Perfumes, luxury clothes and Viagra were discovered on Tuesday in an apartment that investigators believe was the last hiding place of Sicilian mafia boss Matteo Messina Denaro, the day after his arrest, legal sources have learned.
Matteo Messina Denaro, arrested on Monday in a private clinic in Sicily after 30 years on the run, is being held in the town of L’Aquila in central Abruzzo, Palermo prosecutors said on Tuesday.
His apartment was in a modest building in the center of the town of Campobello di Mazara, in the Sicilian province of Trapani, a few kilometers from Matteo Messina Denaro’s birthplace, Castelvetrano. The investigators found clothing, shoes, a well-stocked refrigerator and restaurant bills there, according to judicial circles. They also found Viagra, which was prescribed for erectile dysfunction. “He had a normal life, he went to the supermarket,” said Judge Paolo Guido.
The most wanted leader of the Sicilian Mafia
Matteo Messina Denaro was known for his taste in luxury goods, including sunglasses and clothing. According to the police, he was wearing a watch worth 35,000 euros when he was arrested. Police believe he has been living in the apartment for the past year but are looking for other places he may have been, the court sources said. Investigators believe Matteo Messina Denaro went to Palermo’s La Maddalena hospital on Monday to be treated for cancer.
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Police have charged doctor Alfonso Tumbarello, who is suspected of helping Matteo Messina Denaro while he was being treated under a false name. The sources said Matteo Messina Denaro, 60, gave the name of Andrea Bonafede, the owner of the apartment where the mafia boss lived and who is also under investigation. Matteo Messina Denaro, nicknamed “Diabolik” or even “U Siccu” (“The Dry One”), is considered one of the leaders of the Cosa Nostra, the Sicilian mafia. He was sentenced in absentia to life in prison for his involvement in the 1992 murders of anti-mafia judges Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino.
Judicial authorities have said Matteo Messina Denaro is fit enough to serve his sentence in prison, where he will continue his cancer treatment.