Matteo Messina Denaro, the final Mafia boss, dies at 61.
Matteo Messina Denaro, believed to be the chief of all chiefs of the Sicilian Mafia, has passed away at the age of 61.
Nicknamed 'the last Godfather' by the media, he was Italy's most wanted man for 20 years until his arrest last January while receiving treatment for the colon cancer that ultimately took his life.
The Cosa Nostra is a covert Sicilian criminal organization responsible for regulating protection rackets, prostitution, drugs, and illegal gambling. Their influence extends significantly beyond the Mediterranean island at the toe of Italy's boot.
The Cosa Nostra played a significant role in the development of the American Mafia, which adopted numerous of their customs and codes.
'Cose Le Vostre', or 'This is Known to You,' a secret Sicilian criminal society, was engaged in a full-fledged conflict with the Italian state during Messina Denaro's fugitive years. He was sentenced to life in prison in 2002 for orchestrating the 1992 murders of anti-Mafia prosecutors Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino.
Messina Denaro was also found guilty of planning terrorist bombings in Florence, Rome, and Milan in 1993 which resulted in the loss of ten people's lives and caused widespread public resentment.
He symbolized the Italian government's inefficacy against organized crime for two decades on the run. Experts on the Mafia have labeled his capture at a medical facility in Palermo, the Sicilian capital, the end of a legend that the criminal syndicate would struggle to let go of.
'Diabolik,' like the fictional criminal character who couldn't be caught, Matteo Messina Denaro started his criminal career as a killer. He climbed the ranks swiftly under the hardened chief, Salvatore Riina, who was known as 'Belva,' or 'The Beast.'
Messina Denaro was suspected in more than 50 killings. He once claimed, 'I filled a cemetery all by myself.'
When 100 anti-Mafia Carabinieri agents stormed the healthcare facility where he was being treated in January, they discovered a weakened figure who willingly revealed his identity. Messina Denaro was growing weary of evading the law.
He fell into a coma on Friday, according to Italian media. His daughter, whom he encountered for the first time after his capture, stayed by his side till the end.
'A man who's done so much harm to his land has departed,' said Enzo Alfano, the mayor of Castelvetrano. 'It will be decades more before we can put an end to a mindset, a culture - sometimes rampant - of lawlessness, impunity, which he, his followers, and those before him have nurtured for way too long.'
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Source: www.casino.org
