Tears of a Clown

It isn't that amazing that they're actually starting to connect some old time mobsters to slayings that occurred years ago. There is little honor among thieves nowadays and certainly, the Outfit of old is long since gone.

What's amazing is that they're able to preserve evidence from 32 years ago and actually might get to use it.

• In 2005, more than 30 years after the slaying, prosecutors charged Lombardo and another reputed mob hit man, Frank "the German" Schweihs, with killing Seifert. It's one of 18 Outfit rubouts the feds have charged in an indictment against some of the top alleged mobsters of Chicago -- all part of the Family Secrets trial set for May.

  The fingerprint was referred to publicly, for the first time, in a court motion that Lombardo's attorney, Rick Halprin, filed Friday. Halprin wants information on the methodology the government's expert used in linking the print to Lombardo so he can plan a possible challenge. Halprin said Friday he's interested in finding out whether any testing used on the fingerprint destroyed part or all of it.

It's going to be an interesting May if this trial goes forward.