Antonio Lombardo
Lombardo, however, refused to resign and continued to organize civic projects under the Unione Siciliana until shortly before his death on September 7, 1928. Lombardo was gunned down, along with his bodyguard Joseph Ferrara (although bodyguard Joe Lolordo survived), allegedly by an alliance of the Joe Aiello Gang and the North Side Gang, at the intersections of Madison Street and Dearborn Street. It was said that Moran ordered this death and had his two experienced gunman do the job with the help of Aiello. Thought to be retaliation for the murder of Frankie Yale the previous July, Lombardo's death was in turn soon avenged with the murder of members of the Joe Aiello Gang and the St. Valentine's Day Massacre, in 1929. He is buried in Mount Carmel Cemetery in Hillside, Illinois.
Cardinal Lamberto
The character of Lamberto and the film's depiction of the events which led to his murder are based upon one of the conspiracy theories surrounding the sudden death of the real-life Pope John Paul I, Albino Luciani. Like the Lamberto character, Luciani was discovered dead in his bed in 1978, 33 days after his election to the papacy. Various theories, such as the one outlined in David Yallop's 1984 book, "In God's Name", have suggested that Luciani was murdered because he was investigating and planning reforms for the Vatican Bank, in light of the Banco Ambrosiano scandal.