Denaro is said to have ordered dozens of mafia-related murders for the Cosa Nostra crime group
Italian mafia boss Matteo Messina Denaro, who was arrested in January after 30 years on the run, died on Monday. BBC reported. Denaro died at San Salvatore Hospital in L’Aquila, central Italy, where he was being treated for colon cancer. After his condition deteriorated in recent weeks, he was transferred to hospital from the high-security prison in central Italy where he was initially held.
L’Aquila Mayor Pierluigi Biondi confirmed the gangster’s death in a hospital “following a worsening of his illness”. His death “puts an end to a story of violence and blood,” Mr Biondi told the ANSA news agency. It was ‘the epilogue to an existence without remorse or remorse, a painful chapter in our nation’s recent history.’ he added.
Denaro, who is believed to have ordered dozens of mafia-related murders for the Cosa Nostra crime group, was convicted for his role in planning the 1992 murders of anti-mafia prosecutors Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino. He was also held responsible for the 1993 bombings in Rome, Florence and Milan that killed ten people.
One of his six life sentences was for the kidnapping and subsequent murder of the 12-year-old son of a witness in the Falcone case.
Denaro, known by the Italian press as ‘The Last Godfather’, once boasted that he could “fill a cemetery” with his victims. He also oversaw extortion, illegal waste dumping, money laundering and drug trafficking for the powerful organized crime syndicate Cosa Nostra. According to The guardMessina Denaro’s vast wealth came from his investments in energy and waste, through which he successfully infiltrated the local government to gain control of key construction contracts.
He was also thought to be Cosa Nostra’s last ‘secret keeper’, as he possessed all the information and the names of those involved in some of the mafia’s most high-profile crimes.
He never married, but was known to have a number of lovers, according to Sky News.
From AFPThe 61-year-old had been on the run since 1993 when the Italian state launched a crackdown on the Sicilian mafia. He remained the top name on Italy’s most wanted list and increasingly became a legendary figure. It was his decision to seek treatment for his cancer that led to his capture. He was caught outside a private clinic in Sicily’s capital Palermo in January 2023.
According to the newspaper Corriere della Sera, preparations are already underway for the gangster’s burial in the family grave in the city, next to his father, Don Ciccio.
