Inside the grisly 'torture chamber where crooked cops plotted to extort lavish properties from businessman by mutilating his genitals'

WARNING: GRAPHIC DETAILS

An FBI surveillance video shows ex-Chicago police officer, Steven Mandell, 62, inside the room authorities claim he built to torture Steve Campbell

The tape was shown to jurors in Mandell's trial Thursday

The chamber is complete with heavy tables where the torture and dismemberment would be carried out, prosecutors say, and an industrial steel sink to clean up afterwards

Mandell's co-conspirator, Gary Engel, hanged himself in 2012



A sinister video has been released showing the first glimpse inside a torture chamber where two ex-Chicago police officers allegedly planned to mutilate the manhood of a wealthy businessman to get their hands on his properties.

The FBI surveillance video shows Steven Mandell, 62, inside the room authorities claim he and co-conspirator, Gary Engel, purpose built to slice in half the penis of businessman Steve Campbell in a gruesome extortion plot before killing him and cutting up his body.

The chamber seen in the tape, one of a number shown to jurors in Mandell's trial this week, is complete with heavy tables where the torture and dismemberment would be carried out, authorities say, and an industrial steel sink to clean up afterwards.

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Grim: The FBI surveillance video, pictured, shows Steven Mandell, 62, inside the room authorities claim he purpose built to slice in half the penis of businessman Steve Campbell in a gruesome extortion plot

Chamber: The door of the Chicago building, pictured, that led to the chamber was misleadingly marked with the sign 'Christian Consulting' and Mandell jokingly referred to the chamber as 'Club Med'

The door was misleadingly marked with the sign 'Christian Consulting' and Mandell jokingly referred to the chamber as 'Club Med,' according to NBC News.

The footage was filmed by a wired-up real estate agent called George Michael, who is the state's star witness in the case.

In the video, Michael asks, 'How much you want me to put into this place at the beginning?'



Mandell responds: 'Uh, I don't, but I think, uh, I think Stanley discussed already, he just wanted maybe the partition and the bare, the bare minimum, the sink is I recall and uh, garage opener. You - do you recall that conversation?'

Michael says he does remember then Mandell adds 'And tap into all the people's resources temporarily.'

Prosecutors say the plan was to kidnap Campbell and take him to the torture chamber where they had powers of attorney and quit claim deed forms they intended to force Campbell to sign.

Jurors heard another conversation where Mandell is talking about what he wanted to get from Campbell, a real estate mogul with some 25 high-revenue unmortgaged buildings.

Gruesome plot: Steven Mandell, left, who is on trial, and Gary Engel, right, allegedly plotted to torture businessman Steve Campbell in October 2012. They allegedly planned to dismember him after the toture



The former cop says to Michael, 'I'll tell you what I'd like to keep as well, as far as cherry picking for the guy's portfolio.'

According to the Chicago Tribune, Mandell laughed in other videos shown in the courtroom when he described how victims often come unglued before their deaths. He also mimed a blindfolded prisoner, then drew a hand across this throat to signify a killing.



In one video played Wednesday Michael uses Mandell's nickname for Campbell, 'Soupy,' after the soup brand.



'How do you know Soupy will talk?' Michael asks.

'This guy will spill the beans,' Mandell replied. He then puts his hands over his eyes and lets out fake cry of terror, according to the Tribune.



Mandell is charged in connection with two murder plots as he also allegedly plotted to kill an associate of a mob-connected strip club in order to take over the lucrative business.

Dozens of audio and video recordings made by Michael, form the basis of the government's evidence against Mandell.



A court filing released early January ahead of the trial included a grisly transcript of him allegedly chatting with his co-conspirator, Engel, in October 2012.

The recordings made by authorities show the men detailing how they were going to torture the victim to get what they wanted, prosecutors say.



