.”
While the police continued trying to reason with Geri, she pulled a pearl-handled revolver from under her clothing and waved it in the general direction of her husband. The police officers dove for cover behind their car. Neighbors scurried for safety. Lefty remained where he was, seemingly unable to move. That was when the five-foot 97-pound Nancy Spilotro sprang into action. She launched herself at the other woman.
“I must have been quite a sight, flying through the air in my pajamas and robe,” she laughed. Funny or not, the diminutive Spilotro was effective. She wrestled the larger woman to the ground and disarmed her. With the danger over and additional police cars on the scene, the spectators returned to their positions to watch the rest of the action.
Geri decided this was an appropriate time to make her move. She told the police she wanted to go into the house to get some personal items, and then she’d leave. An officer escorted her while Lefty was made to wait outside. The keys to the safe-deposit box were among the things Geri collected while inside. When she was finished, she told the officers she had to go to the bank to take care of some business and she didn’t want her husband to interfere. The police said they’d accompany her and make sure she was able to do her banking undisturbed.
It was an odd convoy that headed toward the bank. Geri was in the lead, the police behind her, and Lefty bringing up the rear. Both of the Rosenthal vehicles looked like they were survivors from a demolition derby.
Upon arriving at the bank, Geri went inside and emptied the safe deposit box of an estimated $200,000 in cash and $1 million in jewelry. An increasingly frustrated Lefty was held at bay outside.
According to the police report of the incident, after leaving the bank, “Mrs. Rosenthal jumped back into her car and took off at a fairly high rate of speed,” in the direction of California.
Shortly afterward, Geri’s father received a phone call from Tony Spilotro at his home in California. “You know a lot, but you don’t know anything. Understand?” the gangster said. The message apparently had its desired effect. Subsequent attempts by the FBI and Metro to interview Geri were rebuffed.
Three days later, on September 11, Lefty filed for divorce. When it was finalized the following January, he was awarded custody of the children and ordered to pay Geri $5,000 per month in alimony.
Although there may have been some moments of humor involved, the highly publicized event didn’t generate any laughter from Tony’s bosses in Chicago.
Next: Surveillance
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