Ex-Cop Charged in Second Murder, Extortion Plot

 A former Chicago police officer accused of plotting to abduct, extort, murder and dismember someone is now charged with planning to kill another victim.

Federal prosecutors say Steven Mandell also tried to get his wife to destroy evidence.

Mandell was formerly known as Steven Manning. In 1993 he was convicted and sentenced to death in the killing of a truck driver. He spent eight years on death row before his conviction was overturned.

Mandell, 61, of Buffalo Grove was also charged along with Gary Engel, 61, of Homer Glenn, with attempted extortion and conspiracy to commit extortion in a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court last October.

Prosecutors said Mandell, a former Chicago police officer of 10 years and Engel, a former Willow Springs officer, were arrested by FBI agents at the alleged planned abduction site on the Northwest Side following an undercover investigation.

According to the criminal complaint, the agents found a loaded .22 caliber semi-automatic pistol, ammunition, saws, a butcher knife and zip-ties for possible use as restraints at the location where the defendants allegedly planned to carry out the actions.

On Friday prosecutors charged Mandell with plotting to kill another person in early October.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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