Charles Nicoletti was 60 when he was gunned down on March 29, 1977, in Northlake, Illinois. He was shot three times in the back of the head while sitting in his Oldsmobile in the parking lot of the Golden Horns Restaurant and died six to seven hours later at Northlake Community Hospital.

Nicoletti was a longtime enforcer for the Chicago Outfit and had been closely associated with Sam Giancana and Felix Alderisio. His record included violent episodes such as the 1962 torture and murder of Billy McCarthy and Jimmy Miraglia, an attack during which McCarthy’s eye was reportedly forced from its socket.

Investigators found no arrests or convictions tied to Nicoletti’s killing. The slaying was widely viewed as a professional hit, possibly the result of internal conflicts within the Outfit, but concrete evidence was not developed and the case remains unsolved.