The powerful Sicilian godfather Matteo Messina Denaro, wanted for 30 years by the entire police force of Italy and dying in prison at the age of 61, was a ruthless assassin, the last representative of the old guard of the Cosa Nostra.
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“I could fill a cemetery with the people I killed myself,” this great firearms enthusiast is said to have boasted to a friend, according to comments in the Italian press that helped to strengthen the reputation of this murderer who killed him committed his first murder at the age of 18.
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Sentenced to life imprisonment six times, this man nicknamed Diabolik, named after a criminal protagonist from a famous Italian comic of which he himself is a fan, was the undisputed leader of the Cosa Nostra in the province of Trapani, in western Sicily, when his power was up to Palermo, the capital of the island.
Childhood in crime
He was born on April 26, 1962 in Castelvetrano (southwest) and was involved in organized crime since childhood: his father, Don Ciccio, was the head of the local clan led by the “Capo dei Capi” Salvatore Riina (1930). – 2017) the boss of Corleone was nicknamed “the beast” because of his ferocity. Matteo will also develop close relationships with Riina.
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In 1992, he was part of a group of thugs sent to Rome to assassinate anti-Mafia judge Giovanni Falcone. They are eventually called back by “the beast,” who has the judge killed in a bomb attack near Palermo on May 23rd.
This important decision is made in agreement with other sponsors, including Messina Denaro, who will be sentenced in absentia to life imprisonment in 2020 for his involvement.
Murder of a pregnant woman
His cruelty is in no way inferior to that of the “wild animal”: in July 1992, after participating in the murder of Vincenzo Milazzo, head of the Alcamo clan, he also strangled his partner, who was three months pregnant.
As the leader of the Castelvetrano clan, this short-sighted man with thick glasses is the loyal ally of the Corleonesi clan, immortalized in the film “The Godfather” and led by Riina, in the Cosa Nostra’s murderous war against the state.
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After Riina’s arrest in January 1993, Messina Denaro continued his strategy of total terror, providing logistical support in organizing attacks in Florence, Milan and Rome that same year, in which ten people died and around a hundred were injured.
“He was the last of the men who implemented the violent and aggressive strategy of the Cosa Nostra (…) and the assassination of Falcone and Borsellino.” He was always part of the leadership group that decided all this,” explained Roberto Saviano, a Neapolitan journalist and author specializing in the Mafia, told AFP at the time of his arrest.
“Pizzini”, these messages written on small pieces of paper | AFP
Facing an avalanche of Mafia-related investigations and multiple murders, he decided to disappear into thin air in the summer of 1993 while continuing to manage his criminal empire in the shadows.
In November 1993, he was one of the organizers of the kidnapping of little Giuseppe Di Matteo to force his father Santino to withdraw his statement on the murder of Falcone.
Murder of a child
After 779 days in detention, “Diabolik” and others gave the order to kill the 12-year-old child who was strangled. His body is then dissolved in acid.
In 1994 and 1996, testimonies from repentants shed light on his role within Cosa Nostra. In 2000, at the end of the major trial against the mafia called “Omega” in Trapani, he was sentenced in absentia to life imprisonment.
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During his run, he manages his “business” by communicating through “pizzini,” those messages written on small pieces of paper valued by mafiosi for their discretion. In his hiding place, in addition to biographies of Putin and Hitler, products from the famous film “The Godfather” were also found, in particular a poster of Al Pacino, but also a magnet with Marlon Brandon and another depicting a boss in a tuxedo with the inscription “The Godfather I am”.
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In 2015, prosecutor Teresa Principato estimated that he was only able to evade police for so long and without difficulty while traveling because he was protected at a “very high level,” although without specifying the nature of that protection. “We have received confirmation of its presence in Brazil, Spain, Great Britain and Austria,” she was surprised.
The amount of his fortune, built up from drug trafficking, gambling and also renewable energies, was estimated by some Italian media to be several billion euros.
