Charles Michael Albanese was born on June 13, 1937, in Chicago, Illinois, the eldest son of Michael Albanese Sr., a prosperous entrepreneur and owner of Allied Die Casting, and Clara Kolasinski Albanese. From a young age, Charles appeared determined to achieve wealth and social status, though acquaintances described him as a spoiled and entitled young man who lacked work ethic and preferred shortcuts to success. He was ambitious, but his ambition was largely fueled by material desires rather than any moral or professional pursuit.

During the mid-1960s, Albanese worked as a car salesman for Norwood Motors Inc. in Morton Grove, Illinois. His first recorded criminal activity occurred on February 1, 1965, when he and an accomplice, pretending to be detectives, broke into a bus driver’s home and stole $160. A witness noted the license plate number of Albanese’s car, which led to his arrest a week later. He was charged with armed robbery and multiple counts of auto theft (under the alias “Charles Romaine”) and ultimately sentenced to five years of probation. The conviction prompted his first wife to divorce him after six years of marriage; she relocated to Wisconsin with their three daughters.

He married a second woman, though little is known about this relationship. While still legally married to her, he wed Virginia Mueller in Las Vegas during Labor Day weekend in 1972; that marriage was also short-lived. His second ex-wife later filed complaints in 1977 and 1980 for unpaid child support.

Despite a rocky legal history, Albanese became the president of Allied Die Casting, where he earned $60,000 per year. He and Virginia moved to Spring Grove in 1978 and lived in conspicuous wealth—owning a Cadillac, vacationing annually in Florida or Jamaica, and flaunting his position in the family business. Publicly, Albanese seemed successful. Privately, he was a manipulative man with a growing interest in securing financial dominance over his family and their wealth.

Between August 1980 and May 1981, Charles Albanese orchestrated the arsenic poisonings of three of his own relatives. His motive was straightforward: to gain control of their estates, life insurance benefits, and inheritances.

The first known victim was 69-year-old Marion Mueller, his mother-in-law, who lived with her mother, 89-year-old Mary Lambert, in the Leisure Village retirement community in Fox Lake, Illinois. Charles began visiting them frequently in mid-1980, bringing gifts and gradually manipulating Lambert into transferring financial control to her daughter—bypassing her other children. During this time, Albanese procured arsenic from a metal plating operator in Wisconsin under the guise of needing pest control advice. Using this poison, he began administering small doses to Mueller.

Mueller fell ill with violent vomiting and diarrhea on August 6, 1980, and died later that day at McHenry Hospital. Her cause of death was listed as a heart attack. Twelve days later, Lambert also developed similar symptoms and died at St. Therese Hospital in Waukegan. Her death was attributed to natural causes. These sudden deaths created a panic in the local community, prompting public health investigations into the water and food supply, but no contamination was found. The case was closed, and Albanese’s wife inherited around $150,000 from the deceased women’s estates.

Soon afterward, a confrontation with his father, Michael Albanese Sr., over his conduct at the family business led to Charles being demoted. Seemingly making amends, he began bringing snacks and homemade cookies to his father and younger brother, Michael Jr. By September 1980, both men began suffering from severe gastrointestinal distress. Michael Jr. was hospitalized multiple times but survived. Michael Sr., however, died from his symptoms on May 16, 1981, at age 69. Charles subsequently inherited over $267,000 and gained increased control over Allied Die Casting.

The breakthrough came when the McHenry County Coroner, Alvin Querhammer, discovered arsenic in Michael Sr.’s autopsy. Suspecting foul play, Querhammer reached out to Lake County’s coroner, who had handled the earlier cases of Mueller and Lambert. With permission from Albanese’s wife, both bodies were exhumed and tested. Each showed high levels of arsenic.

Investigators soon uncovered Albanese’s criminal record, financial motives, and purchase of arsenic. They also learned he had booked another vacation to Jamaica with his wife and mother—raising concerns that his next target might be his own mother, Clara, whose net worth was approximately $500,000.

Charles Michael Albanese was arrested at his McHenry office on November 18, 1981. He was charged with three counts of murder, the attempted murder of his brother, and theft from the family business.

His trials were held in two jurisdictions. In Lake County, he was convicted on May 18, 1982, of the murders of Lambert and Michael Sr., and the attempted murder of his brother. He was sentenced to death two days later. That same October, in McHenry County, he was tried and convicted for the murder of Mueller and again sentenced to death. He also received a 60-year sentence for the attempted murder and a 5-year sentence for theft.

Albanese fought his convictions for years through appeals, all of which were denied. On September 20, 1995, at Stateville Correctional Center, Charles Michael Albanese was executed by lethal injection. His final words were simply, “Thank you.” He had requested a last meal of prime rib, baked potato, garlic bread, coffee, Coca-Cola, and pistachio ice cream.

He maintained his innocence until the end, claiming authorities had covered up key facts, but the evidence against him, including arsenic traces, inheritance trails, and a clear pattern of poisonings, left little room for doubt.