Purpose built: The chamber is complete with heavy tables where the torture and dismemberment would be carried out, authorities say, and an industrial steel sink to clean up afterwards, pictured

Informant: The footage was filmed by a wired-up real estate agent called George Michael, pictured, who is the state's star witness in the case

Both men were cops who lost their jobs in the 1980s after they were accused of a similar extortion plot. Days after their arrests in 2012, Engel was found hanged by a bed sheet in his prison cell.

In the recordings, they discussed how they'd tie up Campbell and Mandell told Engel he knew he'd play with the man's penis by sticking 'a little blade there', according to filings shared by the Chicago Sun Times.



Engel said the man might come out 'with a split weeny'.

'It’s like slicing a banana split,' he told Mandell. 'You know what a banana split looks like?'

Mandell made 'Ooh' sounds and said he could 'feel it' as Engel detailed the torture.

'IT'S LIKE SLICING A BANANA': MANDELL AND ENGEL'S 'SICK PLOT'

A court filing was released last month ahead of Mandell's trial. It included a gruesome transcript in which he and his co-conspirator Gary Engel allegedly detail how they will mutilate the victim's genitals.

Warning: Graphic content.

MANDELL: I know you are going to play with his f***ing dong. Right? Huh? You going to put a little blade there? ENGEL: You never know. He might come out - MANDELL: What are you going to tell him? ENGEL: - with a split weeny. MANDELL: Are you going to do the good guy, bad guy? ENGEL: (Inaudible) putting that blade right up against the center, and just start - MANDELL: I can feel it. ENGEL: And you just start slicing down the middle. It’s like slicing a banana split. You know what a banana split looks like? MANDELL: Ohhh. ENGEL: You don’t have to worry about pissing. MANDELL: Ohhh. ENGEL: To aim. Because it’s just going to go (sound effect). Take that urethra right down the middle. (Sound effect). Source: Federal Evidence via the Sun Times



'You don't have to worry about pissing,' Engel said. 'To aim. Because it's just going to go [sound effect]. Take that urethra right down the middle.'



Mandell then told Engel to be aware of the man's heart in case he died too quickly.

The duo intended to pose as police officers and, using a fake arrest document, kidnap the man and take him to a custom-built murder chamber to torture him, according to conversations secretly recorded by a witness co-operating with police.

They planned to take the man to an office with a giant sink to drain his blood and torture him until he gave them money and millions of dollars worth of real estate, according to the criminal complaint.

'My guy knows what he's doing, he knows how to waterboard, do interrogation, psy-ops,' Mandell allegedly said of Engel.



On recordings, Mandell allegedly guessed the victim made as much as $100,000 a month in cash from 25 rental properties. The men also discussed demanding at least $500,000 from the man.



They then allegedly intended to dismember him with saws and a butcher's knife and Engel allegedly said he wanted the victim's dead body to 'bleed out... you want to let him drain'.



But before they could carry out the grisly murder, they were caught by the FBI in an undercover operation and arrested at the makeshift torture chamber in the northwest side of Chicago.



Officers said the men both had fake firearms and bogus law enforcement credentials. Mandell also possessed a fake arrest document naming the victim as a criminal defendant.



The FBI also found saws, a butcher knife, numerous zip-ties for restraints and a loaded .22 caliber semi-automatic pistol at the site.



Both men had previously been convicted - and cleared - of a similarly gruesome plot in Missouri in 1984; they allegedly intended to kidnap a Kansas City nightclub owner and extort money from him.



Engel was sentenced to 90 years in prison in 1991, while Mandell was sentenced to death in a separate murder case - making him the first police officer ever to go on death row.



Disgraced: Mandell, left, and Engel, right, were kicked out of the police in the 80s when they were arrested for a similar plot. Mandell spent time on death row before they were acquitted. Engel killed himself in 2012



But both men were eventually cleared and released after arguing that evidence had been improperly withheld at the trial. Engel was freed in 2010.



In this recent case, both men were charged with attempted extortion and conspiracy to commit extortion.



Mandell was a Chicago police officer for 10 years until 1983 while Engel worked in Willow Springs.