In the end, former Chicago lawman and federal prison inmate Steven Mandell died in a more civilized way than he had hoped for his victim.

Mandell, who was convicted of plotting the 2012 kidnapping and torture of a west suburban businessman in a chamber of horrors, died Saturday in a federal prison hospital, the NBC Chicago investigative team has learned.

"We can confirm Steven Mandell passed away on Sept. 13, 2025, at the Federal Medical Center (FMC) Butner in Butner, North Carolina," said U.S. Bureau of Prisons spokesperson Donald Murphy.

Inmates who die in a BOP medical facility are typically being treated for a serious illness. Prior to Mandell's admission at the Butner prison hospital, he was serving time at America's Supermax prison in Colorado, the highest security institution in

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