MAD SAM DESTEFANO: The Chicago Torture Killer Who Trained Tony Spilotro
Fireside chat with Cage by Bill Muise
S1 · E65
Aug 24, 2026
11:12
Episode notes
Before Tony "The Ant" Spilotro ran Vegas...
He had a teacher.
Sam "Mad Sam" DeStefano.
King of the juice racket.
Master of the basement on Sayre Avenue.
Ice picks. Radiators. A block of ice with a body inside.
He claimed he spoke to Satan.
In 1973, the Outfit decided he was too crazy to live.
So they sent his best student to kill him.
This is Mad Sam.
Keywords
Mad Sam DeStefano, Tony Spilotro mentor, Chicago Outfit, juice loan, Sayre Avenue, Leo Foreman, 42 Gang, true crime